Fission products biological effects

Ionizing Radiation Sources and Biological Effects. New York, United Nations. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1981) Technical basis for estimating fission product behaviour during LWR accidents. Report NUREG-0772, Washington, D.C. 

Fumariflorine ethyl ester (1) has been isolated from Fumaria parviflora.1,2 It has been claimed that the product of the reaction between cotarnine and 6-nitropiperonal has the structure (2) rather than the previously accepted (3).3 The anodic oxidation of ephedrine in aqueous buffer, at pH 10, has been re-examined and found to proceed by fission of carbon-carbon rather than carbon-nitrogen bonds, giving benzaldehyde.4 The H n.m.r. spectra of ephedrine and /-ephedrine have been studied5 and quaternary salts of esters of these bases have been prepared.6 Methods for the detection and characterization of mescaline have been published,7,8 and the biological effects of the alkaloid9,10 and its clearance from rabbit lung and liver11 have been studied. 

The massive production of radionuclides (radioactive isotopes) by weapons and nuclear reactors since World War II has been accompanied by increasing concern about the effects of radioactivity upon health and the environment. As illustrated in Figure 4.15 and by the specific examples shown in Table 4.7, radionuclides are produced as fission products of heavy nuclei of such elements as uranium or plutonium and are also produced by the reaction of neutrons with stable nuclei. The ultimate disposition of radionuclides formed in large quantities as waste products in nuclear power generation poses challenges with regard to the widespread use of nuclear power. Artificially produced radionuclides are also widely used in industrial and medical applications, particularly as tracers. Radionuclides may enter aquatic systems from both artificial and natural sources, and their transport, reactions, and biological concentration in aquatic ecosystems can be a water pollution concern. 

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