Biological Studies with Polonium, Radium, and Plutonium

Abstract

This volume gives the results of experiments on the toxicity of three elements which have in common the fact that they emit alpha particles in the course of their radioactive disintegration. The experiments are models of careful planning and expert reporting, and the presentation is so painstakingly detailed that it will serve as a most valuable guide to future workers in the field. Because of this wealth of precise detail, most of the book is necessarily dull for the general reader, but there are many passages of great practical significance and some of extraordinary general interest. Outstanding, probably, is the summary of past experience with the toxicity of radium, wherein Boyd and others note "the great underestimation of its dangerous nature that was prevalent not much more than two decades ago." Here are given references to many interesting cases, including not only that of the dial-painters but also that of