Oxygen Production in Anaerobic Water by X Rays

Differences in the extrapolation number of deeply hypoxic mammalian cells in different laboratories have not yet been satisfactorily explained. If they are due to differences in the efficiency of removal of the last traces of oxygen, then the process by which oxygen is consumed by radiation to give the anoxic radiosensitivity must stop short of complete anoxia. An apparatus to demonstrate the chemical removal of oxygen by radiation at extremely low oxygen concentration has been constructed. The results have shown that in the nanomolar range oxygen is not removed. There is an increase in oxygen concentration with increasing X-ray dose.