- 27 -

the edible portions of the papaya, arrowroot, Morinda and Pandanus plants,

Soil samples also were taken in the vicinity of the plants in order to comoS. pare the levels of residual contamination in these items and to determine
nS | -

- whether there had been any selective uptake of radionuclides from the soil.

Counts of all the land plant samples for the first five surveys are given
in UWFL-42, AppendixTables iV, V, and VI, and are summarized in Tables
a

7, 8, and 9 of this report to include the values for the October 1955 collec-

~

tions,

Values for these collections are given in detail in Appendix D.

Summary of Radioactivity in the Edible Portion of Land Plants and
in the Island Soils Collected October 1955,

uc/kg of Wet Tissue.

Rongelap Atoll

Coconut
Meat
Milk

:
7

<

-

= -- .

0.023
0.079

Pandanus

0,074

Arrowroot
Morinda

.

Island Soil
‘

Ailinginae Atoll

0. 038
0,045

Papaya
Meat
Seeds

Values Expressed in

0, 008
0,011

-

«0.034

0,017

0, 005

0.013

0, 007

9.2

1.2

Soil: Plant Ratio - 190
In October 1955, the levels of radioactivity in all species of plants were

_ higher at Rongelap Atoll than at Ailinginae Atoll by a factor of two to seven,

In general, the levels in the plants were highest at the northern islands of
Kabelle and Labaredj.

ote
“

The only exception was the corm of the arrowroot

-

+e UNIVERSITY
UNIV. GY *

3k

Select target paragraph3