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PubMed1984

Retention of plutonium in the beagle after gastrointestinal absorption.

A 0.01 M bicarbonate solution containing 130 nCi (approximately 5 kBq) of 237Pu (90% hexavalent, 93% ultrafilterable) was administered via gelatin capsule to six adult male beagles following a 21-hr fast. The dogs were sacrificed after 5-6 weeks and the percentage of the administered plutonium retained in the liver plus skeleton and its distribution within the skeleton were determined. The mean amount retained in these tissues was (0.063 +/- 0.006)% of the administered dose. The mean amounts of plutonium in the liver and the skeleton were approximately equal, and the distribution within the skeleton was similar to that observed by other workers following either intravenous injection or inhalation. Our value for plutonium retention by the dog is about a factor of three less than the values we have reported for rodents. It is a factor of 7 greater than the product of the values for gastrointestinal absorption (f1) and fractional retention (f2) recommended by the ICRP for man.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1983

The effect of X rays, DTPA, and aspirin on the absorption of plutonium from the gastrointestinal tract of rats.

To measure the effect of radiation on plutonium transport, rats that were exposed to 250-kVp X rays were given 238Pu 3 days afterwards by either gavage or injection into a ligated segment of the duodenum. In a second group of experiments, rats were either injected intraduodenally with 238Pu-DTPA or administered the chelate intravenously and the 238Pu by gavage. In a third experiment, rats that had been gavaged with 200 or 400 mg/kg/day of aspirin for 2 days were injected intragastrically with 238Pu nitrate. Results of the first experiment showed a dose-dependent increase in 238Pu absorption between 800 and 1500 rad of lower-body X irradiation. Intravenous or intraduodenal injections of DTPA caused a marked increase in 238Pu absorption but resulted in decreased plutonium deposition in the skeleton and liver. Retention of 238Pu in the skeleton of rats given aspirin was double that of controls, but the effect on plutonium absorption was less marked than that of DTPA.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

[Use of track detector for the measurement of urine plutonium].

In case of internal exposition by inhalation of plutonium compounds, the faecal excretion is many times higher than in urine. In case of emergency, the faecal analysis is, of course, the best control. But in case of chronic exposure, the urine analysis are better tolerated by workers and easier for the laboratory organization. The results presented pertain to Plutonium 239: the chemical separation is quite conventional but a track detection is used for counting. It was first necessary to optimise both, the thickness of the screen placed between the radioactive source and the detector, and the chemical treatment for transforming the tracks into holes. Three minutes were required to count the perforations by moving the detector across a spark system. Due to detector background and efficiency, a 30 day exposure time is required to detect 0.2 mBq of Plutonium 239 (that's enough in relation to legal limits).

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1993

[Localization of lung cancer in persons exposed to plutonium-239].

Pulmonary cancer site was studied in 131 workers engaged into radioactive chemicals production and 178 examinees of control group. All examinees died in 1965-1989. Incorporation of plutonium-239 increased the number of lower lobe pulmonary cancers (upper-0.49; medium-0.06; lower-0.45) compared to 0.72; 0.03; 0.25 in control group. Ratio of cancer sites attributing to plutonium-239 was calculated for various levels of relative risk. Cancer site in the lower lobe appeared to show high probability attributing to plutonium-239 with relative risk over 1.39; in the case of upper lobe the relative risk was 3.67.

Humans↗
PubMed1996

[Early ultrastructural lesions of kidney cells after intravenous administration of 239 plutonium citrate in rats].

