The available data have been reviewed for the biological behavior in rats of high specific-activity radioisotopes of seventy elements. Tracer quantities were administered in single intramuscular injections. Groups of rats were autopsied at various intervals, and tissues and excreta were assayed for radioactivity. Distribution data were arranged according to the grouping of the periodic table of the elements. The anions (including the halogens), the oxygenated or halogenated ions of Groups IV, V and VI, and the transition metals were rapidly eliminated by the kidney. The monovalent alkali metals were distributed almost uniformly in soft tissue with subsequent excretion by the kidney. The bivalent cations, except Hg2+, Cd2+ and UO22+, were deposited primarily in bone mineral and were eliminated slowly in both urine and feces. The tripositive elements of Group III, the lanthanides, and the actinides were deposited in liver and bone. The liver fraction was excreted via the bile without recirculation, while that deposited in bone was turned over at a rate slower than that of normal bone remodelling. The quadrivalent cations such as Zr4+, Th4+ and PuO22+ were deposited almost exclusively in bone and were bound more strongly than the Group III elements. The properties that determine biological behavior are: (a) the oxidation state stable at body pH; (b) the solubility of the stable state; (c) the tendency to be incorporated into organic compounds; and (d) the tendency to associate with specific proteins.
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Patricia W. Durbin (1959) studied this question.