[ RadSafe ] Plutonium with High Concentrations Hazards Summary (Draft Number One).

[Otto G. Raabe]

September 9, 2005

The solubility product constant for Pu(IV) is about 
0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001, which means that at 
physiological pH there are effectively zero ions of plutonium in the body. 
This means that Pu in the body is quite inert!

Also, it quite difficult to get Pu into the systemic circulation since only 
about 0.00001 of an ingested amount enters the blood and it only very 
slowly can pass from the lung to the blood if inhaled (half time measured 
in years), unless it is inhaled in a chelatable chemical form.

There is therefore no expected chemical toxicity associated with plutonium, 
except for the imaginary chemical toxicity.

Otto

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Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
Center for Health & the Environment
(Street Address: Bldg. 3792, Old Davis Road)
University of California, Davis, CA 95616
E-Mail: ograabe at ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-7754   FAX: (530) 758-6140
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