Association of Polonium-210 with Blood

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Abstract
The importance of blood and polonium toxicity is suggested by observations of polonium-intoxicated animals. Effects such as prolonged elevation of blood polonium after injection; pathological alteration-of several organs such as spleen, bone marrow, and liver; polonium-induced anemia; and biliary excretion of polonium indicate the importance of blood in the toxicity syndrome. Blood samples, obtained by cardiac puncture from adult male rats 4 days after intravenous injection of polonium, were assayed and the distribution of polonium among the several fractions was determined. Approxi-mately 90% of the polonium was found to be associated with the red blood cells. Polonium appeared to be associated with hemoglobin of the red blood cells, the globin fraction having as great an affinity for polonium as lysed whole red cells; the heme residue had practically no affinity for polonium. Chemical methods that rely on a change in H ion concentration are not satisfactory for isolation of polonium-containing red blood cell components.