DPTA (Diethylentriamene Pentaacetate)
We have to realize that science is a double-edged sword. One edge of the sword can cut against poverty, illness, disease and give us more democracies, and democracies never war with other democracies, but the other side of the sword could give us nuclear proliferation, biogerms and even forces of darkness - Michio Kaku
HWN Suggests
This pill could protect us from radiation after a nuclear meltdown
For decades, if you had radiation poisoning, your options were limited. Poisoning via actinides—the radioactive, rare-earth metals often used in atomic weapons and nuclear power plants—could only be treated with a chemical called diethylenetriamine pentaacetate (DPTA), for example. Approved by the FDA in the 1960s, DPTA is a chelator—molecules that grab toxic metals and shuttle them to the kidneys, where they exit the body in the urine. But DPTA came with serious caveats. It works on just three actinides: plutonium, americium, and curium. And the compound had to be administered quickly; within 24 hours after exposure or the drug would become much less effective as radioactive contaminants…
Articles of Interest
Questions and Answers on Calcium-DTPA and Zinc-DTPA (Updated)
Both Prussian blue and the DTPA products are drugs intended to enhance the elimination of radioactive materials from the body. The drugs differ in chemical composition, routes of administration, side effects, and types of radioactive materials that they eliminate from the body. Prussian blue is administered by mouth while the DTPA products are injected in the blood stream or inhaled. The main side effects of Prussian blue are constipation and upset stomach. The main side effect of the DTPA products, especially Ca-DTPA, is a decrease in levels of certain essential nutritional metals. Prussian blue remains in the intestine and binds radioactive cesium and thallium. DTPA products circulate through the blood stream and bind radioactive transuranium elements (i.e., plutonium, americium, curium).
Treating Radiation Exposure with DTPA
DTPA comes in two forms: calcium (Ca-DTPA) and zinc (Zn-DTPA). Radioactive materials (bound to DTPA) are then passed from the body in the urine. DTPA works best when given shortly after radioactive plutonium, americium, and curium have entered the body. The more quickly radioactive material is removed from the body, the fewer and less serious the health effects will be.
Resources
REMM
According to FDA labeling, the chelating agents Ca-DTPA (FDA drug label, PDF - 121 KB) and Zn-DTPA (FDA drug label, PDF - 106 KB), salts of diethylentriamene pentaacetate (DTPA), are approved for the elimination of known or suspected internal contamination with the transuranic (Z > 92) metals plutonium, americium, and curium.
