rene cote RETURN OF RONGELAPESE “The drop in lymphocytes is early and profound. Little or no evidence of recovery may be apparent several months after exposure, and return to normal levels may not occur for months or years. “The platelet count, unlike the fluctuating total leukocyte count, falls in a regular fashion and reaches a low on the 30th day. Some recovery is evident early; however, as with the other elements, recovery may not be complete several months after exposure... .’’8 47 At one year later the Marshallese were reexamined with the following conclusions: “Tn general, the Marshallese have recovered satisfactorily from the radiation injury received during March 1954. Visible residual effects are limited to a few areas of depigmentation and two small, distinct scars from radiation burns, one of which will possibly require plastic repair. “Neutrophil values have returned to the normal range of the control population. All Table 46—Mean Body Burden of the Rongelap Group RaDIOISOTOCE ACTIVITY AT 82 DAYS ue (USNRDL) ACTIVITY aT 1 Day ye (USNRDL) ACTIVITY AT 1 Da¥* ue (LASL) FSa 0.19 1.6 2.2 Bale, oe ee 0. G21 2.7 0. 34 Rare Earth Group__-.....---..-----._..----. UN(in thyroid)... 222. ----- wee eo eee Rule Cat, ee Fissile material, ...-.-...-.--.-.__.----2----- 0. 03 12 0 6.4) we tee eee ee bee eee eee jee eee 11.2 0. 013 Q 0 0. O19 0 0 0. O16 (ugm) *Extrapolated from 82d day. other members of the leukocyte population and the platelets remain below the levels for the control population; however, levels are higher than at 6 months and, presumably, will soon be in the normal range.” # At two years the examination showed that, “In general, the people of both exposed and control groups appear to be in good health and nutritional status.’’!* A 77-year old man showed a history of paresis of the lower extremities. The symptoms sug- gested that, ‘These findings can best be explained on the basis of a cerebrovascular accident.” * An il-year old boy was hos- pitalized with acute rheumatic fever and cardiac decompensation. ‘The diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease with mitral stenosis and insufficiency was substantiated and at the time of the examination, the boy was fully active without evidence of decompensation.’’ * A 46-year old man died on May 13, 1956, of heart failure. It was concluded that, ‘With the exception of the residual of skin lesions, none of the clinical findings in the exposed group could be attributed to the effects of irradiation.”’ In regard to skin lesions it was reported, “Some residual lesions are present in the Rongelap people. ... The majority of all show improvement. Almost all of the early superficial lesions are completely healed at this time without any apparent residual changes. There appears to be no evidence of any change which would suggest malignancy.” '* Urinalysis was made about two years after the March 1954 detonation, for people living on Utirik and Likiep Islands, for the Rongelapese living on Majuro Island and for personnel at HASL (Table 47)."" It is recognized that these are limited data, but the values for the HASL group showthe general world-wide distribution of the fallout debris, and indicates that the Sr® activities found in the Pacific group are probably morethe result of living in