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2 Toxicokinetics of Depleted Uranium
Pages 18-25

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From page 18...
... Deposited particles that are not cleared by mechanical means, such as nose blowing, may be transported to the posterior nasal passages where they are swallowed. The small fraction of inhaled particles that deposits in the tracheobronchial compartments is cleared by the mucociliary escalator that transports them from there to the pharynx, from which they are swallowed and enter the gastrointestinal tract (IOM 2000)
From page 19...
... Relatively insoluble compounds are least likely to enter the systemic circulation and may remain in the lung and tracheobronchial lymph nodes for several years or decades. Most inhaled uranium aerosol is cleared from the respiratory tract via the gastrointestinal tract, but a fraction is absorbed into the body fluids and distrib
From page 20...
... found that large doses of uranyl nitrate, uranyl fluoride, uranium pentachloride, uranium trioxide, sodium diuranate, and ammonium diuranate were absorbed through the skin and caused poisoning and death in experimental animals. However, the insoluble oxides uranium dioxide, uranium tetroxide, and triuranium octaoxide did not cause toxicity.
From page 21...
... After inhalation of uranium dioxide dust, the lungs and lymph nodes account for more than 90% of the body burden (Leach et al.
From page 22...
... Inhaled insoluble uranium compounds are eliminated primarily in the feces. More than 90% of intravenously injected hexavalent uranium is excreted by the kidneys and less than 1% in the feces (Berlin and Rudell 1986)
From page 23...
... The skeleton is modeled as two compartments: one represents trabecular bone and one cortical bone. Additional subcompartments represent movement of uranium from the bone surfaces to bone volume and back.
From page 24...
... Systemic uranium is eliminated virtually entirely through urine. Using this or other systemic models and the ICRP respiratory tract model for inhalation exposure, one can calculate the radiation dose to individual tissues and organs from a known intake of DU and thus gain an indication of the risk of stochastic effects (see Chapter 6)
From page 25...
... The data after the first 6 mo fit well, but the data for the first 6 mo did not, perhaps because of variable urinary excretion or some peculiarity of the biokinetics of uranium release from embedded DU metal. Leggett and Pellmar concluded that it is reasonable to apply ICRP's updated biokinetic model for uranium to assess chemical risk to soldiers who have embedded DU fragments.


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