90 



RADIOISOTOPES IN BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE 



Table 3-3. Examples of Physiological Response to X or 



Gamma Radiation 



Organism 



Rat 



Mouse 



Man 



Rat 



Man 



Man 



Swine 



Dog 



Man 



Man, gonads 



Monkey 



Rat 



Mouse 



Rabbit 



Chicken 



Man, skin 



Turtle 



Trichinella spiralis 



Trichinella spiralis 



Sea urchin sperm 



Trichinella spiralis 



Bacteria 



Glycine 



Bacteria 



Frog sperm 



Bacteria 



Milk 



Beef 



Tobacco mosaic virus. . . . 

 Ascorbic acid, niacin, vita- 

 min Bl2 



Dosage, r 



5 



30 



50 



50-100 



100 



200 



420 



300 430 



400 



500 



500 



590 



650 



790 



1,000 



1,060 



1,500 



3,500 



5,000 



7,800 



15,000 



40,000 



160,000 



200 , 000 



400 , 000 



500 , 000 



750,000 



1.600,000 



1,800,000 



1.99 X lO'* 



Effect 



Decreased uptake of Fe^^ by red blood cells 

 Doubled spontaneous-mutation rate 

 Reduction of lymphocytes 

 Embryonic changes 

 Nausea, vomiting, fatigue 

 Reduction of all lilood elements 



LD^o 



LD50 



Estimated LD50 



Sterilizing dose 



LD50 



LD50 



LD50 



LD50 



LD50 



Mean skin erythema dose 



LD50 



Prevented reproduction 



Prevented maturation in vitro 



Delayed cleavage 



Rendered pork noninfective 



Killed 90 per cent of bacteria in milk 



Caused deamination 



Destroys colonies 



Prevents fertilization 



Sterilized spores 



Completely sterilized 



Prevented bacterial spoilage 



Inactivated 



Inactivated 



'^ LDao refers to the dosage necessary to kill 50 per cent of the organisms irradiated. 



[Compiled primarily from A. H. Sparrow and B. A. Rubin, Effects of Radiations on 

 Biological Systems, in George S. Avery, Jr., ed., "Survey of Biological Progress," 

 vol. 2, pp. 1-52, Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1952; Tabulation of Available Data 

 Relative to Radiation Biology, NEPA-1019, 1949; Harold H. Plough, Radiation Tol- 

 erances and Genetic Effects, Nucleonics, 10: 16-20 (1952); S. E. Gould, James G. 

 Van Dyke, and Henry J. Gomberg, Effect of X-rays on Trichina Larvae, Am. J. 

 Pathol, 29: 323-337 (1953); John P. O'Meara, Radiation Chemistry and Sterilization 

 of Biological Materials by Ionizing Radiations, Nucleonics, 10: 19-23 (1952).] 



