Toxicity of plutonium

Work has also been conducted that involved the investigation, via infrared spectroscopy, of matrix-isolated, plutonium oxides (40), with the appropriate precautions being taken because of the toxicity of plutonium and its compounds. A sputtering technique was used to vaporize the metal. The IR spectra of PuO and PUO2 in both Ar and Kr matrices were identified, with the observed frequencies for the latter (794.25 and 786.80 cm", respectively) assigned to the stretchingmode of Pu 02. Normal-coordinate analysis of the PUO2 isotopomers, Pu 02, Pu 02, and Pu 0 0 in Ar showed that the molecule is linear. The PuO molecule was observed in multiple sites in Ar matrices, but not in Kr, with Pu 0 at 822.28 cm" in the most stable, Ar site, and at 817.27 cm" in Kr. No evidence for PuOa was observed. 

Jee WSS, Dell RB, Parks NJ, et al. 1985. Toxicity of plutonium and americium Relationship of bone composition to location of 226Ra, 239Pu and241 Am induced bone sarcomas. EUR 9250 155-174. 

Lindenbaum A, Rosenthal MW. 1972. Deposition patterns and toxicity of plutonium and americium in liver. Health Phys 22 597-605. 

Nenot JC, Stather JW. 1980. The toxicity of plutonium, americium, and curium Plutonium recycling in light water reactors. Oxford Pergamon Press. 

Taylor DM. 1989. The biodistribution and toxicity of plutonium, americium and neptunium. Sci Total Environ 83 217-225. 

The toxicity of plutonium is primarily due to its radioactive nature, and its effects have been extensively studied both in animals and in workers with occupational intakes. Shortly after its discovery in 1941,... 

Hodge HC, Stannard JN, and Hursh JB (eds.) (1973) Uranium, Plutonium, Transplutonium Elements. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol. 36. New York Springer. Nenot JC and Stather JW (1979) The Toxicity of Plutonium, Americium and Curium. Commission of the European Communities. Oxford Pergamon. 

The pulmonary toxicity of plutonium-239 dioxide in Rhesus monkeys and baboons was similar to that of other species however, they appear to be less sensitive to radiation-induced lung tumors than... 

Ballou J, Thompson R, Clarke W, et al. 1967. Comparative toxicity of plutonium-238 and plutonium-239 in the rat. Health Phys 13 1087-1092. 

Nenot J, Stather J. 1979. The toxicity of plutonium, americium and curium. A report prepared under contract for the Commission of the European Communities within its Research and Development Programme on "Plutonium Recycling in Light Water Reactors." New York Pergammon Press, 1-9. 

Nenot, J.C., and J.W Stather, 1979, The Toxicity of Plutonium, Americiitm and Curium (Pergamon Press, Oxford). 

The toxic properties of plutonium have attracted interest to such an extent that it has become one of the best understood toxic substances known. Although plutonium has been known since 1940 and has been manufactured and handled on a large scale, no unquestionable direct relationship, 40 years later has been established between its toxicity and human death [65]. Everything known about the toxicity of plutonium has been learned from animal experimentation, as there is no known case of ingestion by a human of a suffidently large amount of plutonium to produce symptoms of acute toxicity. The application of information acquired in this way to humans can only be by extrapolation, which raises questions of species specificity that cannot be answered at this time. The information available about the other actinide elements is fragmentary and much less abundant, and generalizations must be accepted with reservations. 

There is general agreement that the toxicity of plutonium is caused by its alpha radioactivity [65, 68]. Raymond [71], on the basis of very old work on animals [79], considers the acute chemical toxicity of to be about the same as... 

Breeder reactors use the more common uranium-238 isotope, which is bombarded with neutrons. Through a three-step process, the iuanium-238 is converted to plutonium-239, which is fissionable and can then be used to fuel another reactor. The major controversy in the United States concerns the extreme chemical toxicity of plutonium and its difficulty in handling. 

---