Radioelement Poisoning
DOI: 10.1063/1.3066500
Argonne National Laboratory has recently announced important results in the treatment of radioelement poisoning by metal displacement therapy. The treatment, reported by Jack Schubert of the Laboratory’s division of medicine, involves injections of a solution of zirconium citrate given to rats which have received previous injections of significant amounts of radioactive materials such as plutonium and yttrium. The zirconium treatment has resulted in at least three‐fourths of the radioactive materials previously injected into rats being removed within six days. The method has been found to cause a great increase in the urinary excretion of plutonium and yttrium and a large decrease in the amount of these elements deposited in the animal’s skeleton.
