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DEPOSITION AND FATE OF PLUTONIUM, URANIUM AND THEIR FISSION PRODUCTS INHALED AS AEROSOLS BY RATS AND MAN (PARTIAL)

AXELROD, D; CROWLEY, J; HAMILTON, J G; SCOTT, K G

HREX; AEROSOLS; ANIMALS; ARTICLE; DEPOSITION; FISSION PRODUCTS; HUMANS; INHALATION; MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE; PLUTONIUM; RADIOISOTOPES; SKELETON; URANIUM

Location - DOE/NNSA NUCLEAR TESTING ARCHIVE Address - P.O. Box 98521 City - Las Vegas State - NV Zip - 89193-8521 Phone - (702)794-5106 Fax - (702)862-4240 Email - NTA@NV.DOE.GOV

REPORT

1949 Dec 31

Never classified

0024

NV0700091

1994 Aug 27

2012 May 14

THIS 24 PAGE DOCUMENT IS AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL NAMED "ARCHIVES OF PATHOLOGY." HANDWRITTEN ANNOTATION SHOW IT IS FROM VOL. 48, NO. 1, JULY-DECEMBER, 1949. THE AUTHORS ARE KENNETH G. SCOTT, DOROTHY AXELROD, JOSEPHINE CROWLEY, AND JOSEPH G. HAMILTON OF SAN FRANCISCO. THE AUTHORS ARE FURTHER IDENTIFIED AS FROM THE DIVISIONS OF RADIOLOGY AND MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA MEDICAL SCHOOL, SAN FRANCISCO, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY. THE WORK WAS PERFORMED UNDER CONTRACT W-7405-END-48A OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UNDER THE US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION. QUOTING THE PAPER "ZR 89 WAS USED IN THE STUDY OF A HUMAN SUBJECT (ONE OF US). THE SHORT HALF-LIFE OF THIS MATERIAL, AS WELL AS THE ABSENCE OF LONG-LIVED RADIOISOTOPES, PRECLUDED ANY DANGER OF EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF RADIATION TO THE SUBJECT. THE ACTIVE MATERIAL WAS SUSPENDED AS AN AEROSOL IN ARGON...OXYGEN WAS AVOIDED IN THE CHAMBER BECAUSE OF THE PRODUCTION OF UNDESIRABLE AMOUNTS OF OZONE. APPROXIMATELY 1 MICROCURIE OF ZR 89 WAS INHALED BY PLACING IN THE LEFT NOSTRIL A SHORT RUBBER TUBE WHICH WAS ALSO CONNECTED TO THE GENERATOR. THE INHALED ZR 89 WAS EXHALED THROUGH THE MOUTH INTO A GLASS WOOL FILTER, FOLLOWED BY SEVERAL BREATHS OF INACTIVE AIR, SO THE PERCENTAGE OF MATERIAL EXHALED COULD BE CALCULATED." LATER IN THE PAPER IT SAYS, "SIMILAR STUDIES WERE DONE ON RATE AND ON ONE OF US, CARRIER-FREE ZR 89 WITH A HALF-LIFE OF 78 HOURS BEING USED. THE ZR 89 WAS DISBURSED AS AN AEROSOL, PROBABLY AS ZR02, BY THE USE OF THE ELECTRIC DISCHARGE IN ARGON DESCRIBED EARLIER IN THE PROTACTINIUM EXPERIMENTS." "IN THE SINGLE HUMAN STUDY DONE, ALL BUT 2.2 PERCENT OF THE ACTIVITY INHALED WAS RETAINED. THIRTY-TWO PERCENT WAS REMOVED VIA THE BRONCHIAL TREE IN 71 HOURS. THIS LEFT 66.7 PERCENT OF THE ACTIVITY ESTIMATED TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN REMAINING IN THE LUNGS, PRESUMABLY IN THE ALVEOLI." "THE PARALLEL EXPERIMENTS IN RATS SHOWED THAT 24 PERCENT OF THE ZIRCONIUM AEROSOL WAS DEPOSITED IN THE LUNGS AND 40.9 PERCENT IN THE HEAD; 28.8 PERCENT WAS EXHALED AND NOT RETAINED. AFTER 3 DAYS, THE LUNGS CONTAINED 18.9 PERCENT AND THE HEAD 2.5 PERCENT, AND 60.6 PERCENT HAD BEEN ELIMINATED VIA THE BRONCHIAL TREE, WHILE 3.3 PERCENT OF THE ZR 89 APPARENTLY HAD BEEN ABSORBED AND HAD BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE SKELETON." THE REST OF THE PAPER CONCERNS THE METHODS, DATA, AND RESULTS FOR RATS. THERE ARE NO OTHER HUMAN EXPERIMENTS.