Half lives, biological blood lead levels

The earliest models of lead toxicokinetics are typified by that of Rabinowitz et al. (1976, 1977), using stable lead isotope in human volunteers, and which indicate that there are at least three kinetically distinct body compartments for lead disposition in vivo. These compartments consist of a central blood compartment, a second lead depository in peripheral soft tissues, and, finally, the large bone compartment for lead. Lead in blood is the most kinetically labile, whereas lead in soft tissues has a somewhat larger biological half-life. The bone compartment retains lead for the longest time. Blood and soft tissues contain relatively small burdens of lead, ca. 1.9 and 0.6 mg respectively, while the vast majority of the body burden of lead is sequestered in a kinetically slow compartment of bone, with levels that can exceed 200 mg of the toxicant. 

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