Concentration of orally administered and chronically fed 95mTc in Japanese quail eggs

A chronic feeding study using 95mTc incorporated into alfalfa and an acute study where 95mTc was amended to alfalfa showed that about 8.4% of ingested Tc was transferred to eggs. After 10 days of chronic feeding, 80% of the Tc was in yolk, 20% in albumin and less than 1% in shell and associated membranes. At necropsy, technetium concentrations in the three largest oocytes were nearly equal. The biological half-time for Tc was about one to two days in acute studies. Results from the chronic feeding study also indicated that Tc levels in albumin reach a maximum between three and five days while maximum yolk concentration is attained in about six to seven days. Albumin concentrations declined about 20-50% after Day 6.