THE SHORTER-TERM BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS OF A PALLOUT FIELD
4 days post partum.
§ days post partum.
6 days post partum.
Fecal excretion rate.
oe
i
* “army
3.7 X 10-6
postinjection}
405 2.6 x 10-9
406
407
408
397 to 407.
6.5 K 10-6
9.1 X 10-*
1.7 X 10-5
1.1 X 107? %/day
Birth date
Willie...
Betty_....|
Henry......
Counting
Bay
TfT{54
5/7/55
5/20/66
mother
Injected
98
402
840
Esti-
Date
edit)
10/20/54
8/12/55
5/28/56
1041)
97
8|
nae
content «
GC)
0. 22
-10
<. 10
+ Low pounting rate makes for probableerror of at least 25%.
Table V shows the retention by the infant
monkey, Henry, of orally administered Sr™ for
the first 13 weeks of the feeding program.
The
daily excretion pattern is not tabulated, butis
Srfed
dpm x 104
4, 42
3. 67
4,65
477
4. 72
4.75
4.75
4.75
4. 65
4.70
3. 78
4.75
4.75
Retention
dpm/week x 108
6. 63
815
5. 25
9.16
13, 92
6. 74
10. 83
6. 32
3. 63
10. 81
10. 05
6.94
9. 02
% weekly dose
15
22.2
11.3
19. 2
29.8
14.2
22.8
13.3
7.8
23. 0
26.6
14.6
19.0
DISCUSSION
Most of the results described above were
obtained from measurements on only a few
of some interest. because it is so consistent.
Values for a typical week were as follows:
Monday, 36.5 cps; Tuesday, 39.4 eps; Wednesday, 42.3 eps; Thursday, 43.4 cps; Friday, 49.8
cps; Saturday, 6.0 cps; and Sunday, 5.1 eps.
The dose averages 62 cps/day Mondaythrough
individuals; nevertheless, some tentative conclusions may be drawn. The metabolism of
Sr in the monkey followed qualitatively the
pattern described for other species [1-10].
this 13-week period was 18.2 percent of the
the half time was on the orderof 400 days. The
Friday.
The mean weekly retention during
administered Sr™, or 0.048 uC.
Although the
level of activity in the animal is still too low
for accurate in vive counting, a Sr® measure-
ment was made bythis method after 12 weeks of
Sr® that agreed fairly well with the retention
ancy [27]. The biological half life for Sr® in
man currently accepted by the International
Commission on Radiological Protection {28] is
11.2 years and is based on the original work
by Hamilton [1] and by Sullivan et af. [29]
Early elimination was chiefly urinary; later,
excretion occurred in urine, feces, and milk.
Retention was prolonged, and in the adults
of the colony, and Mrs. Grace Walpole for the
preparation of the manuscript,
This work was done under the auspices of the
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
with rats. With corrections for the difference in
life expectancy—-20 to 25 years for the rhesus
monkey and 65 to 70 vears for man —a biological
Retention of 0.0043 pC Srfed daily as the equilibrium
mixture of Sr-Y% in milk to an infant monkey
Feeding was started at age 36 days
Weeks
Vital statisties
,
TaBLe V
Placental transfer of Sr in the rhesus monkey estimated by in vivo scintillation count of the infants
Animat
can be set for the retention of oral Sr™ by 2- to
2.5-year-old monkeys,
449 1.6 X 10-¢
(Second affspring
borne 408 days
Tapue IV
|
an upper limit of something less than 5 percent,
one-half of the animal's remaining life expect-
the monkey colony; Dr. Gordon Fitzgerald,
D. D. S., University of California Medical
Center, for assistance with the dental problems
REFERENCES
1. J. G, Hamiuron, ‘Metabolism of the Fission Products and the Heaviest Elements,’ Radielogy 49,
half time based on the monkey data presented
in this report would be in the neighborhood of
3 years, or about one-fourth of (he currently
accepted value.
The turnover of Sr™ was much more rapid
in the infant monkeys; the half time can be
set tentatively at about 6 months.
