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Body burdens of 90sr,
The body burdens of radionuclides tended to reach equilibrium with the
Figures 1
environment in several years and then gradually to become lower.
and 2 show estimated body burdens of gamma emitters and 9 Osr over the years.
907 body burdens reached their highest level during 1962 to 1965 at
about 12 nCi in adults and 22 nCi in children, about 6 and 11% respectively of
the maximum permissible lifetime body burden levels for the population at
large; i.e., 1/10 the ICRP value. Analyses of bone samples from several autopsies during the past 20 years gave estimated 90sr body burdens similar to
137¢s body burdens also
those obtained from urinalysis (see Figure 2).
reached their peak in about 1965, at nearly 0.7 uCi (23% of the permissible
level for the general population). The body burdens of the Utirik people were
considerably below those of the Rongelapese.
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----8379 RONGELAP
Reevaluation
This section, by E. Lessard and N. Greenhouse, summarizes their reevaluation of the doses accumulated to 1979 from residual radiation exposure by
populations living on Rongelap and Utirik Islands since 1954,
A dosimetric summary for the Rongelap and Utirik adult populations is
given in Table 4. This information was obtained by methods outlined in BNL
51257, A Reconstruction of Chronic Dose Equivalents for Rongelapand Utirik
Briefly, a multicompartment model for declining
Residents - 1954 to 1980.
continuous uptake was developed, based on the results of historic and contemporary urine bioassay and whole-body counting data.
Daily activity ingestion
rates were extracted from the model and input quantities and used in conjunction with current metabolic models for internal dosimetry.
Tables 5 and 6 illustrate adult mean values for the body burdens on
Rongelap and Utirik, respectively. These body burden histories are the result
of direct body burden measurements or indirect body burden estimates based on
urine bioassay measurements.
Derived body burdens were calculated for Utirik
during appropriate years when measured data were lacking. A mean ratio of
2.55 to 1.0 was observed in the Rongelap to Utirik body burdens for 657n,
~ 115 -
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