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Report of Conference on Plutonium - May 14TH and 15TH

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Report
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12 pages
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1 Sunnnscp of Requests for InSonnat3on Den i red ConceFning Plutonium and Ur. S. C. &@Ada rm te the letters on which this section i a based. Immediate problsPIII of impoFt.nce about which further infomation 58 I. Diamosh and Estimation of the Aaount of'Pluton5um in the Hunan Body A. Detection of Mounts in the body in Qtcesb of the ped sai ble 1. Dmclopmant of a satisfactory means of assay of ulsnc and a. Need more information on dbb ation rate a8 a b. Need more itiformation on el hi nation rate aba function of mute of Ic take 2. Determination of percentage of plutonium excreted daily 3. Can blood samples be utilized for this putpotte? B. Detection of plutonium in t h e lung 1. Developrnent of a aatisfactory means of estimation of t h e amount or ph toni um in the lung Compoundr of interest a r c + 3, +4, nitrate in aqueous 8olutien, + 6a it rate in ether rolution, tetrafluoride, + kdde, C, Devtlopmtnt of a method for detection and qu nt it ation of plu1, Need more infomation on absorption rate on various plw tonhm COmpOUnd8 through the intact fin Is absorption influenced by use of potassium pemanganate bolution followed by sodium hypo-sulphide crolution on the

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1. Need mrc hformation on absorption r a t e s of various plutonium comparnds. Specific infbrmt ion 5s desired about those compounds mentioned under lldiagnosisl' Cm the el hl nation of plutonium be used inthe event of p88 intake t o detect the amun t that rill be fixed 1. The rate of diffusion of plutcnium fram t h e round area 2. The effect of difftreat p htc niu n cmpo-~.ncIson the rate 3. H m is the dicstributim pattern altered by havbg different sorts of waund3, e. g. punctwe xounds & a opposed 1. lion mch of the aao?1n*, brcatkcd is rete Lied in the hurm and then t o the s!celetm? B. In the b ne B. Distribution pattern as a function of diet C. Khat is the rate of eiizini.tion of plutoiiiwii f r o m bme?

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8. What i r the nature of liver damaee after ab-lethal do8e8 glven through other routes of entry? t0dus f r o m the body? Should por8tns uith kidney damsee be A. Dcvelopmnt of methods of increasing elldnotion iron tb M y 2. Effect of indection of amplucing or other agents Kethods of covering up rnaterial d t ? ~ sltt din bone Developmnt of n&hods of tkerapy far rlutnniua in n r i d z (rps d fic mention iu made of those CGXA~XUI~S zentimed under 1. Tho effoct of suction 2, The effect of increased venous flm U. Fondation of a reconmnded procedure for treatrent in cam of 8 knom over-dosage b.7 inhalation, by muth, or by wamd Hor mch tFms can lapse before treatmnt ust bo instituted?E. A, Is Inactive dust i n a mrL arc8 an additional haztrd i n that i t increases the probability of breathing plutonium? 8. Iaprwemnt of eldstinc mans of the physical protection of . persmnel frun ingestion, inhalatior1 or direct innoculation c b Dcrelopment of a method for the rapid detemination of the q unti ty of plutanium in the atrasphere or dust borne fiutoniuri which is effective in concentration3 &st above or a t toler m e levels

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E. kr al pris of anaka md rerphratora for percentage efficiency in filtering out rrrbur cbd cal farm of plutonium. of respirator8 or is particle rice the bprtant irc tar ? 8. Khat retio fa chronic effects?

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Effect of Method of Colloeting hqplc on bunts Faund in the Urine A t Homes In Hor pital ~ * S mp los collected a t home nerd two overnight voidings collected by the in divi d url afkr thoroug bathing m d msf;in&of hands. ** Samples collected in hosaital were a-hour ramplea collected under the rigcrous IiorpitaL plan after a tm dey leave fromthe Site. From Regular and Eock Urine Smple8 NO. OS Nature of Amt. of Recovery spread

