Abstract
Methods have been developed to investigate the quantitative production and the ultimate fate of /sup 37/Ar produced in bone calcium in the living human body. A healthy male subject's whole body was irradiated using cyclotron-produced neutrons provided by the /sup 9/Be(/sup 3/He,n) reaction. The dose of fast neutrons was limited to 1.6 mrad. Six breath samples were collected and assayed for /sup 37/Ar content over a 12.5 hr period after irradiation. Low background (0.5 to 5 counts/day) gas proportional counting techniques were used to assay samples containing as little activity as 0.01 dis/min corrected to end of irradiation. Analysis of the exhalation data by a two-component exponential relation indicated 82 percent of the activity left the body by way of the lungs with a half-time of 40 min. The remaining 18 percent was exhaled with a 200 min half-time. Exhalation was demonstrated to account for approximately 70 percent of the /sup 37/Ar activity produced in the body. Evidence from studies of isolated bone indicated that essentially permanent trapping in bone crystals accounted for the remaining activity.
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