Uranium trioxide, produced industrially, was administered to rats either by inhalation or direct injection of an aqueous suspension into the lungs. The results:
1 show that uranium was cleared rapidly from the lungs, mainly to the blood;
2 show that distribution of uranium among body tissues, and the fraction of the systemic content excreted in urine, was similar to that obtained for other transportable hexavalent uranium compounds;
3 suggest that urine monitoring data would be of more value than lung radioactivity counting measurements for assessing occupational human exposure;
4 indicate that for setting exposure limits by inhalation the uranium trioxide should be considered a highly transportable compound. Thus intakes by workers should be restricted to those recommended for short-term exposures and not those based on an annual limit.
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