boneseeker

See also: bone seeker and bone-seeker

English

WOTD – 28 February 2020

Etymology

A Geiger counter detecting beta particles being emitted from a sample of radioactive strontium-90 (⁹⁰Sr), which is a boneseeker as it is chemically similar to calcium

From bone +‎ seeker.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbəʊnsiːkə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈboʊnˌsikɚ/
• Hyphenation: bone‧seek‧er

Noun

boneseeker (plural boneseekers)

1. (physiology, radiology) Any element, especially a radioisotope, that has a tendency to accumulate in bones.
   • 1954 September 1, Subcommittee on Protection against Radiations from Radium, Cobalt-60, and Cesium-137 Encapsulated Sources, “General Considerations”, in Protection from Radiations from Radium, Cobalt-60, and Cesium-137 (National Bureau of Standards Handbook; 54), Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce, →OCLC, section 2.2 (Hazards), page 7:

     Some isotopes that are not alpha-emitters are also "bone[-]seekers," and are not well eliminated. The result is that even a small quantity of these materials, retained in the body, may lead to depression of bone marrow activity, and to serious bone lesions.

   • 1959 October, H. A. Kornberg, “Biological Implications of Radioactive Wastes”, in Sixth International Congress and Exhibition of Electronics and Atomic Energy, Rome, Italy, June 1959: U.S. Papers (United States Atomic Energy Commission Technical Information Service; TID-7579), Oak Ridge, Tenn.: Division of International Affairs, United States Atomic Energy Commission, →OCLC, page 6:

     The bases of working limits for environmental contamination are the permissible limits for internal emitters. If the internal emitter is a bone-seeker (examples are plutonium, Sr⁹⁰, and the rare earths) the criterion for establishing limits is based on the history of humans who have had radium deposited in their skeletons. To experimentally find the maximum quantity of a radioactive bone-seeker that can deposit in the human skeleton without adverse effect, it is usual to compare the toxicity in experimental animals of the bone-seeker with that of radium.

   • 1977 October, Karl F. Hübner, Gould A. Andrews, Raymond L. Hayes, J. Kenneth Poggenburg, Jr., Alan Solomon, “The Use of Rare-earth Radionuclides and Other Bone-seekers in the Evaluation of Bone Lesions in Patients with Multiple Myeloma or Solitary Plasmacytoma”, in Radiology, volume 125, number 1, Easton, Pa.: Radiological Society of North America, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, →PMID, abstract, page 171:

     In general, localization of the rare-earth "bone-seekers" was poor except for ¹⁵⁷Dy, which compared well with ^99mTc-PP and ^99mTc-DP; ¹⁵⁷Dy was also helpful in studies of the abdomen and pelvis because of its failure to concentrate in the gastrointestinal tract.

   • 1985, G. Schoeters, R. Van Den Heuvel, O. Vanderborght, “The Study of Damage to Bone Marrow Cells as a Biological Dosimeter after Contamination with Osteotropic α Emitters”, in Nicholas D. Priest, editor, Metals in Bone: Proceedings of a EULEP Symposium on the Deposition, Retention and Effects of Radioactive and Stable Metals in Bone and Bone Marrow Tissues, October 11th–13th 1984, Angers, France, Lancaster, Hingham, Mass.: MTP Press for the Commission for the European Communities, →DOI, →ISBN, page 59:

     These studies demonstrated that beside radionuclide retention anatomical and physiological factors affect the induction of radiation damage from incorporating α-emitting bone seekers to bone marrow.

   • 1985, Michael Swanwick, “Boneseeker”, in In the Drift (New Ace Science Fiction Specials; series 3), New York, N.Y.: Ace Science Fiction Books, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2017, →ISBN, page 80:

     "The guy that just left—what's he got in his lungs?" / "Well, I'm not very sure. But the two best candidates are uranium-233 and plutonium-239, one or both." / "They're in his bones too, aren't they?" / "Yeah, they're both boneseekers. And they've got half-lives of one hundred sixty-two thousand and twenty-four thousand years respectively. So they stay hot for a long time."

   • 1987, Geoffrey G[unther] Eichholz, “Human Exposure”, in C. Richard Cothern, James E. Smith, Jr., editors, Environmental Radon (Environmental Science Research; 35), New York, N.Y., London: Plenum Press, →ISBN, section 5.1.2. (Uptake of Radon Progeny), page 132:

     Lead is a bone seeker; it is found in bone mineral with a 70% higher level in cancellous bone than in compact bone.

   • 1994 June, T. Wardaszko, D. Grzybowska, “Investigation of Levels of ²²⁶Ra and ²²²Rn in Fresh Waters”, in J. Suski, T. Wardaszko, J. Rostek, editors, Bi-annual Report 1992–1993: Operational and Research Activities of Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection‎, Warsaw: Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection, →ISBN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 February 2020, page 74:

     [I]n general, inland waters exhibit much (2–3 orders of magnitude) higher concentrations of ²²²Rn than of ²²⁶Ra. This fact has, however, only very little meaning from the point of view of radiological protection, because ²²⁶Ra being a long-lived, alpha-active boneseeker, belongs to highly radiotoxic substances, whereas ²²²Rn, a short-lived noble gas, does not.

Alternative forms

• bone seeker
• bone-seeker

Translations

element that has a tendency to accumulate in bones

French: substance ostéotrope f Italian: radioisotopo (it) m

References

1. “bone-seeker, n.” under “bone, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2018.

Further reading

• bone seeker on Wikipedia.Wikipedia