boneseeker
nounUK /ˈbəʊnsiːkə/ · US /ˈboʊnˌsikɚ/
Etymology From bone + seeker.
1
Medicine, Physiology, Radiology, Sciences Any element, especially a radioisotope, that has a tendency to accumulate in bones.
- Some isotopes that are not alpha-emitters are also "bone[-]seekers," and are not well eliminated. The result is that even a small quantity of these materials, retained in the body, may lead to depression of bone marrow activity, and to serious bone lesions.1954 September 1, Subcommittee on Protection against Radiations from Radium, Cobalt-60, and Cesium-137 Encapsulated Sources, “General Considerations”, in Protection from Radiations from Radium, Cobalt-60, and Cesium-137 (National Bureau of Standards Handbook; 54), Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce, →OCLC, section 2.2 (Hazards), page 7:
- The bases of working limits for environmental contamination are the permissible limits for internal emitters. If the internal emitter is a bone-seeker (examples are plutonium, Sr⁹⁰, and the rare earths) the criterion for establishing limits is based on the history of humans who have had radium deposited in their skeletons. To experimentally find the maximum quantity of a radioactive bone-seeker that can deposit in the human skeleton without adverse effect, it is usual to compare the toxicity in experimental animals of the bone-seeker with that of radium.1959 October, H. A. Kornberg, “Biological Implications of Radioactive Wastes”, in Sixth International Congress and Exhibition of Electronics and Atomic Energy, Rome, Italy, June 1959: U.S. Papers (United States Atomic Energy Commission Technical Information Service; TID-7579), Oak Ridge, Tenn.: Division of International Affairs, United States Atomic Energy Commission, →OCLC, page 6:
4 more examples
- In general, localization of the rare-earth "bone-seekers" was poor except for ¹⁵⁷Dy, which compared well with ⁹⁹ᵐTc-PP and ⁹⁹ᵐTc-DP; ¹⁵⁷Dy was also helpful in studies of the abdomen and pelvis because of its failure to concentrate in the gastrointestinal tract.1977 October, Karl F. Hübner; Gould A. Andrews; Raymond L. Hayes; J. Kenneth Poggenburg, Jr.; Alan Solomon, “The Use of Rare-earth Radionuclides and Other Bone-seekers in the Evaluation of Bone Lesions in Patients with Multiple Myeloma or Solitary Plasmacytoma”, in Radiology, volume 125, number 1, Easton, Pa.: Radiological Society of North America, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, abstract, page 171:
- These studies demonstrated that beside radionuclide retention anatomical and physiological factors affect the induction of radiation damage from incorporating α-emitting bone seekers to bone marrow.1985, G. Schoeters, R. Van Den Heuvel, O. Vanderborght, “The Study of Damage to Bone Marrow Cells as a Biological Dosimeter after Contamination with Osteotropic α Emitters”, in Nicholas D. Priest, editor, Metals in Bone: Proceedings of a EULEP Symposium on the Deposition, Retention and Effects of Radioactive and Stable Metals in Bone and Bone Marrow Tissues, October 11th–13th 1984, Angers, France, Lancaster; Hingham, Mass.: MTP Press for the Commission for the European Communities, →DOI, →ISBN, page 59:
- "The guy that just left—what's he got in his lungs?" / "Well, I'm not very sure. But the two best candidates are uranium-233 and plutonium-239, one or both." / "They're in his bones too, aren't they?" / "Yeah, they're both boneseekers. And they've got half-lives of one hundred sixty-two thousand and twenty-four thousand years respectively. So they stay hot for a long time."1985, Michael Swanwick, “Boneseeker”, in In the Drift (New Ace Science Fiction Specials; series 3), New York, N.Y.: Ace Science Fiction Books, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2017, →ISBN, page 80:
- Lead is a bone seeker; it is found in bone mineral with a 70% higher level in cancellous bone than in compact bone.1987, Geoffrey G[unther] Eichholz, “Human Exposure”, in C. Richard Cothern, James E. Smith, Jr., editors, Environmental Radon (Environmental Science Research; 35), New York, N.Y.; London: Plenum Press, →ISBN, section 5.1.2. (Uptake of Radon Progeny), page 132: