Effects of Fallout Radiation on Human Beings 56 Table VI. Mean body burden of the Rongelap group Radioisotope pCi at 82 days St "°Ba Rare earth group BRy "Ca calculated on the basis of published data on *Sr excretion in a human being [5]. The activity at one and 82 days post-accidentis presented in Table V1. Details of the measurements andcal- culations are presented [1]. The Rongelap people had been living on another atoll and in 1957, it was deemed safe to return them to Rongelap. In 1958, whole body counts detected '*"Cs [6]. The body burden lev- eled out at about 25.000 Bq. remaining at this level for about 2500 days. and thereafter diminished so that at 8000 days past rehabitation, it was down to 5000 Bg. and at 9800 days the ‘level was about 2500 Bq. The changes in Jevel of '°’Cs body burden are shownin Figure 13. In 1985, the Rongelapese were removed from Rongelap and placed on Kwajalein atoll because the inhabitants believed radiation was causing all of their health problems [7]. The cumulative dose to the Rongelapese from 1957-1985 was about 5 rem, as compared to U.S. exposure from natural background 0.05 Sv in 25 years at sea level and 0.07 Sv on the Colorado plateau. E 000 “ 008 yen g mmr dan 3 wso0e de 8 e000 426 s 2.2 U.34 _ 0.013 0.016 (¢gm) would have the fethal ra 4 Residual he many years platelets. Today the radioisotopes that contribute to the dose to individuals who might reside on Rongelap are Sr, '*’Cs, °°°Pu, 7Pu and *!Am. '57Cs would contribute 90% of the dose; Sr, 2-5%; and transuranic nuclides less than 5%. The integrated annual dose would be in the vicinity of 0.001 Sv [7}. Longevity Figure 14 showsthe survival curves for the people exposed on Rongelap, Ailinginae. Utirik and Rongelap unexposed people. There is no significant difference. Actually of those exposed on Rongelap and Ailinginae. there wasa slightly higher fraction alive in 1986 [4]. 5 Skin lesions due to fall observed as 6 Thyroid dis roid tumors 7 One case ¢ probably gammarad 8 The Marsl intensively exposed to They hav months fo Acknowledgr This rese Department : AC0Q2-76CHO Conclusions. 1 Unique fallout because of nature of coral atoll - CaCO,.—CaO Ca(OH). 2 Nausea. vomiting and diarrhea induced in about 25% of the exposed persons by whole body exposure to 1.9 Gy. gab G qn e000 1.6 2.7 1.9 ~ 0 3 Hematologi: topenia - an: OT TOT 2006 : LASL wCi at | day 0.19 0.02) 0.03 — 0 of urine concentration and the one-day burden £ USNRDLpCi at 1 day Cronkite/Bond/Cc yy & $ 4138 1e Ye. ae BOF _ TOr 22 cor E Sf # 40SO 2or 9 4 = “ om 4 4 —— RONQELAP AND AILINGQILLE EXPOSED TO BRAVO th tE4 —-—-- UTEXPOSED TO BRAVO w 1984 ones: MONGE LAP UNEXPOSED TO BRAVO tH labs 4 Be al dt tL 1955 1960 1965 STO 1975 986 1985 1990 vRAA Fig. 13. Body burden of ‘Cs in the Rongelapese after their return to Rongelap in 1957 and for the ensuing 28 years. Fig. 14. Survival curves for Marshallese exposed on Rongelap. Ailinginae, Utirik and Rongelap unexposed people. bm