The use of chelating agents for accelerating excretion of radioelements /

Although the deleterious effects of exposure to ionizing radiation were first recognized and described over fifty years ago, the adequate treatment of these effects still remains a therapeutic challenge. At the present time, when increasing numbers of our population are being exposed to radiation because of the great increase in availability and use of radioactive isotopes and because of the potential exposure of much greater numbers of people to radiation following a possible atomic bomb burst or from disseminated radioactivity, the need for development of adequate therapy is becoming an increasingly pressing medical problem. In a consideration of possible approaches to therapy, one must distinguish between radiation front sources external to the body and radiation which results from radioactive materials which by some means or other have gained access into the body. Internally deposited radiation emitters can be particularly insidious since so many of them become fixed in the skeleton and are eliminated at very slow rates. While it is possible to remove external sources of damaging radiation once the hazard is recognized, the internal radiation emitters often are not readily displaced and the body remains exposed to prolonged continued radiation. Where long-lived elements, such as plutonium with a biological half-life of the order of 100 years or radium with one of 45 years, are involved, the body can be subject to continuous radiation for the remainder of its lifetime. Moreover, because the radiation persists for such long periods of time, only minute amounts of certain radioelements, i.e., plutonium and radium, need have entered initially to produce considerable injury. The effects of this type of chronic exposure to radiation are well documented in the case reports on radium poisoning in workers in the luminous dial industry. The damage is manifest in various forms, i.e., severe anemia, osteitis, and osteogenic sarcoma. In the past, therapy to check injuryWork performed at the Radiation Laboratory, University of California."June 14, 1951."Includes bibliographical references (p. 18).Although the deleterious effects of exposure to ionizing radiation were first recognized and described over fifty years ago, the adequate treatment of these effects still remains a therapeutic challenge. At the present time, when increasing numbers of our population are being exposed to radiation because of the great increase in availability and use of radioactive isotopes and because of the potential exposure of much greater numbers of people to radiation following a possible atomic bomb burst or from disseminated radioactivity, the need for development of adequate therapy is becoming an increasingly pressing medical problem. In a consideration of possible approaches to therapy, one must distinguish between radiation front sources external to the body and radiation which results from radioactive materials which by some means or other have gained access into the body. Internally deposited radiation emitters can be particularly insidious since so many of them become fixed in the skeleton and are eliminated at very slow rates. While it is possible to remove external sources of damaging radiation once the hazard is recognized, the internal radiation emitters often are not readily displaced and the body remains exposed to prolonged continued radiation. Where long-lived elements, such as plutonium with a biological half-life of the order of 100 years or radium with one of 45 years, are involved, the body can be subject to continuous radiation for the remainder of its lifetime. Moreover, because the radiation persists for such long periods of time, only minute amounts of certain radioelements, i.e., plutonium and radium, need have entered initially to produce considerable injury. The effects of this type of chronic exposure to radiation are well documented in the case reports on radium poisoning in workers in the luminous dial industry. The damage is manifest in various forms, i.e., severe anemia, osteitis, and osteogenic sarcoma. In the past, therapy to check injurySponsored by U.S. Atomic Energy CommissionMode of access: Internet