x o | slightly below the mean control count. Themean? Platelet level is about the same as found at one year after exposure and is still slightly below° the control level. The mean neutrophile count at’ . One year after exposure had reached the control level, ‘The delay in complete recovery of lymphocytes and - Platelets is similar to that reported in the two-year follow-up studies of the Japanese casualties of the atomic bombings. Evidence from the Marshallese expertence indicates that the lowered levels of these. blood elements have not lowered the resistance of the. people to disease, and the present levels are not: considered to represent a serious conditions. si "Residual changes in ‘the skin from the beta irradiation continue ‘to show improvement. Pigment . aberrations are still’evident in 15 cases and in four | of theSe there. is also scarring with some adherence | of the skin to the subcutaneous tissue. _ However, there is no gross evidence of tissue breakdown or malignant “change in any of these lesions, and surgical repair is > “not considered necessary at this time. Histological.” ; “examination of skin biopsies at sites of radiation | lesions shows residual effects of radiation damage,’. _but no evidence of" pre- malignant or malignant, changes. ce ““opthalmological survey, reveals that ‘there‘are no. radiation-induced- lens opacities; and: the, incidence of ocular lesions is similar in exposed and control. populations. ~~“ a - : : ee ee "The radiochemical analysis of the urine of the Rongelap people shows measurable activity which is - largely due to cerium-144-praseodymium-cyhy with only slight activity due to strontium-90. The body burden . of these isotopes is estimated to be well below the, permissible levels. Fxamination of bone specimens in the case of the one man who died shows no radiation that can be definitely associated with fallout- + ~ deposition in the bones. Studies of radiographs of the femurs of the exposed children show no evidence ° of any bone defects from possible deposits of . radionuclides." ‘ 2 7. External Gamma Dose Rat*ss on Rongelap Atoll. The external gamma dose rates at three feet above the ground on the Island of Rongelap, up to the end of Octs ber 1955, are shown in the attached graph (Annex "A" to Appendix "A"). It might be “expected that this curve will flatten out. with time due teGominance. of the 33 year palt- life sestus137.Jifthe. TAS? Fas BPE data ‘onnthe“erane were=pktrapolated ‘to‘the: time.‘of “the, last . vt > Ste - Se oT -6 - -yT > od 7” fit ae) ree ee wet bine lle eS“Appendix tn eomeramaseAL,