The deposition of uranium in bone.

Previous studies have indicated that the deposition of uranium in bone is a surface-limited reaction involving an exchange of the uranyl ions of the solution for some ion in the surface of the mineral phase of bone, probably calcium (1, 2). As a further test of the exchange hypothesis, a series of ion competition experiments was conducted, in which the effects of varying concentrations of hydrogen, bicarbonate, phosphate, and calcium ions were observed. Evidence was obtained which confirmed the exchange hypothesis and established calcium as the principal surface ion in hone which uranium displaces.