Document Details

(188 K)

PLUTONIUM STUDIES AT THE CENTER FOR HUMAN RADIOBIOLOGY ( PLUTONIUM INJECTION EXPERIMENT )

ROWLAND, R E [ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY]

HREX; EXCRETION; EXPERIMENTAL DATA; INJECTION; PATIENTS; PLUTONIUM; RETENTION; STUDIES

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

Never classified

0004

NV0703527

1994 Aug 27

2012 May 14

PLUTONIUM INJECTION STUDIES - FACT SHEET - IN 1945-1947, 18 HOSPITAL PATIENTS OF LIMITED LIFE EXPECTANCY WERE INJECTED WITH PLUTONIUM IN ORDER TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THE RETENTION AND ORGAN DISTRIBUTION OF PLUTONIUM. AN IMPORTANT OBJECTIVE WAS TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BODY CONTENT AND THE RATE OF EXCRETION IN ORDER TO PROVIDE DATA FOR ESTIMATING THE BODY CONTENT OF PLUTONIUM FROM MEASUREMENTS OF PLUTONIUM IN EXCRETA (BIOASSAY). THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY WERE DESCRIBED IN REPORT LA-1151 (1950). THE DATA IN LA-1151 WERE REVIEWED IN A MANUSCRIPT PREPARED BY P. W. DURBIN FOR PUBLICATION IN THE 1972 VOLUME, "RADIOBIOLOGY OF PLUTONIUM." TWO TISSUE AND BONE SAMPLES HAD BEEN OBTAINED AT AUTOPSY FROM SIX OF THE CASES AT TIMES RANGING FROM 5 DAYS TO 456 DAYS AFTER INJECTION, AND THE LONGEST COLLECTION TIME FOR EXCRETA WAS ABOUT 5 YRS. IN ADDITION TO PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT, DURBIN TRACED THE LATER HISTORY OF THE CASES AND DISCOVERED THAT FOUR WERE STILL LIVING IN 1972. THE CENTER'S DIRECT KNOWLEDGE OF THE PLUTONIUM INJECTION CASES DATES FROM DECEMBER 13, 1972, WHEN DR. DURBIN BROUGHT HER RECORDS TO CHR FOR POSSIBLE FURTHER FOLLOW-UP. THE CENTER THEN UNDERTOOK TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNTS AND BODY DISTRIBUTION OF PLUTONIUM. DURING 1973 CHR OBTAINED METABOLISM SAMPLES FROM THREE LIVING PATIENTS, OBTAINED PERMISSION TO EXHUME FROM NEXT OF KIN OF THREE DECEASED PATIENTS, AND DISINTERRED AND TRANSFERRED TO CHR THE REMAINS OF ONE OF THESE DECEASED. THE METABOLISM SAMPLES (BLOOD AND EXCRETA) WERE TAKEN AT STRONG MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (SMH), ROCHESTER, NEW YORK. IN 1974, THE U. S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) REVIEWED THE ORIGINS AND SUBSEQUENT FOLLOW-UP OF THE PLUTONIUM STUDIES. ON DECEMBER 31, 1974, THE AEC AUTHORIZED CHR TO PROCEED WITH THE PROGRAM OF STUDY OF THE LIVING PATIENTS WHO WERE INJECTED WITH PLUTONIUM DURING 1945-1947 AND OF THE BODIES OF DECEASED INDIVIDUALS FROM THAT GROUP FOR WHOM LEGAL CONSENT FOR EXAMINATION IS OBTAINED.