45
Table 25
Analysis of Coconut Crabsfor Sr* and Cs'*’
Per kg
Crab No.
l
2
Tissue ,
Sr”?,pC
Cs*7,pC
Liver
Exoskeleton
Muscle (edible)
Remainingsoft parts
4,400
172,502
5,757
5,631
2,679
94,074
4,994
4,470
Total crab
70,703
39,292
Liver
2,287
Ca,g
Sr®, pC
Cs*7,pC
=—Ca,g
Sr, pC/g Ca
6.88
198.39
6.57
6.56
999
68,285
1,708
516
608
37,239
1,482
410
1.56
78.53
1.95
0.60
639
869
876
858
81.71
71,508
39,739
82.64
865
5.80
571
295
0.75
764
Exoskeleton
Muscle (edible)
123,318
3,980
95,724
5,757
197.75
5.50
45,287
937
35,154
1,355
72.62
1.30
0.60
825
Total crab
57,766
45,318
91.94
47,292
37,101
75.27
628
0.48
847
0.30
692
Remaining soft parts
3
4,428
Total
Liver
5,711
8,650
3,414
5431
6.92
10.21
497
335
297
502
Exoskeleton
Muscle(edible)
146,956
6,010
143,758
12,716
187.90
7.74
30,817
978
30,146
2,069
39.40
1.26
Total crab
64,847
66,234
83.09
32,341
33,033
41.44
Remaining soft parts
4,316
6,475
Summarizing Discussion
HEALTH STATUS
Medical evaluation of the health status of the
exposed Rongelap people over the years since the
accident has revealed about the sameincidenceof
illness and disease as in the unexposed population
with the exceptions noted below. General health
and nutrition has continued to be satisfactory and
comparable to that of the unexposed comparison
population. Annual hematological follow-up
studies have revealed that the levels of white
cells and platelets of the peripheral blood in the
exposed group have never quite reachedthelevels
of the unexposed comparison population. This was
again demonstrated in the 9 and 10-year surveys
and canbe readily seen in the accumulative distribution curves (Figures 23 and 35).
Bone marrow examinationsofa few individuals
at 9 and 10 years post exposure showed a reduced
myeloid-erythroid ratio with slight increase of immature red and white cells in some cases. There
has been no indication that these findings have
impaired the general health or response to disease
in the exposed people.
2008026
6.23
211
316
623
723
782
776
780
MORTALITY
There were 10 deaths in the exposed population
over the 10-year period. Of these, two deaths were
due to malignancies. Neither of these could be
ascribed reasonably to radiation exposure. The
somewhathigher death rate in the exposed group
is partly offset by the higher proportion of older
people, those >65 years of age being 20% in the
exposed group and only 7% in the unexposed
group. This mortality rate is also higher than in
the Marshallese as a whole, but notsignificantly
so. Evaluation ofeffects of exposure on longevity
in this group must await future findings.
AGING
No specific aging studies were carried out during the past two surveys, but attempts were made
during several previous surveys to put on a quantitative basis variouscriteria of aging (skin elasticity, skin looseness, hand strength, blood pressure,
arteriosclerosis, accommodation and arcussenilis
of the eyes, greyness of hair, degree of baldness,
etc.). No detectable radiation-induced agingeffects have been noted. Aging scores evaluatedat 6