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Tho prirrrry interest of o r healt), dep rta ent is the immediate dcvclopxnt cf a mthod of monitoring perromel for internal body cont a bati on wlth plutonium. plan is to enable us t o retire hdi vid Lal s frore furt hz r ccztact Yiith t h e lnsterial before they have absorbed hanr'ful mounts. tion of suc:! plan depends on the estoblish.mnt of a mfriisr of factors mong hhiCh are t h e following: ' &?ounfc of glutcrdur. in som ba:y f h i d or excresent; The obviocs purpose of a mn it orf ng 1) The der,elc?acnt of e nctt.bC of deter z lnh g exeeedlngly small 2) The estsblishnznt of t).e relotions1L.j bet.;ceen the body f l u i d or cxcrrncnt s d the arwnt of Flutnnium ccntained i n the hurran body; bil it y of extcrnal contaxbction of the sample. Tiia repcrt ssc-zrizes our otte.qt s tocs tabl ish s3z.e of the above The urine kts been chisen as the siu rce ~f the swp lef cr etuey. of external c cnt m hati on of ths sm.;le, the 7ractice has bee;; to collect psrioci ?receding the period cf collection of the sazple t o be analyzed. prelirzbary period End to b a t h crnd wash. tlleir hsr'ds frequently. i n this room fcr tke cntire a-1 0 1 w period. subSect roe tr ict tiis fluid inta':e t o one CQZ o r elass of fluid per mal t o rvoid an rbnorzially large sazple. The subject is directed The rul j cc tie as%& tore Tr tio the hospital at eight orclock in Fe i s asked t r rerzh It is requested th3t Vie d7sing vc i ding,tha prsveiltir,c zgithelial Eceles of the hands from fal fin p into the Zlask and contwdriting thc sample. ina2liter crlemcyor flhsk r:!.lich is placed a t such a he i gt,tth3t it is not necessary for the pzrscn t o touch the flask orthe funzel viiiZc 3m Ctle collection is c c ? l5tniy the subject dresses and

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group ddne the ulaly8es. collection of a Uc-hour urine .ample as nearly free f r o m external contad nation as posrible. Rigid adherence t o the procedure described 8bove should perdt the The effect irene rr of the ab390 xethod i 8 Indicated by the data h Table which gives a Coqmrison of the analyses of rrunple8 conrirtSng of tro overnight r pe cbn s mlle c ted in the individualat homes rrith mthod. The average count8 per minute obtained In the rarnples collected at home w a s 20 as compaFed t o 2.2 counts per &uta per mnple when collected under hospital condiUm8. The most probable explanation of tPd8 great'difference i n that dern alc on tad nation was avoided inthe The samples cullccted in the hospital are anolylled by the fo llar bg The w.tin a-hour specimen is evaporated almost t o dryness and The ashing 1 s continued unUl a white solid the residue ueteshed using one addition of conc. HC1 and repeated additioAw chost completely free d organic ratter is all that =ins. The residue is kken up in 2PH Clad a com:>lete hydroade precipitetion carried out. The hjrdroxide precipitate is disnolved In2N HCl, the solution is 6dJurtad to a pfl I, 0.3-0.5 and t h e Pu, plus 1 me. of ferric i r o n a8 a carrier, is extracted into chloroform urhg cupfernon. off and the cu?ferron residue digested off with nitric and perchloric acids. The Pu is then carried out of t h s perchloric acid solution w i t h lanthanum d b c and counted fsr 30 minutes in an alpha counter. The chloroform i 8 evaporated The lanthanum fluorida precipitate is transferred toa platinum The data reported in Table X I V give sone idea a8 to t h e performance of this oathod when applied to s?iked urine samples and t o mck urine ash persons never having worked with PU. ample a it has pea d of 0.1.2 c/a. Blank detemJnation6 wem made on 24 sarrple8 of urine fran- These sacples ranged i n size from Tire average of all blank deter hat ions WES 0.5 c/m per Results of Personnel Yonitorinq: . ThLrty-six me&ber8 of the staff were chosen for the first test of the above .nodtodng zmthod. These poople were chouen to represent. high, moderate, m d lw o r no exposure groupc. The nurrber in ach group wo8 t 00 fett t o givo my definite nip ff i can ce to the classification. The results are indicative, hmever, and are munarized in Table XV. It may be significant the tall - Individual8 rhorrhg aps it l ve count In the urine had had one or -re high nose count8 QI record since joining t h e pro$$& A high nose count i 8 recordad &&&st an individual n!ien a mist filter-paper 8 ~ a b tr sef i ed into the nostril and rotatod shorn SO c/m o r greater uhen coated Urinary Excretion of Plutonium by the Human: mount of internal body contadriatian it is essential to know the relation If ur in mj ' cx c re tion values are to *be used t o estabUbh the actual

