Nutritional influences on plutonium absorption from the gastrointestinal tract of the rat.

Rats that were fasted and/or fed diets consisting of whole milk, dry milk, milk supplement, orange juice, low calcium, or low vitamin D were gavaged with 238Pu nitrate to measure plutonium absorption. All dietary variations resulted in increases in both absorption and retention. The increases ranged between 2 and 20 times the absorption values obtained for rats fed commercial chow. Sucklings of dams fed a calcium-deficient diet also exhibited increased 238Pu absorption. The results indicate that nutrition is an important factor influencing gastrointestinal absorption of plutonium.