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Abstract

The distribution and retention of intravenously injected hexavalent uranium-233 in the skeleton of the female rat has been investigated using a variety of autoradiographic and radiochemical techniques. These showed that approximately one third of the injected uranium is deposited in the skeleton where it is retained with an initial biological half-time of ∼40 days. The studies also showed that:

1 Uranium is initially deposited onto all types of bone surface, but preferentially onto those that are accreting.

2 Uranium is deposited in the calcifying zones of skeletal cartilage.

3 Bone accretion results in the burial of surface deposits of uranium.

4 Bone resorption causes the removal of uranium from surfaces.

5 Resorbed uranium is not retained by osteoclasts and macrophages in the bone marrow.

6 Uranium removed from bone surfaces enters the bloodstream where most is either redeposited in bone or excreted via the kidneys.

7 The recycling of resorbed uranium within the skeleton tends to produce a uniform level of uranium contamination throughout mineralized bone. These results are taken to indicate that uranium deposition in bone shares characteristics in common with both the 'volume-seeking radionuclides' typified by the alkaline earth elements and with the 'bone surface-seeking radionuclides' typified by plutonium.

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Uranium in Bone: Metabolic and Autoradiographic Studies in the Rat

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