KWAJALEIN Some 24 hours later, after lit+78, while the Lucky Dragon plunged its way northward to Japan, the 18 people from Ailinginae, the 64 people from Rongelap, the 28 Americans, and the 157 people from Utirik had arrived at Kwajalein. At that time, like the Japanese fishermen, many of them began to experience the symptoms of acute radiation exposure: itching and burning o£ the skin, eyes and mouth; nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, At this time, the people were instructed to decontaminate themselves by wasning with soap several times a day to clean the radioactive fallout from their bodies. It was a partic- ularly difficult task for tne women, who traditionally used coconut oil on their hair, which caused the fallout particles to cling tenaciously to their long tresses. About 2 weeks later the second stage of acute affects manifested themselves: the hair on the heads of many people wholly or partially fell ont, and skin “burns''! caused primarily by beta activity began appearing on the necks, exposed. shoulders, arms and feet of the more heavily During this two week period and for some time afterward, doctors took daily plood and urine samples. the he blood samples were watched carefully as they indicated the effect of the radiation on the narrow and its ability to produce new cells. If the number of certain kinds of cells in the blood dropped far enough below a normal level, tnen internal bleeding leading to death could occur, watched and counted, the levels dropped: As they were granulocytes dropped to Luu em” (with one count of 700), leukocyte counts dropped to 4000 or Bh 9010350