.
.:
-5.1
i
Exposure of the Marshallese
The Marshallese
to Fallout
on Ailinginae*, Rongelap and Utirik, being unaware of the
nature of fallout, did nothing to protect themselves or wash off the particulztes,
!,
except as they changed to swim or use the lagoon.
and varied from a dust to small flakes.
The fallout was gritty, whitish
Indeed the oil used on their hair and
their clothing helped retain the fallout and the records note the difficulties
encountered
in decontaminating
the skin and hair (1,2).
Itching and burning
sensations of the skin and eyelids were the first signs of the skin lesions that
were to follow.
Some of the people lost their hair in patchy patterns beginning
about the third week after exposure.
~ring
the first few days some experienced
transient nzusea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite and tiredness.
As indicated on Table I, the people on Rongelap and Ailinginae
were evacuated
after the detonation and transported by sea and air to Kwajalein Atoll where firstclass hospital
available.
J
i
facilities, medical specialists and clinical laboratories
Apparently
were
the Marshallese had not been exposed to identical amounts
of fallout for they exhibited a wide range of intensity of the clinical signs
relative to that expected from a radiation exposure of 175 Roentgens.
however, the characteristic
patterns
In genera~,