The presence of radiotoxic 210Po and 210Pb in Ukrainian wild medicinal plants and the assessment of related dose and cancer risk.

Herbal plants are considered natural pharmaceuticals but also accumulate chemical elements and compounds at high levels. 210Po and 210Pb are highly radiotoxic and may cause carcinogenesis due to ionizing radiation. Thirteen of the most popular wild-growing herbaceous plant species, mostly included in the European Pharmacopoeia, were collected across Ukraine. 210Po and 210Pb were determined in the medicinal plants, and their radiotoxicity and cancer risk were calculated. The results of 210Po activities measured in herbal raw material ranged from 2.28 Bq kg-1 dw (where dw is dry weight) in herb of common horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) collected near Lviv to 37.7 Bq kg-1 dw in leaves of common birch (Betula pendula Roth.) from Rava Ruska. The activity concentrations of 210Pb varied from 0.44 Bq kg-1 dw in leaves of common birch from Starokostyantyniv to 28.4 Bq kg-1 dw in leaves of common birch from Mizhhirya. There were statistically significant differences between 210Po and 210Pb content in flowers, leaves, and aerial portions. The studies indicated that the estimated annual effective radiation dose from Ukrainian herbs consumption was low, ranging 5.00-82.6 µSv from 210Po and 0.56-35.8 µSv from 210Pb, while the cancer morbidity and mortality risk ranged from 10-4 to 10-6. The presented data indicated no radiological risk related to using herbal plant materials.

[Oxygen regimen during various intensive care methods in severe exotoxic shock]. / Kislorodnyi rezhim organizma pri razlichnykh metodakh reanimatsii tiazhelogo ékzotoksicheskogo shoka.

Oxygen regimen of the organism was experimentally studied at the stages of oxygen entry, transport, and consumption in severe exotoxigenic shock caused by poisoning with methemoglobin-forming toxin during correction of this state by different intensive care methods. Analysis of the time course of the basic values of oxygen regimen demonstrated a high efficacy of assisted circulation with extracorporeal oxygenation of the blood and hyperbaric oxygenation in a complex of intensive care methods in such patients.

[Assisted blood circulation, efferent detoxication and hyperbaric oxygenation in the treatment of exotoxic shock]. / Vspomogatel'noe krovoobrashchenie, éfferentnaia detoksikatsiia i giperbaricheskaia oksigenatsiia pri lechenii ékzotoksicheskogo shoka.

Experimental and clinical data on the employment of assisted circulation with extracorporeal oxygenation of the blood, exchange replacement of the blood in high volumes, hemoperfusion, and hyperbaric therapy in the treatment of exotoxic shock caused by methemoglobin-forming and corrosive poisons demonstrate a high efficacy of assisted circulation in the normalization of central hemodynamics (which permits exchange replacement of the blood and hemoperfusion), of the hepatorenal function, hemostasis, and other parameters of the internal media in humans and animals. The method is recommended for wide use at large reanimation and toxicological centers.