EVALUATION OF CLAYS AS BINDING AGENTS FOR REDUCTION OF RADIONUCLIDES IN MILK - BINDING PROPERTIES OF NATURAL AND HYDROGEN FORM CLAYS WITH STRONTIUM AND ESSENTIAL CATIONS IN ARTIFICIAL RUMEN AND IN SIMULATED ABOMASAL AND INTESTINAL FLUIDS

An in vitro screening device was developed to evaluate radionuclide binding materials for their possible use as feed additives in the diets of domestic ruminants to reduce the levels of radioactivity in milk and meat. Binding materials were tested first in an artificial rumen which was later converted to simulate the fluids of the abomasum and jejunum. A sodium and calcium montmorillonite clay and kaolin were tested in both their natural and hydrogen form. None of these clays tested removed Sr2-, Ca2-, Mg2+, K+, or Na+ from the rumen juice or simulated digestive fluids to any considerable degree. On the contrary, bivalent cations originally present on the montmorillonites were removed from the clays into the media, increasing the levels of Sr2+, Ca2+, and Mg2+. This was especially true of the calcium clay. This occurred to a lesser extent when these clays were converted to the hydrogen form. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.