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Observation of changes in urinary excretion of thorium in humans following ingestion of a therapeutic soil.

J. Environ. Radioact. 95, 149-160 (2007)
DOI PMC
Open Access Green as soon as Postprint is submitted to ZB.
The study investigated the changes in urinary thorium excretion by humans following ingestion of a therapeutic soil, which contains about 10 ppm of thorium. This well-known healing earth in Germany has been considered as an alternative medicine for diarrhoea and gastric hyper-acidity. Six adult volunteers ingested this therapeutic soil in varying quantities for 1–15 days at levels approximating those described in the package insert of the medicine (10–60 g of soil per day). The subjects ingested about 0.1–0.6 mg of thorium daily, which is 100–600 times higher than the normal daily intake of about 1 ?g thorium in Germany. All 24-h urine samples collected from the subjects during pre-ingestion, ingestion and post-ingestion periods of the soil were analyzed for 232Th using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The measured excretion values varied in a wide range. Apparently, the high thorium amounts administered did not increase the 232Th excretion in urine as expected, suggesting that this soil ingestion will not result in a considerably higher and harmful uptake of thorium into the human body.
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Thorium; Human health; Environment; Soil ingestion; Urinary excretion
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0265-931X
e-ISSN 0265-931X
Quellenangaben Volume: 95, Issue: 2-3, Pages: 149-160 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher Elsevier
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Radiation Protection (ISS)
Institute of Ecological Chemistry (IOEC)