13 | | | { | I T s 45- - 40 -4 PLATELETS x 10 dropped about 23% in the exposed population. However, the present controls had counts about equally below those of last year’s control group. The numbers of lymphocytes are slightly below the unexposedlevels for both age groups (Table 6 and Figure 9). Figure 10 showsa greaterdistribution of counts below the mean controllevel. The cumulative distribution curve (Figure 11) shows the exposed countsto bestill slightly displaced to the left of the unexposed counts. In the exposed group three people had absolute lymphocyte counts of less than 1500, compared to onein the unexposed group. There was a slight drop in the mean lymphocyte count this year compared with last year’s (about 13%), but the countinthis year’s control population was similarly below that of last year’s control population. T —4 35K ° 4 MEAN COUNTS {NON ~EXPOSED) 30-28 *. * « 25- e- e * 20-F e . ish * e ° iol ~ e ee 1 4 _4 e J e I 10 Qo L 20 ! 30 + i 40 50 AGE (YR) | 60 j 70 l 80 90 Figure 13, Platelets three years post-exposure, Rongelap males. 45 PLATELETS x i07* 40 35 c . 3 YR CONTROL {RONGELAP NON-EXPOSED) 30 Z 25 20 0 i¢o9 20 3 { 46 530 60 70 AGE (YR) 806 90 Figure 14. Platelets three years post-exposure. Rongelap females. PERIOD MI COUNTS (DAYS 26-30) CUMULATIVE PERCENT 100 RONGELAP UNEXPOSED 3 YEARS POST EXPOSURE 5 is 2) 29 #37 PLATELETS x 10% 45 £453 «GI Figure 15. Platelets, cumulative, Rongelap,all ages. Eosinophils were elevated in both the exposed and the control groups. In the exposed groups 56% of the eosinophil counts were above 5%. In the unexposed group nearly as many (48%) showed counts above 5%. Monocytes were at about the samelevelas in the unexposed group, but, as with the other white cells, the mean count waslower thanlast year’s. The mean piatelet counts wereslightly below the unexposed level (Table 6 and Figure 12). The greatest difference was seen in the males >10 years of age with mean counts about 18% below the unexposedlevel. These differences are apparent in Figures 13 and 14, which show theagedistribution of individual counts around the unexposed mean curves. Figure 15 shows that the cumulative distribution curves in the exposed groupsarestill slightly displaced to the left. Two people (3.2%) in the exposed group hadplatelet counts below 150,000 (compared with fourlast year), and one (1.2%) in the unexposed group. Nine (14%) in the exposed group had countsless than 200,000, compared with five (5.9%) in the unexposed group. [There were three (2.3%) this low in the Utirik group.] Basophils were about the samein the exposed and unexposed groups and showedlittle change since a year ago. Counts of basophils in 4000 white cells were carried out as a base-line study for leukemia. In studies on the Japanese exposed to the atom bombs’® it was noted that early in the development of leukemia an increase in basophils in the peripheral blood occurred. No high counts