4 Septeuber 1959

Strontiua-30 fron mnlear bow tests ie now being deposited in

a the bons
of every tuman being on earth. Thies radioactive elenmt doamges the hones and
bone marrow in each way a6 te cause bone cancer and lewomis, yorhage
alse other diseases. It 1s not unlikely that som tens of thousands of
Amextoens will, dle of bone canter and leukenia exused by posh teste that have
already been carried cut. De. Charies %. Dunham, Director of the U. 5. Atomic
Rnergy Camsission's Division of Biology ani Medicine, has recently given as 3
possibility the renge 10,500 to 21,000.

We may ask whether some of these deaths aight not be prevented. Strentiun-
90 gets into ow bodies by wy of the food that we eat. Qee preventive measure
would be to renove the strontiws-90 from our feod. This aight be achieved, but.
4% now seems that the processes will resin so complicated and expensive as not
to permit their general use.

There is, however, a simple way of diminishing significantly the exant of
strontium-90 built inte ao bones. This way consists of adding to our diet sone
caleiue compound free of strontiu-30.

Atems of strontium-90 are built inte bones in places normally occupied by
atoms of caleiva. There ie competition between the strontius-3> atans end the
calcium atoms, and the ancunt of strontiun-90 buiit ime the bones is determined
by the ratio ef strontiua-90 to caleium in the ingested food. If this retio were
te be decreased to one-half ite value, the amount of strontiua-90 built inte the
bones would alao be decreased to one-half, and the umber of cases of bone cancer
and leukemia caused by strontius3O would be eut in half.

It is possible to achieve this result by editing to the diet an smount of
caloium free of stxontiua~9O equal to the amount of caleius in the food.

Calcium is the one element that is most likely to be deficient in the diet
of Americans. The recommenied ancun: of calcium te-be-taken-datly is about i
grea a day, vith somewhat larger amounts (1.5 or 2.0 grams) for adolescents and
Quring pregency and lestaticn. Tebiets of dicalcium pliosphate, caloium gluconate,
ana other compounds of caleiwi are available in drugstores, for the treatment
or prevextion of caleiua deficiency. Gix teblets of dtealeius phosphate per day,
eeth tablet containing one-half gram, would provide ©.9 gram of calcium per day,
approximately equal to the amount contained in the food. If the tablets con-
tained no strontiue-90, this preventive measure would result in a body burden
of strontium90 only half as grest as if the measure were not taken, and would
eut in half the chance of ineurring leukemia or bone cancer caused by strontium}.

It is, of course, important thai the dicaleiws phosphate be free fron
strontlua-2. Te is likely that the preperations now availabiec in drugstores
Editor-fhe Sew York Times fm . September 1959

are made from limestone that is not contaminated with strontius-90. However ,
we should make an effort to get the mamifacturers of the products to state on
the labels that the dlealciun phosphate or other caleiusa campound is free fron
strontiun-90.

The drugstore price of dicalciam phosphate tablets is about one-half cent
per one-half gram tablet; that is, about ten dollars per year for six tablets
per day per person. The wholesale price of USP dicaleium phosphate is about
eight cents per pomd, which is twenty cents for a year's supply. Agcordingly
if the school authorities or goverment authorities vere te prepare and
distrivute the tadlete the cost aight be very amall.

Sows avellable preparations of dicaloiw: phosphate cowtain vitamin D
(viesterol). The vitamin Dis valusble in the txeatment of prevention of cal-
cium deficiency, but is not regstred for the dimimrtion of strontius-% in the
bones. Large amount of vitamin D, auch larger than the amount in six tablets
per day, produes toxie effects.

Another way to aid in the decrease in the anamt of strontius-9) built
into the bones would be to add caleiun carbonate (free from strontius90) to
bread, as was done in England during the Second World Wer. This action was
taken to combat the caloiwa deficiency of the diet.

Still another measure that might be taken simultaneously is the addition
of a caleium compound (free of strontium-9)) to the feed of milk cattle,
Dicaleium phosphate, costing about J8 per bundred pounds, is sometines used
as a cattle-feed additive for ealcium deficiency. The amount of strontiun-90
in milk might be cub in half in this way.

Gur government, together with the governments of the US&R and Great Britain,
is responsivie for heaving polluted the vorld with strontiws-9. Y believe that
ox goverment should take whatever action is feasible to decrease the harn done
by this radionctive poison. I believe that the Congress of the United States
should at once consider legislation dealing with the addition to the diet of the
American people and also to the feed of wilk cattle of esloiuwa compounds free
of strontium-90, in order to decrease the amount of strontius% that will be
built inte the bones of the American people, especially children, and tine to
decrease the muber of cases of bone cancer and leukemia caused by the

Liza Pealing:in
Pasademe, California