The Effects of Sodium Alginate and Other Untested Polymers on Radiostrontium Retention in the Rat 1

Abstract

Summary

At levels of 1, 5, and 10%, sodium alginate, guar gum, carboxymethyl guar gum, and Questran were tested in diets fed to rats to determine their effects on radiostrontium skeletal retention. Alginate was the only effective agent against radiostrontium retention, approaching, at the 10% level, 70% less ⁸⁹Sr skeletally retained than radio-control animals and a 3-fold improvement over natural biological strontium-calcium discrimination. The strontium-binding ability shown by alginate was probably clue to its functional carboxyl groups.