REMOVAL OF PLUTONIUM AND AMERICIUM FROM THE RAT USING 3,4,3-LIHOPO AND DTPA AFTER SIMULATED WOUND CONTAMINATION - EFFECT OF DELAYED ADMINISTRATION AND MASS OF PLUTONIUM

The comparative efficacies of treatment with 3,4,3-LIHOPO and DTPA hav e been investigated in the rat after their subcutaneous and intramuscu lar injection. Commencement of treatment was delayed 30 min, 6 h or 1 d and the animals killed at 7 d. Under all conditions, 3,4,3-LIHOPO wa s considerably more effective than DTPA, although the efficacy of both ligands and their relative effectiveness decreased rapidly with their delay in administration, After early treatment of the intramuscular d eposit of Pu and Am with 3,4,3-LIHOPO, the body content of Pu and Am w as about 1% of those in untreated animals and about 30 times less than when using the same treatment regimen with DTPA. The value for Pu inc reased to 5% of controls when the amount deposited increased from 1.5 ng to 0.9 mg.kg-1 body mass.