Plutonium-induced Wounds in Beagles

Abstract

Beagle dogs were given subcutaneous implants of plutonium in their forepaws to mimic hand wounds received by workers accidentally contaminated with plutonium. Ten dogs received 9.46 +/- 0.43 mu Ci of plutonium oxide, and eight dogs received 1.25 +/- 0.60 mu Ci of plutonium nitrate. Surviving dogs were sacrificed at 8 and 5 yr, respectively, after exposure, and radionanalyses were performed on the injection site, regional lymph nodes, liver, spleen and bone. Histopathologic and autoradiographic examinations were performed on injection sites, regional lymph nodes, livers, spleens, kidneys and grossly observed lesions. The injected paws sequestered 21 and 16%, respectively, of the injected activity from plutonium oxide and plutonium nitrate in hypocellular scar tissue. The highest concentrations of translocated radionuclides were found in the regional lymph nodes. Histopathologic and autoradiographic examinations of regional lymph nodes showed that the alpha activity was largely sequestered by scar tissue that replaced lymphoid parenchyma in the plutonium-oxide-injected dogs. In the plutonium-nitrate-injected dogs, activity was widely distributed in relatively intact regional lymph nodes. The liver had the next highest concentration for both radionuclides; activity was present as alpha stars. The spleen had the next highest concentration for plutonium-oxide-injected dogs, although concentrations in the spleen were lower than the skeleton in the plutonium-nitrate-injected dogs. Osteosarcomas and hepatomas were present in one dog injected with plutonium oxide. There does not appear to be any unique risk for dogs related to the subcutaneous route of exposure to plutonium.

The effects of ionizing radiation on domestic dogs: a review of the atomic bomb testing era

“…One to two‐year‐old beagles were more resistant to kidney damage while dogs over 7 years old showed no evidence of functional repair, indicating that subcutaneous injection of uranium is more toxic in aged dogs. At the University of Colorado, dogs were subcutaneously injected with 239 Pu in their forepaws to imitate hand wounds received by accidentally exposed workers (Dagle et al ., 1984). The highest concentrations of radionuclides that translocated from the initial injection site in the paw were found in the regional lymph nodes and liver, with average concentrations of 1429 and 0.83 nCi/g respectively for plutonium oxide and 5.78 and 0.18 nCi/g respectively for plutonium nitrate.…”

The Biokinetics of Plutonium-239 and Americium-241 in the Rat After Subcutaneous Deposition of Contaminated Particles from the Former Nuclear Weapons Site at Maralinga: Implications for Human Exposure

“…Dagle et a1. 15 reported that 8 years after subcutaneous injection of Pu oxide in dogs, 0.3-16% of the injected activity was retained in the lymph nodes.…”