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Title:
REPRINT FROM "DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF INCORPORATED RADIONUCLIDES", SUBJECT: THE EXCRETION RATE AND RETENTION OF PLUTONIUM 10000 DAYS AFTER ACQUISITION
Author(s):
LARSEN, R P [ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY]; OLDHAM, R D [ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY]; ROBINSON, J J [ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY]; RUNDO, J [ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY]; SEDLET, J [ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY]; STARZYK, P M [ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY]
Subject Terms:
HREX; EXCRETION RATE; RADIONUCLIDES
Document Location:
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
Document Type:
CORRESPONDENCE, LETTERS, MEMOS
Publication Date:
1976 Dec 31
Declassification Status:
Never classified
Document Pages:
0011
Accession Number:
NV0703480
OpenNet Entry Date:
1994 Aug 27
OpenNet Modified Date:
2012 May 14
Description/Abstract:
THE EXCRETION RATE AND RETENTION OF PLUTONIUM 10,000 DAYS AFTER ACQUISITION. THREE PERSONS WHO HAD BEEN INJECTED WITH KNOWN AMOUNTS OF PLUTONIUM IN 1945 TO 1947 WERE HOSPITALIZED ON A METABOLIC WARD IN 1973. ALL EXCRETA WERE COLLECTED FOR AT LEAST EIGHT DAYS AND THE SAMPLES WERE ANALYZED FOR PLUTONIUM. FOR THE TWO SUBJECTS WHO HAD BEEN INTRAVENOUSLY INJECTED WITH TETAVALENT PU-239 AS THE CITRATE, THE URINARY EXCRETION RATES WERE 7.6 PCI/DAY AT APPROXIMATELY 10.4 DAYS AFTER INJECTION; THESE RATES CORRESPONDED TO 2.52 X 10 -3 PERCENT OF THE INJECTED DOSES PER DAY RESPECTIVELY. THE FAECAL EXCRETION RATES WERE ABOUT 40 PERCENT OF THE URINARY RATES. THE THIRD SUBJECT RECEIVED AN INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTION OF HEXAVALENT PU-238 (AS THE NITRATE) IN THE LEFT LEG, WHICH WAS AMPUTATED FOUR DAYS LATER. ALMOST 50 PERCENT OF THE AMOUNT INJECTED WAS FOUND AT THE INJECTION SITE AND THE URINARY EXCRETION RATE ABOUT 9,500 DAYS LATER WAS 0.06 PCI/DAY, CORRESPONDING TO NOT LESS THAN 1.2 X 10 -4 PERCENT OF THE INITIAL SYSTEMIC BURDEN. FROM OUR RESULTS FOR THE TWO SUBJECTS WITH PU-239, TOGETHER WITH PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED EXCRETION RATES SHORTLY AFTER INJECTION, AND WITH SOME REASONABLE ASSUMPTIONS, WE CALCULATED THE TOTAL EXCRETION IN, AND HENCE THE RETENTION AT 10.4 DAYS. THE OBSERVED EXCRETION RATES AT 10.4 DAYS WERE APPROXIMATELY AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE HIGHER THAN THOSE PREDICTED BY LANGHAM'S EQUATIONS FOR URINARY AND FAECAL EXCRETION RATES AS FUNCTIONS OF TIME, AND THE ESTIMATED TOTAL EXCRETION WAS TWO TO THREE TIMES HIGHER THAN THE PREDICTIONS OBTAINED BY INTEGRATING LANGHAM'S EQUATIONS. THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF OSTEOPOROSIS IS DISCUSSED BRIEFLY.