Analysis of strontium metabolism in humans on the basis of the Techa river data

Abstract

Age and sex features of strontium metabolism have been analyzed on studies of the population residing on the banks of the Techa river which was contaminated by fission products during the years 1949-1956. Measurements of 90Sr body burden have been performed since 1974 using a whole-body counter, and these have made it possible to estimate age-specific long-term retention and elimination rates for men and women. Regarding the retention that correlated with the respective maturation ages, distinct sex differences have been observed for adolescents, whereas only postmenopausal women showed a sharp increase of their elimination rates. There were no differences concerning the reproductive ages. Our experimental findings have a clear physiological interpretation and can be used to develop metabolic models for bone-seeking radionuclides.

Strontium metabolism in teeth and enamel dose assessment: analysis of the Techa river data

“…Tooth growth and calcification occurs without remodeling and the process of calcium accumulation is predominant [23]. This is also the case in the late stage of skeletal maturation when strontium retention is at a maximum [7], and 90 Sr concentrations in bone and teeth are therefore not significantly different. For persons younger than 12 years old, the processes of skeletal and dental growth and maturation differ and result in a varying ratio of the 90 Sr concentrations in teeth and in the skeleton for those who were in this age at the beginning of the maximum intake (Fig.…”

“…6 [31]. Furthermore, there is a sex dimorphism in the retention of bone-seeking radionuclides in the period of sexual maturation [7] where boys have a 2.2-year-delay in bone age and reach the late pubertal stage 2.5 years later than girls. Sex differences are not significant for dentition, and girls tended to be more advanced than boys by about 0.3 years [32,33,34] which makes it difficult to predict the 90 Sr concentrations in teeth on the basis of WBC data for persons who were children and adolescents at the time of major 90 Sr intake.…”

“…The average content of skeletal calcium for men and women used in the calculations is presented in Table 3 and calculated on the basis of data for Russian women and newborns [12]. The corresponding values for men were calculated using a ratio of female to male skeleton weights of 0.76 [13] and correcting for sex differences in the age dependence of the peak skeletal growth velocity [7]. The calcium content of a tooth sample was calculated as 37% of the ashed weight, which is an average value for human ashed bone [14].…”

“…The URCRM database has already been used for the reconstruction of doses of the Techa riverside population [2], to analyze age and sex dependencies in the metabolism of bone-seeking radionuclides [7], to develop a model for the age-dependence of strontium retention in human bone [8], and to assess the feasibility to derive 90 Sr organ doses from the absorbed dose in enamel as determined by the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) method [9].…”

Immune System Modifications Induced in a Mouse Model of Chronic Exposure to90Sr

“…Whole-body elimination half-times were estimated in a study population of 361 males and 356 females to be 28 years in males and 16 years in females (Tolstykh et al 1997). Most of the difference in the elimination rate estimated for males and females resulted from a pronounced increase in the elimination rate in females after age 50 years.…”