RE: Beer as a chelating agent for uranium -Reply

["Weiner, Ruth" <rfweine@sandia.gov>]

One small correction: there are pharmacological chelating agents.  Benamid
(I don't know the chemical name) is taken orally as to chelate the
catabolites of purine metabolism, and is thus a common treatment for gout (
a friend has been taking Benamid for about 40 years for this reason).  

Essentially, a substance that can form a chelate with metals has different
affinities for different metals.   For example, TRU waste studies find that
some chelators bind to thorium in preference to plutonium.  Many substances
in food (e.g., citric acid or citrate) can act as chelators, so it is quite
possible that beer does contain a chelator.  Moreover, if the substance you
are trying to dissolve is relatively insoluble, a diuretic would seem to be
of limited use.  A diuretic would work for tritium because chemically
tritium is hydrogen and exchanges quite readily with hydrogen in water.  If
all you needed was a diuretic, coffee and tea work as well as, or better
than, beer.

Clearly only my own opinion.

Ruth F. Weiner, Ph. D.
Sandia National Laboratories 
MS 0718, POB 5800
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0718
505-844-4791; fax 505-844-0244
rfweine@sandia.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael S Ford [mailto:MFORD@pantex.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 1999 6:57 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Beer as a chelating agent for uranium -Reply


Drew,

Beer is chiefly administered as a diuretic following tritium intakes, as
previously pointed out.  Chelating agents, in general are effective for
specific chemical elements (e.g., actinides), but they are not like
guided missiles; they also deplete the body of other important
nutrients.  So chronic (e.g., daily)  intake of a substance that would
act as a chelating agent would have a severely debilitating effect on
the body.  Obviously, beer doesn't work that way -- as evidenced by
all of the health beer-drinking specimens we see around us daily!

My personal opinion only.
v/r
Michael
mford@pantex.com

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