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CHRONOLOGICAL AGE (MONTHS)
Figure 18.
Figure 19.
THYROID FINDINGS
exposed on Rongelap: 150 rads (from direct measurementof urinary '*'T),’* 100 rads (by indirect
measurements on pigs removed from Rongelap
plus Marshallese urinary excretion data),”** and
160 rads (based on recent recalculationsof early
data*’ - see Appendix 2). Thelast recalculations
were based on analysis of pooled urine samples
mainly from adult Rongelap people taken 15 days
During the past 3 years, the developmentof
thyroid abnormalities in a significant number of
the people exposed on Rongelap,and in one from
the Ailingnae group, hasresulted in extensive thyroid studies and surgical intervention in some
cases. The examination and therapyofthefirst 6
cases of nodules of the thyroid gland have been
after the detonation; an estimate of the one-day
relative proportion of the several radioisotopes of
iodine involved. Therelative distribution of radioiodines in fallout depends on the type of explosion
but in general ts well known. In addition to '"'],
the isotopes '*"I, '**I, and to a less erytent '**I contributed significantly to the thyroid dose, The only
direct data available on the Rongelap people are
thyroid content of '*'I was 11.2 pCi (5.6 to 22.4
pCi), assuming that 0.1% (0.005 to 0.2%) of the
maximum thyroid burden (not corrected for physical decay) was ¢ reted in the urine on the [5th
day. The dose of 160 rads to the adult thyroid was
calculated from oral intake and inhalation of the
various 1odine isotopes, considering their fission
yield, the average energy deposited in the thyroid
gland per disintegration, and the time of absorption. The dose to the thyroid glands of children
<4 years old was then calculated by means of
these factors with consideration of pulmonary
function and the thyroid size of a child that age.”
The main sourceof iodine ingestion was considered to be water, andsince it was being rationed
taken 15 days and longerafter the fallout. Three
separate estimates have been made of the dose
from radioiodines to the thyroid glands of adults
children drank the same amountofwateras adults
and therefore had the same thyroid burden of
radiciodines. The small size of the childhood thy-
described.'*-*7-** Since then, the number of cases
of nodules and hypothyroidism has increased to
18, and the new cases are described below.
The Radiation Dose to the Thyroid Glands
The dose to the thyroid gland from radioactive
iodine is determined byits uptake by the gland, its
half-life in the gland, the size of the gland, and the
radiochemical analyses of pooled urine samples
at the time of the fallout, it was assumed that the