Open AccessThe delayed lethal effect of radium on tissue cultures in vitro —Comparison of continuous and spaced radiation
Author(s) -
F. G. Spear
Publication year - 1931
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series b, containing papers of a biological character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9185
pISSN - 0950-1193
DOI - 10.1098/rspb.1931.0031
Subject(s) - radium , irradiation , radiation , nuclear medicine , radiochemistry , lethal dose , toxicology , chemistry , biology , medicine , physics , optics , nuclear physics
In a previous paper (Spear, 1930) I have described the delayed lethal effects or radium on tissue culturesin vitro . Two quantities of radium were used in the experiments—100 mg. and 300 mg.—and exposures varied from 3 hours up to 24 hours. It was found that when a delayed lethal effect followed exposure to radium, it occurred sooner in those cultures which had been exposed to the greater intensity of radiation for a shorter time than in those subjected to the lesser intensity for a longer time, the product of milligrams of radium and hours of exposure being constant in a given comparison. The following experiments were made to compare the length of the survival period of cultures exposed to a continuous irradiation known to be lethal, with the survival period following exposure to a spaced radiation of the same intensity.