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betwesn the 8count of Pu l a the h m 8yStea and that cxcretcd in the urine per 24 howrr. Ch April 10, 1945, en otten?t vas mde t~ astablisk t h i s rel st ions c ip by injecting a huuian zubject ftix&vanuuslp with 4.78 of +4 Pu m!!ich was coqlexed nith sodium citrate(0.3a solution) and adjuatsd t o a Tho subject m a U, elderly male whcse &e. a d ~ enera lh ealth aas mch that thore is Uttle or no po6Gi but y that the in3oction can have any effect on the nor& f a m s e of hi8.lCe. The patient dght not htve been an ideal subject in %hat his kidney functiar m y not have been C GX ph tUb The 4-4c it rate complex rl~bused in order t o produce the d m dagotition in iAe bono. TMO prcswsblp mid produce an excretion rate coq x rab lt to that of b vnrker having absorbed the w teri al at a slow r a t e thereby depositins (r rraadam armunt in the bone where it is p?obably The result r obkined for the first 16 dap after injection ah? pre- . aeated graphically in Figure 1 by blocking in t h e per cent of the totel inJected dose txcrbted per day. lon emd the t thule - ielhg off cf the excretion rate rr2s auch slawer than they represent %me metabolic abnormality of the subject. It is pss i ble, blood sample taken4 hours rfter the injection showed that about 50 per cent of the injected dcst xas still i n the circzleting blood. The calc dati on, however, was bzsad cn the as sap tion tl,at there had bcen a cornplot5 dldr,g of the ste rid ttreighaut the total blood volum. t h e leveling off point s3em t o be about 0.02 per cent iristead of 3.01 psr cent as observed for rats. Tnc most ?robable ex?larAtion of these abservations is t h a t - - A rather favorbble excretion rate is indicated by tie observaLion that The Effect of S i z e of Dose on Urinary Eaczetion of b?: A nwhbtr OS fundementml assumptions mist be mbde in regard t c the EetaboUsm of PA ifa Ilmited m.t of hum tracer data are t o form the baris of a method of diag.osirig internal body contadnation. is neccswy to bsi wi o that, once absorbed, rll valence states and all compunds of Pu ore rcstabolized b;. tlro miml oreaim i n essentitlly the saw wey regardless of thc nut = of ab-sorption or d : d nist ration. therefore the fraction excro'ad i 8 b,depmjer~tof the s i z e of the dose ( 2 ) It is necessary to I U I ' ~that Pu i o metabolieed i n It is & s i nezcssarj t o assme that the fraction deposited and

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Five groups of mture &eJe rets wore injected w i t h 00C32b’(2f53 cirr.), istered as i&citrate complex in a sol uti cn 0.5 per cent with resyect t o sodium citrate. The pH of the solution WBS 6.0. The wire an3 feces were ccllectei daily for five days from ech group and en alpe j fcr 49. The results of the urine dys e sex eiv en in Table XVI. These Cata show rather conclusive’?y that the per cent of tkc t o t a l in$ectci dose excreted i n the urine of the rat *m?cr the htwt conditions is Lxkpndant of the siee 0: the dose rdrjnistend.

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Recults of Uonitoring Site Personnu1 Classification No. of w e . hr. Those having no Ngh * 0.5 c/m was subtracted frm each value as a blenk. ** A high n08e count i8 recorded as a hst an bav i dual rhcn a mirt of 50 c/a er i p & t e r when counted in an 2l3ha cowtor. Effect of Dosage on Per Cent Exsreticn of PU (f-4) Citrate i n the Urine of the Rat Period after DQSSRI lT