The Normal Radium Content and the Ra226/Ca Ratio of Various Foods, Drinking Water and Different Organs and Tissues of the Human Body

Abstract

New experimental results concerning the normal radium (Ra226) content of food, drinking water, the distribution of normal radium in the human body, and the Ra226/Ca ratio are reported. The daily uptake of radium by a “standard man” amounts to about 3 × 10−12 c, and under normal environmental conditions, 90 per cent of this amount enters the body with food and only 10 per cent with water. The natural radium is not concentrated exclusively in bone. Considerable amounts are distributed throughout the soft tissue and the different organs. Animal experiments (chicken) demonstrated that there exists no dependence on age of the normal radium content. The consequences of these results for the estimation of the distribution pattern of other bone-seekers are discussed.