The Absorption, Retention, and Distribution of Strontium 90 from Naturally Contaminated Food by Female Rabbits

¹ Department of Physiological Chemistry, School of Dentistry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

Rabbits fed commercial chow contaminated with approximately 20 pC fallout Sr⁹⁰/gm Ca absorb 15 per cent of the ingested nuclide and 41 per cent of the dietary calcium. In young female rabbits fed commercial chow for 20-40 days, utilization of dietary calcium over that of strontium 90 by the total body occurs with a factor of 3.8, a value comparable to the factor of 4.0 found in man and other animals. The deposition of strontium 90 in hard tissues is greatest for rapidly growing teeth, but jaw, leg, and vertebral bones incorporate progressively smaller amounts of strontium 90 as the rabbits age. The data suggest that rapidly growing teeth may represent a useful index for the estimation of total-body burden and strontium/calcium discrimination factors.