- Scott Roberts
FRIDAY, Aug. 13 (HealthDayNews) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two new drugs designed to counter the radioactive effects of a so-called "dirty bomb."
The agency said the drugs, penetrate calcium trisodium (Ca-DTPA) and penetrate zinc trisodium (Zn-DTPA), are safe and effective for treating contamination from plutonium, americium, or curium -- three elements that could be used to produce a dirty bomb.
Such a device would use conventional explosives to spread radioactive material across a wide area. While it wouldn't cause the death and destruction of a true nuclear device, it's easier to build and could still make a large area virtually uninhabitable, experts say.
The newly approved medications have been used for several decades as "investigational drugs" to treat people in radioactive emergencies, the agency said in a statement.
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http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2004/08/13/hscout520660.html