2.
Uranium
a.
Uranium is a chemically toxic element
b.
Uranium is absorbed into body only with difficulty
c.
Effect on body is determined in part by solubility of airborne uranium compound
(1)
Insoluble oxide is largely retained in lungs and
produces injury by irradiation
(2)
With soluble uranium compound, may cause severe
chemical injury to kidneys
(a)
Uranium produces a characteristic histological
injury in the kidney
(o)
Good evidence that concentrations of soluble
uranium Of 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air
will not cause significant injury over the normal
working lifetime of a man
1)
This figure has been accepted for all uranium
exposures
2)
(c)
3.
No reported injuries from uranium toxicity
Dust control techniques
Plutonium
a.
Plutonium is some 200,000 times more radioactive than
uranium
b.
Although toxic chemically, plutonium, because of its radioactivity is, like radium, dangerous within body in amounts
far less than would produce a chemical hazard
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