A team from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf ( HZDR ) and TU Dresden has now found a different picture , as the researchers report in the journal Science of the Total Environment .
Since radioactive heavy metals naturally occur in the earth ' s crust , geological processes such as weathering and erosion can release them into water , soil , and air . Over the past 60 years , industrial , medical , and research use of radionuclides has also increased significantly .
In particular , mining , accidents in nuclear power plants , and leaks in containment systems can release these elements into the environment . Another , albeit less significant , factor contributing to the release of radionuclides is their use in the diagnostics and therapy of cancer .
" Acute or chronic exposure to radioactive heavy metals and their radio- and chemotoxic effects poses a number of health risks to humans and animals . Once incorporated , they reach the kidneys via the bloodstream . Since the kidneys play a key role in excreting heavy metals , we are particularly interested in the interactions between these elements and renal cells ," says Dr . Astrid Barkleit from HZDR ' s Institute of Resource Ecology , describing the focus of the research .
Previous studies have mainly focused on how such heavy metals accumulate in and are excreted from living humans and animals . By using mathematical biokinetic models , one can describe their general distribution in the body , but the underlying biologicalchemical processes remain mostly unknown .
The research team , therefore , investigated the effects of various heavy metals on renal cells and the chemical form in which the metal ions occur . These findings are essential for identifying suitable decorporation agents , i . e ., complexing agents that remove accidentally incorporated metal ions from the body as gently as possible .
" In our comprehensive study , we compared the effects of barium ( II ), europium ( III ), and uranium ( VI ) on human and rat kidney cells in vitro , i . e ., under controlled laboratory conditions outside the living organism . The cell experiments were conducted at the Central Radionuclide Laboratory at TU Dresden ," explains Dr . Anne Heller from the Chair of Radiochemistry / Radioecology at TU Dresden .
" Highly specialized analytical methods are available at both TU Dresden and in the radiochemical controlled areas at HZDR . They enable us to use a unique combination of cell culture-based in vitro assays and microscopic , analytical , and spectroscopic methods .
" This allowed us to investigate cell viability , cell death mechanisms , and intracellular metal uptake of exposed cells . We were also able to determine the speciation of the