The Chemical Dynamics of Bone Mineral

which occurs in nature in the several steps of the food chain from plants to man. This section is followed by a comprehensive bibliography of American and European references on the subject, including some Russian authors. A presentation of the authors' own experimental methods in determining the distribution of radiostrontium in bone then follows. The techniques which have been utilized include differential x-ray absorption in microradiography and microinterferometry. The nature of the bone salt and effect of strontium replacement of calcium in the crystal was studied by x-ray. diffraction. It is concluded that the introduction of strontium into the living skeleton most likely results in its adsorption onto the surface of the apatite crystals. Localization of strontium-90 in bone was carried out also by means of autoradiography and the time relationship of distribution carefully elucidated. It is of interest to note the marked inhomogeneity in distribution with marked concentrations in areas of rapidly growing and poorly mineralized bone. Calculation of radiation dose from the radioisotope was carried out using a theoretical sandwich model which seemed justified by the above investigations into the distribution in bone. Account is taken of the possibility of marked local concentrations in placing a suggested value for the maximum permissable body burden of strontium-90 as 0.1 microcurie. The presentation is both precise and thorough. Numerous illustrations and charts supplement the text. The book is invaluable as a reference for experimental methods and systems of dosage calculation for those doing investigative work in this field.