‘ e 1334 FALLOUT FROM NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTS pertinent to estimate body burden, burden expected at equilibrium, and daily _ intake of 310 fyom these excretion levels. The metabolic behavior of strontium as outlined in Supplement # of the British Journal of Radiclogy was used to estimate vody burden, ete. axcretion levels of strontiuny? (Appendix). from urinary The fraction of atrontium absorbed from the gastro-intestinal tract is 0.6 and the biological excretion rate fron the total body is 19C days. & i : Of the absorbed fraction, 0.25/0.60, about 42 per- cent is deposited in tone and the biological half-life is 4000 days. Assuming : that the absorbed fraction is excreted entirely in urine, the mean dody burden ‘4 of the exposed Rongelap group in March 1958 was 2 mic (+ 52 percent), adout nine percent of the expected equilibrium value of 23 mic. This is : The eatimated ; burden of strontium” for Mareb 1958 is probably too low and compares vith levels measured in etillborm children in the U. S$, several years ago (8), The Dunning (2) reported that the average concentration of strontium”? in the Marshallese food aupply could be about 360 Sunshine Units, but this would reduce to well under 100 Sunshine Units if the consumption of high sr?° content foods were eliminated. With the elimication of pandanus and land crabs the diet used exten ee Sunehine Unite (asaumirg a daily calcium intake of one gram). sear. ease ee daily intake of strontium”? is estinated to be about 15 micromicrocuries or 15 1 by Dunning indicated that the intake of strontium’™ would be 17 Sunshine Units per day. This compares favorably with the estimated intake of about 15 micro- microcuries from excretion analysis. Zines Pxeretion Levels and Body Burien and Utirik by whole bedy gamma-ray spectrometry. Body burden ranged from 29.5 i wag dn = In early 1957 Miller (9) detected zn? in selected residents of Rongelap subjects from Utirik. The Rongelap aubjects vere residing on Majuro at this tine. tae to 73.0 mec for the Rongelap residents, and 4&2 and 229 mic was detected in two | na ERAReereo ay a # ee army, “eid y . BeSarda . %. ay se i aus