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  • Title: Observation of changes in urinary excretion of thorium in humans following ingestion of a therapeutic soil.
    Author: Höllriegl V, Greiter M, Giussani A, Gerstmann U, Michalke B, Roth P, Oeh U.
    Journal: J Environ Radioact; 2007; 95(2-3):149-60. PubMed ID: 17400343.
    Abstract:
    The study investigated the changes in urinary thorium excretion by humans following ingestion of a therapeutic soil, which contains about 10 ppm of thorium. This well-known healing earth in Germany has been considered as an alternative medicine for diarrhoea and gastric hyper-acidity. Six adult volunteers ingested this therapeutic soil in varying quantities for 1-15 days at levels approximating those described in the package insert of the medicine (10-60 g of soil per day). The subjects ingested about 0.1-0.6 mg of thorium daily, which is 100-600 times higher than the normal daily intake of about 1 microg thorium in Germany. All 24-h urine samples collected from the subjects during pre-ingestion, ingestion and post-ingestion periods of the soil were analyzed for (232)Th using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The measured excretion values varied in a wide range. Apparently, the high thorium amounts administered did not increase the (232)Th excretion in urine as expected, suggesting that this soil ingestion will not result in a considerably higher and harmful uptake of thorium into the human body.
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