After intravenous administration of (5 x 2.3 kBq and 5 x 9.25 kBq) plutonium citrate in adult male Sprague Dawley rats, their kidneys are withdrawn and prepared for observation under a transmission electron microscope. Seven days after the first injections, deep cellular alterations are observed in the proximal convoluted tubules. These alterations are mainly mitochondrial. The affected mitochondria are of swollen aspect and have their cristae partially or completely destroyed. Nevertheless within the same tubule we observe non altered cells directly in contact with deeply altered cells. In all the cases the lysosomes of the altered cells appear to be perfectly normal. The cell nuclei are mostly unaltered but a few cases of nuclear fragmentation exist. We also notice some architectural modifications in the brush border and in the betacytomembranes of the proximal convoluted tubule. Equally important mitochondrial alterations are also noticed in the different varieties of glomerular cells. We observe no other glomerular alterations. The major subcellular alterations in the proximal convoluted tubules and in the different varieties of glomerular cells deeply contrast with the distal convoluted tubules which are found to be totally unaltered. These mitochondrial alterations may be due to the alpha particle disintegration of plutonium which may either directly react with the mitochondria or, through the products of radiolysis of water react with the mitochondria respiration process. However the direct chemotoxicity of plutonium cannot be neglected.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Toxicity of inhaled plutonium dioxide in beagle dogs.

This study was conducted to determine the biological effects of inhaled 238PuO2 over the life spans of 144 beagle dogs. The dogs inhaled one of two sizes of monodisperse aerosols of 238PuO2 to achieve graded levels of initial lung burden (ILB). The aerosols also contained 169Yb to provide a gamma-ray-emitting label for the 238Pu inhaled by each dog. Excreta were collected periodically over each dog's life span to estimate plutonium excretion; at death, the tissues were analyzed radiochemically for plutonium activity. The tissue content and the amount of plutonium excreted were used to estimate the ILB. These data for each dog were used in a dosimetry model to estimate tissue doses. The lung, skeleton and liver received the highest alpha-particle doses, ranging from 0.16-68 Gy for the lung, 0.08-8.7 Gy for the skeleton and 0.18-19 for the liver. At death all dogs were necropsied, and all organs and lesions were sampled and examined by histopathology. Findings of non-neoplastic changes included neutropenia and lymphopenia that developed in a dose-related fashion soon after inhalation exposure. These effects persisted for up to 5 years in some animals, but no other health effects could be related to the blood changes observed. Radiation pneumonitis was observed among the dogs with the highest ILBs. Deaths from radiation pneumonitis occurred from 1.5 to 5.4 years after exposure. Tumors of the lung, skeleton and liver occurred beginning at about 3 years after exposure. Bone tumors found in 93 dogs were the most common cause of death. Lung tumors found in 46 dogs were the second most common cause of death. Liver tumors, which were found in 20 dogs but were the cause of death in only two dogs, occurred later than the tumors in bone and lung. Tumors in these three organs often occurred in the same animal and were competing causes of death. These findings in dogs suggest that similar dose-related biological effects could be expected in humans accidentally exposed to 238PuO2.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1996

Atomization mechanism and determination of Ag, Be, Cd, Li, Na, Sn and Zn in uranium-plutonium matrices by ETA-AAS.

The atomization processes involved in the Electrothermal Atomization-Atomic Absorption Spectrometric (ETA-AAS) determination of Ag, Be, Cd, Li, Na, Sn and Zn in the presence of an uranium-plutonium matrix containing 25% Pu have been investigated. The significant fall in the absorbance signal for Ag, Cd, Na and Zn in an uranium matrix and its restoration in the presence of plutonium is probably correlated with the change in the partial pressure of oxygen released from the matrix at/below the signal appearance temperature (T(app)). In case of Li and Sn, the signal remains unaffected irrespective of the U-Pu matrix which might be due to a high T(app) for these analytes. Regarding Be, the steep suppression of the signal in the presence of the plutonium matrix compared to an uranium matrix can be ascribed to the formation of stable Pu-Be compounds (PuBe(13)). Based on these studies, analytical procedures have been developed for the direct determination of nanogram amounts of these analytes in an U-Pu matrix with an average precision of 9% RSD.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Plutonium oxidation states in seawater.

Studies of the oxidation-state distribution of plutonium in the ocean illustrate the need to characterize seawater by means of the pH, the E(H), and quanititative complexation parameters. The parameters are combined in an easy-to-use equation that determines the fractions of the four oxidation states. Similar analyses have been applied to plutonium in other solutions, and the same methods can be applied to seawater. An appendix shows how to estimate and interpret the alpha coefficient for tetravalent plutonium using published information for tetravalent thorium.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Dissolution of plutonium(IV) hydroxide by desferrioxamine siderophores and simple organic chelators.