Placental transfer from a mother with a
relatively firmly fixed Sr® burden was roughly
3 percent of the Sr™ retained by the mother
at term. The concentration of Sr® in the milk
of the breeding female was 2 to 4 times the
plasma level, indicating that for this species a
significant amount. of Sr? would be transferred
to the nursing young. Seeretion of Sr® in milk
and its subsequent accumulation in the bones
of the young has been demonstrated for rats
and mice [4, 30] and for cows [31].
In the infant monkey with a rapidly developing skeleton, 18 percent of orally administered
Sr® was retained, compared with less than,
5 percent for adolescent monkeys with presumably nearly complete skeletal growth. It
should be noted that the diet of these latter
animals was much richer in calcium, phos-
phorus, and protein (designed to resemble the
diet of Western Man) than what would be
available to them in their natural habitat.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank Dr. John H.
325-343 [1947].
2. R.A. Dupiey, “Biologicul Hazard of Radioactive
Strontium,” Second Annual Conference on
Plutonium, Radium and Mesothorium, Univ. of
Utah, College of Medicine, June 17-19, 1954.
3. C. Pecuer, “Biological Investigations with Radioactive Calcium and Strontium,” Proc. Soc, Exptl.
Biol. Med. 46, 86-91 (1944).
. C. Prener and J. Pecuer, “Radio-Caleium and
Radio-Strontium Metabolism in Pregnant Mice,”
ibid 91~04,
Gross, Tavnorn, Ler, and Watson, “The Availability of Radio-Strontium to Mammals by way
cal
3 days post partum.
449
present. time, and accurate values cannot be
given as yet. Based onthe initial caleulations,
with Ca® and Sr® in rats, and the half time
obtained was on the order of 350 days or about
of the Food Chain,” UCLA-259, June 1953.
. Jowsey,
S
Red blood cells... ._
Milk;
Days postinjection
The data on retention by the adolescent
monkeys of oral Sr™ are being analyzed at the
Rayner,
Torr, and
Vauvanan,
“The
Deposition of Sr in Rabbit Bones Following
Intravenous Injection,” Brit, J. Exptl, Path. 34,
384-391 (1953).
7
Sample
Plasma......-.-...
excreted Sr™.
Kroman, Tort, and Vaucuay, “The Retention and
Exeretion of Radioactive Strontium and Yttrium
in the Healthy Rabbit,” J. Path. Bact. 62,
209-227 (1950).
. W. EL Kisrezesxt, “The Distribution and Exeretion of Sr-¥ in the Dog,” ANL-5247, April 1954,
p. 68.
. Comar, Lorz, and Boyo, “Autoradiographic
Studies of Calcium, Phosphorus and Strontium
Distribution in the Bones of the Growing Pig,”
Am. J. Anat. 90, 113-129 (1952).
~
tration of Srin an adult female rhesus monkey,
Rosy, 3 to 40 days after the delivery of her sceond
offspring on the 402nd day after receiving 35 uO of
&r® intravenously
©
The blood level, fecal excretion rate, and milk concen-
181
METABOLIC STUDIES WITH STRONTIUM-90
calculated by difference in administered and
10. 5. L. Hansarp, ‘Conference on the Useof Isotopes
in Plant and Animal Research,” U. S. Atomic
Energy Commission, Repert No, TID-5098,
Apri) 1953, p. 88-98.
VL. R.A. McCance and E, M. Wippowson,“The Fate
of Strontium after Intravenous Administration
to Normal Persons,” Biochem, J. 33, 1822-1825
(1939).
most widely quoted half time for skeletal
retention of Sr® (>200 days) is that derived
Lawrence and the staff of the Donner Labora-
Honazs, MacDonarp, Nussaum, Stearns, Exrrmay, Sparx, and McAgtuur, “The Strontium
Content of Human Bones,” J. Biol. Chem. 185,
rats. This figure was rechecked recently in
this laboratory in a double Jabeling experiment
fornia Radiation Laboratory veterinarian, for
13. Harrison, Raymonp, and Trerneway, “The
Metabolism of Strontium in Man,” A. E. R, E.
(Great Britain), SPAR/2, 1955.
by Hamilton [1] from experiments with adult
tory for the use of the in vivo counting apparatus; Dr. Charles Riggs, University of Calihelp and advice in the care and maintenance of
Nn
Tasre III
519-524 (1950).