Studies of Radium in Human Bone

Abstract

Sections of normal bones and of osteogenic sarcomata from patients poisoned with radium in a luminescent watch dial industry were studied microscopically and by radio-autography. The radio-active substances were concentrated in microscopic localizations varying by a factor of nearly 25 for the various bones, but the density of the deposits varied very little. Alpha track detns. were made for particles of 5.68 mev. and the tissue doses were calculated. Radium apparently does not follow exactly the metabolic pattern of Ca, as previously assumed.