57
mass and/ortotal blood volume with total body
Rongelap as a result of their fallout radiation ex.
posure. Attempts at 8 and 9 years post exposure
to obtain suitable blood cultures had not been
entirely successful. However, during the 10-year
survey a slight modification of the Moorehead
technique”® resulted in a series of satisfactory
cultures on 51 people: 30 in the higher exposure
weight used asa baseline. During the 1963 survey,
similar studies were performed on 21 Marshall
Islanders, but these data were related to total
body water as determined bytritiated water.”
Results showed thatin all instances but one the
‘values for red cell mass andtotal blood volumefell
below normallevels for persons living in temperate
zones of the United States.
The present study was undertaken during the
surveys in 1965 and 1966. total of 19 Caucasian
Americans (3 females and 16 males) living in the
MarshallIslands for periods of 3 monthsto 9 years
were examined by the same techniques.* Theresults of these studies on each individualare presented in Appendix 15, along with data on the 21
group (175 rads), 13 in the lower exposure group
(69 rads) and 8 from the unexposed Rongelapese
who were on anotherisland at the time of the
accident. The detailed results of these studies are
presented in Appendix 14.*
Table 25 summarizes the results. A higherincidence ofaneuploid cells was noted in the exposed
group, but the difference was not great enough to
be significant. Unexpectedly, the lower exposure
group showed more aberrations than cid the more
heavily exposed group,andthelatter group showed
even less aberrations than the unexposed. However, the incidence of 2-hit aberrations was significantly higher ( p <0.004} in the exposed groups
Marshallese in whom these studies were carried
out in 1963. The data were programmed and
analyzed by a high speed digital computer. Re-
gression lines obtained for the Caucasians and the
Marshallese are presented in Figure 67 along with
regression lines ofMoore”* andSiri’’ for Americans.
The Marshallese regression lines for both blood
and did appearto be radiation induced. Figure
66 shows a dicentric and a ring form noted in
chromosomespreadsfrom two exposedindividuals.
voiume and red cell colume have very nearly the
same slopes as the lines of the Siri and Moore
Total Blood Volume and Red Cell Volume
groups, but theyare significantly below thelatter
(significant at the 1% level). The Caucasiansliving
in the Marshall Islands also show regression lines
Previous studies (1961, 1962) with *'Cr-labeled
erythrocytes on Marshallese subjects living in their
slopes similar to those of the Marshaliese and the
OTHER LABORATORY STUDIES
for blood volumeand red blood cel! volume with
Siri and Moore groups. Comparison ofthe regres-
native environment have shown reducedredcell
sion lines showsnosignificant difference between
*We are grateful to Dr. Shields Warren and his groupat the
CancerResearch Institute in Boston for carrying out the chromosome analyses.
*Weare grateful to Dr. W.E.Siri, University of California, for
carrying out the tritium-water analyses.
Table 25
Summary of ChromosomeFindings
No. of
persons
with
aberrations
Chromosomeaberrations
Fragments
Dicentrics
12
11
6
-
5
No. of
persons
No.of
cells
scored
Percent
ofcells
with
2n3446
Exposed
30
1500
10
Exposed
69 rads
13
650
8
11
(84.6%)
10
2
1
8
400
5.5
>
(62.5%)
9
-
-
Group
175 rads
Unexposed
(40%)
Total
aberrations
Total
cells
with
aberrations
22
20
43 |
15
8
21
(3.23%)
18
(2.77%)
31
4
-
9
(2.25%)
8
(2.0%)
6
3
. ExRings changes
(1.46%) (1.33%)
ChroIsomatid chromatid
breaks
gaps