72 EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION Table 5.4.—Gross Beta Activity in Urine of People From Ailinginae and the Americans AILINGINAE Day 46 Post DETONATION case No, 6 8 AMERICANS Day 44 Post DETONATION TTLVouruny BenaActmre Age<5 yrs 44 Mean: ____.-_-.-- 150 150 217 217 Age 6-15 yrs 48 180 164 §1 370 88 275 126 900 765 53 Mean__________-- Age>16 yrs 1 16 28 29 880 680 780 2 80 920 610 850 410 70 440 722 827 1202 0 46 8 62 754 680 400 0 55 3 Toray,Voutel Dansetme 401 1, 970 4 440 2 3 650 1, 224 0 0 820 78 5 735 900 948 7 8 1, 340 1, 410 0 1, 260 9 Wo ee eee eee ll 12 13 1, 580 1, +60 1, 810 6 0 EL ee ee Le eee ee 385 0 965 14 720 438 15 16 1, 380 1, 9380 830 0 17 1 3 4] 43 45 51 Mean. __________Mean case No. 18 19 20 3 23 24 25 26 945 1, 520 0 1, 30 1, oe 55 Beer te 1, 180 1, 160 1, 380 510 __L___-- 46 35 0 6 ° [terete 0 750 187 323 27 565 28 1, 220 0 1, 158 309 Mean___________- --- eee ee Values corrected for decay. beta activity at 45 days post detonation (Table 5.5). The predominant radionuclide is Sr®, which contributes 42 percent of the total beta activity at this time. Assays of fissile material made on pooled samples of urine were all negative within experimental limits. The early urine samples analyzed by the LASL(collected 15 days post detonation) con- tained fair amounts of radioiodine in addition to the alkaline and rare earths. On the basis of the radiochemical analysis of the urine, the body burden (the radioisotopic deposition in the tissues) was estimated. The ratio between the activity of the urine and the amount of isotope fixed in the body is required for this calculation. However, few ratios are . available for the deposition of the various radioelements in humans, so that it was necessary to utilize ratios obtained from animalstudies. Of the animals collected on Rongelap, the pig was selected as the closest. to the human insize and metabolism. A detailed study was therefore made onthe excretion of these animals and