The Metabolism of 137 Cs Inhaled as 137 CsCl by the Beagle Dog ∗

Abstract

Summary

Results are presented for a group of beagle dogs given single, short inhalation exposures to a CsCl aerosol contaminated with ¹³⁷Cs. The mean biological half-life derived from the long-term component of whole-body retention was 42 days before, and 36 days after, a colony-wide diet change. For times greater than about 10 days post exposure, approximately constant percentages of the body burden were excreted each day in the urine and feces. The U/F ratio normally fell between 3 and 7. Highest tissue concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs were observed in skeletal muscle, mandibular salivary glands, and kidneys while the lowest were in lung, skin, fat, and bone. These results indicate that since ¹³⁷Cs is very soluble in body fluids, the route of administration has very little effect on its subsequent distribution and extion.