SLINES 22-26 Radioactivity intake through food, water supplies and air. Preparation and consumption of food in the open was and still is a common practice among the Marshallese people and fallout was ingested directly with food. Food was reported to taste strange by persons interviewed at Rongelap following the 1954 evacuation (Sh57). Fallout was reported at Rongelap to appear like table salt and flour, or like taro powder or chalk dust, and taste like cement and blackened the sky as if night were approaching (Sh57). One family group reported that the only food not dusted by fallout was coconut meat and milk (Sh57). Most families reported eating in the usual outdoor style and prepared foods such as cooked pumpkin, starch tubes, rice and bread products over open campfires. In addition, fish was normally dried on open air racks prior to intake. The majority of activity fell at Rongelap Island during preparation of the mid-day and evening meals. Fallout was visible on peoples skin; it caused itching, sneezing and coughing (Sh57). The living pattern of the Marshallese led to direct ingestion of BRAVO fallout in amounts which,can be estimated based roughly on meal intake but more accurately if the I activity measured in urine is taken into account. The living patterns at Utirik and Sifo were similar to those at Rongelap (Na80). No alteration in daily routine was thought to occur and no attempt at removing visible fallout from food was reported by persons evacuated from Rongelap or Sifo Islands (Sh57). The outside area used to prepare food for the mid-day or evening meals at Rongelap may have been several square meters for a family. Cooking was done’ over an open fire fueled by coconut shells (Na80). Boiling and frying was done this way (Na80). Roasting of green breadfruit, fish or nuts was done over a coconut shell or husk fueled fire, when it had turned to coals (Na80). Ground ovens, used for baking breadfruit, were normally covered with banana leaves to prevent large amounts of dirt and dust from entering (Na80). These outdoor prepartion and cooking modes allowed significant amounts of BRAVO debris to be mixed with food. The amount of fallout dust ingested per meal would be dependent upon the amount that fell into utensils and plates during preparation and during consumption. Resuspension and subsequent deposition on food, and preparation of food on dusty surfaces would be secondary pathways. During the mid-day meal at Rongelap Island, BRAVO dust probably fell directly onto plates and on the surfaces of fish which were drying in the open. The area of one plate exposed to BRAVO fallout plus the area of a small fish are approximately 0.04 m*. If a 30 minute lunch interval beginning at 5 hours post detonation was assumed to he the exposure interval to dust, then about 40 mg (about 4/1000th of a teaspoon) would fall on this eating arga at Rongelap Island. During the preparation of an evening meal about 0.1 m surface area could be assumed as the family food preparation area. On the average, about 4.5 people were estimated in each family (Sh57). Therefore, an additional 100 mg of BRAVO debris per family member was estimated to be consumed with the evening meal. This corresponds to a total] per person ingestion of about 3.1 x 10° Bq (90 A Ci) of I; 1.1 x 10° Bq (30 ACi) at 5.5 hours post detonation and 2.2 x 10” Bq (60~ci) at 12 hours post detonation. This corresponds to the intake based on the urine bioassay result 27