ea +s, ' bk bh = wee inconclusive, although "bone development studies seem to indicate a slight degree of retardation in the exposed group."' (p. 18) The report discounted the possibility that such retardation was due to internal absorption of isotopes, or due to external beta activity. What seemed most likely was that since the children were smaller and thinner than adults, they received higher amounts of penetrating radiation than adults and that this, while not enough to affect the bone itself, may have affected some hormune-producing gland, such as the thyroid, which then affected growth. These tentative findings were further complicated as noted in the four year report which stated that a slight lag in development of some children was being reevaluated since there was “uncertainty in the ages of some of the children.” (p. 28) The five and six year report indicated continuing difficulty in trying to determine the exact ages of some of the children. Despite this "It was noted, however, that in the 6-year chonological age group three boys and one girl out of five boys and two girls exposed to radiation were markedly retarded in skeletal maturation." (p. 20) This report concluded "It might be speculated from these limited observations that these children were exposed to radiation at a particularly vulnerable age and that the resulting retardation in osseous development led to failure in statural growth. On the other hand, it is not possible to exclude completely the possibility that some process unrelated to radiation damage was responsible for the retardation in skeletal (p. 23) development." This hesitancy to ascribe growth retardation to the effects of radiation may have stemmed from early newspaper reports which indicated that the people had been severely stunted by their exposure. This was indicated in the 1957 congressional hearings on fallout by Dr. Cronkite who had participated in the first survey and who is a senior member of the BNL staff today. 111