67 Question 14 Although Ernest Sternglass is talking ebout a different problem--fallout from bomb tests in the atmosphere--he raises two questions which are most ” relevant _to our present inquiry: Ae ‘3B. Can fetuses and infants die from doses of radiation very much lower than we thought could even hurt them? Are they possibly receiving higher doses than we supposed? In view of the growing plans for Plowshare detonations, the increasing number of reactors, the continuing fallout from old tests and from French and Chinese atmospheric tests, do you feel that these two questions merit . further investigation? Answer 14 aN ae Wah ateeae wee The answer to these questions is no. A large amount of information exists which clearly indicates the sensitivity of the embryo to irradiation. This detailed picture of the dose-effect relationship of irradiation on prenatal development has been obtained from studies in animals. However, ame abe e sufficient human cases have been studied to indicate that the same pattern ‘occurs in man as in animals. Some of the human information is derived from .- the survivors of the atomic bombs in Japan; the children from women who were . pregnant when exposed to irradiation at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. t Most of our knowledge comes from cases described in the medical literature of abnormalities following exposure of pregnant women at a time when radiologists ‘did not know the great radiosensitivity of the fetus. At one time it was believed that any harmful effects would lead to abortion or stillbirth and that the embryonic abnormalities would not give rise to deformed children. Subsequently, a detailed survey showed that when a mother received several hundred roentgens for treatment of cancer within the first two months after