Experimental Pulmonary Carcinogenesis in the Rat after Inhalation Exposures to Submicrometer-Size Plutonium Dioxide Aerosols

摘要

The present study indicates a differential dose response between benign and malignant lung tumours together with survival reduction, and dose-related appearance and increase of tumour types in the rat after inhalation exposures to submicrometer-size, high-fired ~(239)PuO_2 aerosols. The comparisons with the data obtained from the other institutions indicate that the dose responses and tumour types induced are different, suggesting that the carcinogenicity of inhaled plutonium may depend on the respiratory deposition and distribution of aerosol particles with variable sizes, and could also be modulated by the susceptibility of the target respiratory tract epithelial cells at risk for pulmonary carcinogenesis.