Dietary Inorganic Phosphorus Effects on Retention and Deposition of Sr89

Abstract

OF THE bone-seeking elements found in fission products, radiostrontium is generally accepted as constituting the greatest potential health hazard, not only because of the large quantities produced, but also because it has a long half-life (Sr90, T I/2= 28 y) and the fact that Sr may be exchanged for Ca in the bone matrix.Alterations in dietary Ca levels have already been shown to influence the elimination of radiostrontium from bones in chicks (Colvin et al., 1966; Mraz, 1961a,b); rats (Razumovskii and Torchinskya, 1961); and goats (Comar et al., 1961). However, the influence of other elements important to bone mineralization, such as P, have been studied less extensively and results tend to be conflicting.Wasserman and Comar (1960) reported that a three-fold increase in dietary P from 0.4 to 1.2% had no effect on the skeletal retention of radiostrontium. Similarly, Dubrovina and Malkin (1965) reported that dietary phosphate level had …