Consequences of Ingestion by Man of Real and Simulated Fallout (1963)

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

This is one of those titles that most people will read twice: 

The Consequences of Ingestion by Man of Real and Simulated Fallout.

(By LeRoy, George V. ; Rust, John H. ; Hasterlik, Robert J. Operated by the University of Chicago under Contract AT-(11-1)-69, Argonne Cancer Research Hospital, Chicago, 1963. 11x8", 32pp. )

I understand the need for the data and the research, but, still, it is a tough go, and no doubt a lot of unusual bits could be forced from the title. 

From the paper: "Abstract-Real and simulated particulate fallout and solutions of Sr⁸⁵CL₂ and Cs¹³⁴Cl₂ were fed to 102 healthy volunteers. Absorption and retention of ingested radioactivity was measured by whole-body counting using the gamma-ray spectrometer at the Argonne Cancer Research Hospital. An average of 3 per cent of the radioactivity of week-old local fallout W~S absorbed: the range was 0-9 per cent. Strontium and cesium leached or dissolved from simulated fallout behaved in the same way, metabolically, after absorption as they did when the tracer was swallowed in a solution or injected intravenously. The large number of subjects studied provided additional information on the range of variation of intestinal motility, biological availability of strontium, cesium and barium following ingestion of fallout, and retention of the radionuclides of these elements."

[Sr85=Strontium Cs134=Caesium]

Interesting set of descriptors used by the Defense Technical Information Center:

• "Descriptors :   (*RADIATION EFFECTS, FALLOUT), (*METABOLISM, FISSION PRODUCTS), (*FISSION PRODUCTS, ABSORPTION), GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM, EXCRETION, NUCLEAR PARTICLES, RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES, LABELED SUBSTANCES, TRACER STUDIES, ORAL, INJECTION (MEDICINE), DOSAGE, NUCLEAR RADIATION SPECTROMETERS, SOLUBILITY, CESIUM, BARIUM, STRONTIUM, SIMULATION, HUMANS."