Editing Rubidium (section)

==Precautions and biological effects==

Rubidium reacts violently with water and can cause fires. To ensure safety and purity, this metal is usually kept under dry [[mineral oil]] or sealed in glass ampoules in an inert atmosphere. Rubidium forms [[peroxide]]s on exposure even to a small amount of air diffused into the oil, and storage is subject to similar precautions as the storage of metallic [[potassium]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vKBqqiCTB7MC&pg=PA215 |page = 215 |chapter = Rubidium |title = Chemical risk analysis: a practical handbook |isbn = 978-1-903996-65-2 |author1 = Martel, Bernard |author2 = Cassidy, Keith |date = 2004-07-01|publisher = Butterworth-Heinemann }}</ref>

Rubidium, like sodium and potassium, almost always has +1 [[oxidation state]] when dissolved in water, even in biological contexts. The human body tends to treat Rb<sup>+</sup> ions as if they were potassium ions, and therefore concentrates rubidium in the body's [[intracellular fluid]] (i.e., inside cells).<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Relman |first1 = A. S. |title =The Physiological Behavior of Rubidium and Cesium in Relation to That of Potassium |journal = The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine |volume = 29 |issue = 3 |pages = 248–62 |date = 1956| pmid = 13409924|pmc = 2603856}}</ref> The ions are not particularly toxic; a 70&nbsp;kg person contains on average 0.36&nbsp;g of rubidium, and an increase in this value by 50 to 100 times did not show negative effects in test persons.<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Fieve |first1 = Ronald R. |last2 = Meltzer |first2 = Herbert L. |last3 = Taylor |first3 = Reginald M. |title = Rubidium chloride ingestion by volunteer subjects: Initial experience |journal = Psychopharmacologia |volume = 20 |issue = 4 |pages = 307–14 |date = 1971 |pmid = 5561654 |doi = 10.1007/BF00403562|s2cid = 33738527 }}</ref> The [[biological half-life]] of rubidium in humans measures 31–46&nbsp;days.<ref name="manic">{{cite journal |last1 = Paschalis |first1 = C. |last2 = Jenner| first2 = F. A. |last3 = Lee |first3 = C. R. |title = Effects of rubidium chloride on the course of manic-depressive illness |journal = J R Soc Med |volume = 71 |issue = 9 |pages = 343–352 |date = 1978 |pmid = 349155|pmc = 1436619|doi = 10.1177/014107687807100507 }}</ref> Although a partial substitution of potassium by rubidium is possible, when more than 50% of the potassium in the muscle tissue of rats was replaced with rubidium, the rats died.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Meltzer | first1 = H. L. | title = A pharmacokinetic analysis of long-term administration of rubidium chloride | url = http://jcp.sagepub.com/content/31/2/179 | journal = Journal of Clinical Pharmacology | volume = 31 | issue = 2 | pages = 179–84 | date = 1991 | pmid = 2010564 | doi = 10.1002/j.1552-4604.1991.tb03704.x | s2cid = 2574742 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120709223213/http://jcp.sagepub.com/content/31/2/179 | archive-date = 2012-07-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| author=Follis, Richard H. Jr. |date=1943|title=Histological effects in rats resulting from adding rubidium or cesium to a diet deficient in potassium|url=https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajplegacy.1943.138.2.246|journal=AJP: Legacy Content|volume=138|issue=2|pages=246–250|doi=10.1152/ajplegacy.1943.138.2.246}}</ref>