Plutonium is thought to exist mostly as low soluble plutonium(IV) species in the environment and, therefore, has low potential of becoming mobile. Due to their prevalence and high solution stability constants for Pu(IV), microbial siderophores could significantly affect plutonium solubility and mobility. In this study, the ability of trihydroxamate desferrioxamine siderophores to solubilize Pu(IV) solids was investigated. Both desferrioxamine B and E (DFB and DFE) are far less effective at solubilizing amorphous Pu(IV) hydroxide in neutral solution than are simple chelators, such as EDTA, citrate, and tiron, despite the fact that these chelators have smaller solution stability constants for Pu(IV) than do DFE and DFB. Positively charged, linear DFB is less effective than the neutral cyclic DFE. Hydroxamate siderophores may, in fact, passivate Pu(IV) hydroxide surfaces, thereby inhibiting solubilization by other chelators. PuO(2) solubilization under these conditions is far slower than that of Pu(IV) hydroxide.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Synthesis and structural characterization of the first quaternary plutonium thiophosphates: K(3)Pu(PS(4))(2) and APuP(2)S(7) (A = K, Rb, Cs).

The first quaternary plutonium metal thiophosphates have been synthesized by the reactive flux method and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction: K(3)Pu(PS(4))(2) (I), KPuP(2)S(7) (II), RbPuP(2)S(7) (III), and CsPuP(2)S(7) (IV). All four compounds crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c with Z = 4. Compound I has cell parameters of a = 9.157(1) A, b = 16.866(2) A, c = 9.538(1), and beta = 90.610(3)degrees. Compound II has cell parameters of a = 9.641(1) A, b = 12.255(1) A, c = 9.015(1) A, and beta = 90.218(1)degrees. Compound III has cell parameters of a = 9.8011(6) A, b = 12.3977(7) A, c = 9.0263(5) A, and beta = 90.564(1)degrees. Compound IV has cell parameters of a = 10.1034(7) A, b = 12.5412(9) A, c = 9.0306(6) A, and beta = 91.007(1)degrees. Compound I is isostructural to a family of rare-earth metal thiophosphates and comprises bicapped trigonal prismatic PuS(8) polyhedra linked in chains through edge-sharing interactions and through thiophosphate tetrahedra. Compounds II-IV crystallize in a known structure type not related to any previously observed actinide thiophosphates and contain the (P(2)S(7))(4-) corner-shared bitetrahedral ligand as a structural building block. A summary of important bond distances and angles for these new plutonium thiophosphate materials is compared to the limited literature on plutonium solid-state compounds. Diffuse reflectance spectra confirm the Pu(III) oxidation state and Raman spectroscopy confirms the tetrahedral PS(4)(3-) building block in all structures.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

Organic Constituents and Complexation of Nickel(II), Iron(III), Cadmium(II), and plutonium(IV) in Soybean Xylem Exudates.

The xylem exudates of soybean (Glycine max cv Williams), provided with fixed N, were characterized as to their organic constituents and in vivo and in vitro complexation of plutonium, iron, cadmium, and nickel. Ion exchange fractionation of whole exudates into their compound classes (organic acid, neutral, amino acid, and polyphosphate), followed by thinlayer electrophoresis, permitted evaluation of the types of ligands which stabilize each element. The polyvalent elements plutonium(IV) and iron(III) are found primarily as organic acid complexes, while the divalent elements nickel(II) and cadmium(II) are associated primarily with components of the amino acid/peptide fraction. For plutonium and cadmium, it was not possible to fully duplicate complexes formed in vivo by back reaction with whole exudates or individual class fractions, indicating the possible importance of plant induction processes, reaction kinetics, and/or the formation of mixed ligand complexes. The number and distribution of specific iron- and nickel-containing complexes varies with plant age and appears to be related to the relative concentration of organic acids and amino acids/peptides being produced and transported in the xylem as the plant matures.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Phonon dispersions of fcc delta-plutonium-gallium by inelastic x-ray scattering.

