Hamsters were exposed to an arosol of fused a inosilcat particles (FAP) labeled with 57Co Three groUpS ofanimalS were given bronchopulmonry laage, beging at either 1 week, 1 month, or 6 months after exposure. Each treated group was lavaged eight times over a period of25 days. Each lavage involved 10 saline washes ofthe lungs. For each group, about 60-70% ofthe body content of 5Co at the startof lavage treatment was removed; nearly half of this was recovered in the first two lavages. A positive correlation was demonstrated between the macrophage content and 57Co activity of the washings The subsequent fractional darance te of57Co from laVaged animals was not significantly different from that in a group of untreated control animals.

No abstract