Dietary phosphate contribution to uranium deposition in rabbit shinbones

A 42-day long experiment was conducted with 96 rabbits with the age of 30 days to study the deposition of uranium from commercial phosphates to the shinbones. Rabbits were taken in randomized blocks with 12 repetitions (6 males, 6 females, each). Treatments were consisted of 98 % of basal diet plus 2 % of each U source. Rabbits were fed ad libitum during 42 days. Afterwards, animals were slaughtered and their right shinbones were extracted, freeze-dried and analyzed by k 0 -Neutron Activation Analysis. Uranium contents in shinbone varied from 2.56 to 3.37 mg kg −1 . The results indicate that uranium content is not biomagnified in rabbit shinbone due to a 42 days period of consumption of phosphate at 2 % level containing uranium in the range of 4–187 mg kg −1 .