Decontamination potential of radioactively contaminated wounds with purified clinoptilolite-tuff

Abstract

Purified clinoptilolite-tuff (PCT) has successfully been tested for application in a PCT-doped wound dressing for use in radiolytically contaminated environments. Initial quantitative studies of the capacity of PCT for SrCl2 utilizing 85Sr radiotracered material and CsCl utilizing 134Cs radiotracered material in both aqueous (AQ) and physiological (artificial wound fluid exudate; AWFE) media show that Cs+ capacities for PCT differ slightly (AQ: 1.60 ± 0.05 mmol/g vs. AWFE: 307 1.37 ± 0.07 mmol/g) while Sr2+ capacities are not significantly different (AQ: 0.43 ± 0.01 mmol/g vs. AWFE: 0.41 ± 0.03 mmol/g). Additionally, preliminary qualitative information relating to the selectivity of PCT for Sr2+ and Cs+ vs. Ca2+ has been obtained from these studies. Finally, experiments show the enhanced uptake of radio-Cs and radio-Sr by PCT-doped wound dressings compared to state-of-the-art alternatives.