THYROID IRRADIATION
IN UTAH INFANTS EXPOSLD TO FALLOUT IODINE 131
by Charles W. Mays
The inadvertent exposure of about 250 /
thousand
Utah
infants to average thyroid doses estimated at 1.3-10
rads may provide a unique opportunity to establish the
effects of low doses of iodine 131 irradiation in
children.
Iodine 131 is produced in nuclear explosions.
If
cows eat forage which is contaminated with fresh fallout,
iodine 131 appears in their milk.
If a child drinks
this radioactive milk the iodine 131 concentrates in
his thyroid gland and irradiates it.
Infants are
considered to be the critical members of the
population.
The transmission of fallout to children is
illustrated in the figure.
Dr. Robert C. Pendleton (Associate Professor of
Molecular and Genetic Biology,
/ofUtah)was the first
to discover that fallout from the Nevada nuclear tests
of 192 would cause significant contamination from
radioactive iodine 131 in Utah.+
Both our measurements,
and those of the U.S. Public Health vervice,© showed
that iodine 131 levels in Utah milk exceeded the radiation
protection guide of the Federal Radiation Council.”
Following Pendleton's vigorous urging that steps be taken
to reduce the exposure, the Utah state Department of
Health recommended:
transfer of cows from highly
contaminated pasture to stored feed;
and diversion of
highly contaminated milk from the fresh market.
protective action set a precedent;
This
it marked the first
official attempt in this country to prevent the intake
of fallout-contarinated food.
In analyzing the 1952 incident I became deeply
concerned about the exposures fror the previous years
of testing.
Unknown to me at the time,
this problem
was also being investigated through different approaches
DOE ARCHIVES
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