We report an experimental determination of the phonon dispersion curves in a face-centered cubic (fcc) delta-plutonium-0.6 weight % gallium alloy. Several unusual features, including a large elastic anisotropy, a small-shear elastic modulus C', a Kohn-like anomaly in the T1[011] branch, and a pronounced softening of the [111] transverse modes, are found. These features can be related to the phase transitions of plutonium and to strong coupling between the lattice structure and the 5f valence instabilities. Our results also provide a critical test for theoretical treatments of highly correlated 5f electron systems as exemplified by recent dynamical mean field theory calculations for delta-plutonium.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

Influence of iron on plutonium absorption by the adult and neonatal rat.

To determine how iron affects plutonium absorption, adult rats were gavaged with 238Pu nitrate (pH 2) after they had been fed an iron-deficient diet or treated with iron supplements. Neonatal rats born to dams on an iron-deficient diet were also gavaged with 238Pu. An iron-deficient diet resulted in enhanced 238Pu absorption both in the adults and in neonates born to iron-deficient dams. Ferric iron increased 238Pu absorption 12-fold in adult rats; injected iron-dextran reduced that increase; gavaged ferrous iron reduced 238Pu absorption to one-third of the control value. Rat neonates absorbed 30 to 40 times as much 238Pu as adults; absorption was lowered in groups that received iron supplements: Iron-dextran caused a 50% reduction; ferric iron, 95%; and ferrous iron, greater than 95%. The results demonstrate an effect of the oxidation state of iron on plutonium absorption in adult rats different from that observed in suckling rats. The results suggest that the high rate of 238Pu absorption by neonatal animals is due not only to the permeability of their intestines but also to their high demand for iron.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

The speciation of plutonium in foodstuffs and its influence on gut uptake.

Soluble plutonium complexing agents in foodstuffs have been identified. These have been labelled to high specific activity with 238Pu and their gut uptake determined in rats. The range of values found for naturally-occurring complexes was between 0.03% for oxalate and 0.1% for phytate. However, reasons are advanced for believing that the enhancement of uptake in rats fed the phytate complex would not be expected to occur in man. These results are not taken, therefore, as suggesting that there should be any change in the gut uptake factor of 0.05% currently recommended by the National Radiological Protection Board for plutonium contained in foodstuffs eaten by humans.

6-Phytase↗
PubMed1986

Transfer of environmental plutonium and americium across the human gut.

Data on gut transfer factors for environmental forms of radionuclides are essential for estimates of public radiation exposures following ingestion, and thus in decisions on controlling waste discharges. Dose estimates for transuranic nuclides are particularly sensitive to uncertainties stemming from gut transfer data being related to non-environmental forms and/or derived from animal experiments. We have measured human gut transfer factors for plutonium and americium in two experiments using marine foods obtained near Sellafield, Cumbria. Firstly, the urine of volunteer members of the critical group of shellfish consumers was analysed for transuranics and the results related to their consumption rates. Secondly, remotely-based volunteers ate single quantities of shellfish obtained near Sellafield, and their urine was analysed. An overall result for the gut transfer factor for environmental plutonium of 0.8 X 10(-4) indicates no need to increase the value of 1 X 10(-4), currently used by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for soluble forms. Results for americium show that the ICRP value of 5 X 10(-4) is maximising, and that a value of 1 X 10(-4) would be supportable. The results from the study of critical group members provide confidence in our habits survey techniques and reassurance that there are no significant pathways for intake of transuranics by these people that have not been recognised.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Plutonium and Cs-137 in autopsy tissues in Great Britain.

Tissues removed at autopsy from members of the general public contain significantly higher concentrations of plutonium and 137Cs in west Cumbrians than in people from three other regions of Great Britain. Several autopsy cases from Cumbria showed unusually high values of plutonium. Subsequently it was found that the subjects had been former employees of British Nuclear Fuels.

Autopsy↗
PubMed1988

Intercomparison exercise on the determination of plutonium in biological material.

This paper gives the results of an intercomparison exercise on the determination of plutonium-238 in urine. The urine, containing metabolised plutonium, was analysed by 6 laboratories in the United Kingdom and 5 in France. Three solutions were provided, a high and low level solution and a blank solution comprising the diluent urine. Several different methods were used by the various laboratories and the results showed good agreement between them.

France↗