Biokinetic models for Group VB elements

This paper reviews biokinetic data for the Group VB elements vanadium, niobium, and tantalum, and presents biokinetic models describing their systemic behaviour. The model for systemic niobium in adults was developed earlier and described in Publication 134 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The model for niobium is used as a starting point for the development of models for vanadium and tantalum. Published biokinetic data for vanadium, including comparisons with niobium, indicate that the initial distribution of vanadium is broadly similar to that of niobium but that vanadium is less firmly fixed in most tissues and is excreted more rapidly than niobium. Biokinetic data for tantalum are more limited but suggest that its systemic behaviour closely resembles that of niobium at early times after administration. The model for niobium is proposed for application to tantalum in view of the suggested biological similarities of tantalum and niobium, their generally strong coherence in nature due to similar ionic radii and identical valence states, and the difficulties in developing parameter values directly from available data for tantalum. The proposed model for vanadium relies largely on vanadium-specific information and varies considerably from the model for niobium.