Towards acquiring an all-round understanding of Radioactive elements, the Cold War Superpowers pursued some pretty outré activities. One, seen in the photograph above, involved Beagles inhaling Plutonium Dioxide, so that humans could gain an understanding of it's effect on the Canine Physiology, extrapolating it to gauge it's effect on the human body.
"This study was conducted to determine the biological effects of inhaled 238PuO2 over the life spans of 144 beagle dogs. The dogs inhaled one of two sizes of monodisperse aerosols of 238PuO2 to achieve graded levels of Initial Lung Burden (ILB). The aerosols also contained 169Yb to provide a gamma-ray-emitting label for the 238Pu inhaled by each dog. Excreta were collected periodically over each dog's life span to estimate plutonium excretion; at death, the tissues were analysed radiochemically for plutonium activity. The tissue content and the amount of plutonium excreted were used to estimate the ILB. These data for each dog were used in a dosimetry model to estimate tissue doses. The lung, skeleton and liver received the highest alpha-particle doses, ranging from 0.16-68 Gy for the lung, 0.08-8.7 Gy for the skeleton and 0.18-19 for the liver. At death all dogs were necropsied, and all organs and lesions were sampled and examined by histopathology. Findings of non-neoplastic changes included neutropenia and lymphopenia that developed in a dose-related fashion soon after inhalation exposure. These effects persisted for up to 5 years in some animals, but no other health effects could be related to the blood changes observed. Radiation pneumonitis was observed among the dogs with the highest ILBs. Deaths from radiation pneumonitis occurred from 1.5 to 5.4 years after exposure. Tumours of the lung, skeleton and liver occurred beginning at about 3 years after exposure. Bone tumours found in 93 dogs were the most common cause of death. Lung tumours found in 46 dogs were the second most common cause of death. Liver tumours, which were found in 20 dogs but were the cause of death in only two dogs, occurred later than the tumours in bone and lung. Tumours in these three organs often occurred in the same animal and were competing causes of death. These findings in dogs suggest that similar dose-related biological effects could be expected in humans accidentally exposed to 238PuO2."
~ Toxicity of inhaled plutonium dioxide in beagle dogs
It is difficult to assign a value proposition, and square it off with morality of the sacrificial use of another sentient being to further the knowledge of self. Hard choice, that lead to better management, contributing to formulating SOP in handling unstable elements.
