[ RadSafe ] On Ca supplements and Sr absorption

[Brad Keck]

All,

I just wanted to throw in on the topic of inhibiting Sr absorption with calcium supplementation.  Sr is regulated along with Ca metabolism - so basically if there is a lot of calcium available orally, a smaller percentage of Ca is absorbed and a smaller fraction of the Sr also is absorbed, so less Sr is available for bone deposition. This is old nutritional science and has been known for a very long time. This would apply, of course, only in the case of orally received Sr, in a soluble form. 

Just a little back of the envelope calculation: if a person is calci-normal and has about 1,000 mg per day of calcium then one calcium lactate tablet  might  reduce Sr absorption (if indeed there were Sr presented orally in a soluble form) by about 14% relative at best (being just 144 mg of Ca). Maybe this can be the new sales slogan - "Reduce your possible risk by up to 14%!!!!! "  I would also think that drinking water in Japan is being analyzed for Sr rather studiously and is held to a comparable limit as the drinking water standard in the US - 8 pCi/L ( 4 mrem/y) or less.

On the other hand a single calcium antacid tablet of calcium carbonate - available at your local supermarket or drug store for about a nickel (less in many countries) would have, based on the same logic, about a 30% relative decrease (again, only if Sr were present orally) in Sr absorption. In addition, these come in many tasty candy-like flavors :} and generics are even cheaper - it is after all finely ground limestone - of which much of the earth is made.   Maybe if people want to "help" they should make these available for free instead of overcharging madly for "special" calcium. 

On a more serious note, I have some contacts in and from Japan who experienced true life losses with the tsunami and the reactor breeches, and who have been frightened further out of their senses by fearmongers and grandstanders at a time when more unfounded fear is the last thing they need, and - as we all know - fear is easier to start than to end - albeit, perhaps, more profitable as well.  

Brad Keck


Bradly D. Keck, Ph.D., CHP



On Oct 31, 2011, at 12:40 PM, "Harrison, Tony" <Tony.Harrison at dphe.state.co.us> wrote:

> It's always good to remember that one anecdote does not an epidemiology study make.
>
>
> Tony Harrison, MSPH
> Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
> Laboratory Services Division
> 303-692-3046
>
>
>
> Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:01:29 -0600
> From: Steven Dapra <sjd at swcp.com>
> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Busby is a waste of bandwidth
> To: "The International Radiation Protection \(Health Physics\) Mailing
> List" <radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu>
> Message-ID: <201110290401.p9T41LD2056324 at ame8.swcp.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> Oct. 28
>
> Thank you for pointing this out about uranium mill
> workers. Some 15 y. ago I worked on the UMTRA project. One of the
> employees told me her father her father worked in the mill. He would
> come at night covered in yellowcake dust, and now, at age
> approximately 80, he was as healthy as could be.
>
> The daughter was in perfect health too, and had no birth
> defects or genetic deficiencies. Perhaps U is not a genotoxin after all. . . .
>
> Steven Dapra
>
>
> At 04:59 PM 10/28/2011, you wrote:
> >Dear Radsafers,
> >
> >I am so fed up with this thread and Busby's weird new weapon coverup
> >fantasies. It is a waste of time.
> >
> >Uranium is present in all soils, at something like 3 ppm +/- a
> >factor of 10 or more.
> >
> >Uranium mill workers over the last half century don't show genetic
> >problems and I bet they have ingested / inhaled similar or indeed
> >much more than Chris's subjects.
> >
> >DU *must* be toxicologically identical to nonD-U.
> >
> >Let's have a bit of common sense here...
> >
> >Can the moderator please call a halt to this pointless debate??
> >
> >
> >Mark Sonter
> >
> >Radiation Advice & Solutions Pty Ltd, abn 31 891 761 435
> >Asteroid Enterprises Pty Ltd, abn 53 008 115 302
> >116 Pennine Drive, South Maclean, Queensland 4280, Australia
> >Phone / fax (07) 3297 7653 Mobile 0412 433 286 or 0447 755598
> >
> >"Keep everything as simple as possible, but no simpler" - A. Einstein
> >"There are some ideas that are so wrong that only an intellectual
> >could believe them." - G. Orwell
> ***************************************
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