Whcri taken into the systemic circulation, 1 '~~~~ deposits predominantly ill the skeleton, where it may produce bone disease (including cancer) many years later. Its absorption rate from the gastrointestinal tract is only about 0.003 per rent. 12 small amount niay be absorbed through the intact skin and through contaminated cut3 and puncture xvounds. Absorption from the lung may be from I to 10 per cent of the inhaled dose, depending 011 particle size, solubility, chemical fornr, etc. Inhalation of contaminated air is potentially ihe most important mode of exposure, and its control is largely responsible for the rigorous closed-systems and other industrial hygiene arid engineering practices employed in plutonium
Twenty-five male subjects who worked with plutonium during World War I1 under extraordinarily crude working conditions have been followed medically for a period of 27 yr. Within the past year, 2 1 of these men have been examined at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and three more will be studied in 1973. I n addition to physical examinations and laboratory studies (complete blood count, blood chemistry profile and urinalysis), roentgenog r a m s were taken of the chest, pelvis, knee and teeth. The chromosomes of lymphocytes cultured from the peripheral blood and cells exfoliated from the pulmonary tract were also studied. Urine specimens assayed for plutonium gave a calculated current body burden (excluding the lungs) ranging from 0.005 to 0.42 pCi, and low-energy radiation emitted by internally deposited transuranic elements in the chest disclosed lung burdens probably of less than approximately 0.01 pCi. To date, none of the medical findings in the group can be attributed definitely to internally deposited plutonium. The bronchial cells of several of the subjects showed moderate to marked metaplatic change, but the significance of these changes is not clear. Diseases and physical changes characteristic of a male population entering its sixth decade were observed. Because of the small body burdens on the order of the maximum permissible level in these men so heavily exposed to plutonium compounds, we conclude that the body has protective mechanisms which are effective in discriminating against these materials following some types of occupational exposures. This is presumably explained by the insolubility of many of its compounds. Plutonium is more toxic than radium if deposited in certain body tissues, especially bone; however, from the practical point of view, plutonium seems to be less hazardous to handle.
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