194

Health Physics

Simon SL, Graham JC. Findings of the first comprehensive
radiological monitoring program of the Republic of the
Marshall Islands. Health Phys 64:66—85; 1997.
Simon SL, Vetter RJ. Consequences of nuclear testing in the
Marshall Islands. Health Phys 73:66—85; 1997.
Simon SL, Borchert A, Graham JC. Concentrations and spatial
distribution of plutonium in the terrestrial environment of
the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Science Total Environment 229(1—2):21—39; 1999.
Simon SL, Graham JC, Terp SD. Uptake of “°K and '*’Cs in
native plants of the Marshall Islands. J Environmental
Radioact 59:223—243; 2002.
Simon SL, Bouville A, Land CE, Beck HL. Radiation doses
and cancer risks in the Marshall Islands associated with
exposure to radioactive fallout from Bikini and Enewetak

nuclear weapons tests: summary. Health Phys 99:105—123;
2010.

Stather JW, Greenhalgh JR. The metabolism of iodine in
children and adults. Chilton, Didcot, UK: National Radiological Protection Board; NRPB-R140; 1983.
Sun LC, Meinhold CB, Moorthy AR, Kaplan E, Baum JW.
Assessment of plutonium exposure in the Enewetak population by urinalysis. Health Phys 73:127—132; 1997.
Takahashi T, Fujimori K, Simon SL, Bechtner E, Trott KR.
Thyroid nodules, thyroid function and dietary iodine in the
Marshall Islands. International J Epidemiol 28:742—749;

1999.

Takahashi T, Trott KR, Fujimori K, Nakashima N, Ohtomo H,
Minouk J, Schoemaker MJ, Simon SL. Thyroid disease in
the Marshall Islands, findings from 10 years of study.
Sendai, Japan: Tohoku University Press; 2001.

August 2010, Volume 99, Number 2

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Some effects of ionizing
radiation on human beings. A report of the Marhallese and
Americans accidentally exposed to radiation from fallout
and a discussion of radiation injury in the human being.
Washington, DC: U.S. AEC; TID 5358; 1956.
Varo P, Saari E, Paaso A, Koivistoinen P. Iodine in Finnish
foods. International J Vit Nutr Res 52:80—89; 1982.
Welander AD. Radiobiological studies of the fish collected at
Rongelap and Ailinginae atolls, July 1957. Washington,

DC: United States Atomic Energy Commission; Report
UWEL-55; 1958.

Wenlock RW, Buss DH, Moxon RE, Bunton NG. Trace
nutrients, iodine in British food. British J Nutrition 47:38 1—

390; 1982.

Woodward KT, Schrodt AG, Anderson JE, Claypool HA,
Hartgering JB. The determination of internally deposited
radioactive isotopes in the Marshallese people by excretion
analysis. Washington, DC: Division of Nuclear Medicine,
Walter Reed ArmyInstitute of Research; 1959.
World Health Organization. Draft report: Water requirements,
impinging factors, and recommendedintakes [online]. Geneva: WHO; 2004. Available at: http://www.who.int/water_
sanitation_health/dwq/nutwaterrequir.pdf. Accessed 2008.

World Health Organization. The WHO global data bank on

breastfeeding and complementary feeding [online]. 2009.
Available at: http://apps.who.int/research/iycf/bfct/. Accessed

2 June 2010.

Wright S. Applied physiology. London: Oxford University;

1956.

Zvonova IA. Dietary intake of stable iodine and some aspects

of radioiodine dosimetry. Health Phys 57:471—475; 1989.

APPENDIX
Details of methods, data, and assumptions used

The important parameters that are discussed here are the

urine samples

for ''I on day of sampling [EF(t)]. They will be
discussed in turn.

shown in eqn (Al):

input data to interpret are the original volumesof urine
collected from Rongelap community members in 1954.

in calculating '*'I intakes from bioassay of

24-h urine volume (V) and the urinary excretion fraction

The basic calculation to estimate the average
intake of '*'I among the Rongelap community members from whom a 24-h urine sample was collected is
Q(t = AXAXY

(Al)

EF(t) X €¢”
where

Q =acute intake of '*'l intake (Bq, group aver-

age);

CR =background adjusted count rate of '*'I per
mL of urine (c s ' mL’);

K =correction factor corresponding to the ra-

dioactive decay of ''I between time of

sampling and time of counting,
V =24-h urine volume (mL) averaged over
sampled population;

EF(t) = urinary excretion fraction for '*'I on day of
sampling, ¢ being the time elapsed between
intake and sampling; and
Ec = gammadetector counting efficiency (count
per decay).

Urine volumes. The most difficult of the historical

Those data have been described by Harris (1954) and
Harris et al. (2010) though here we present a more
detailed discussion. Volumes of urine collected in 10
different samplings (8 from Marshallese, 2 from Amer-

ican military weather observers) are summarized in

Table 1 in Harris et al. (2010). Note that all these

samplings were only from adults.

The mean values of 24-h urine volumes within the
first three weeks after exposure were 427 mL (n = 35),
448 mL (n = 31), and 385 mL (n = 15). In the fourth
week, the mean values for Marshallese were 596 mL
(n = 40), 523 mL (n = 43), 756 mL (n = 12), and 603
mL (n = 15). One and a half-months after exposure, the
mean value wasstill only 573 mL (n = 21). Over many

years, there has been discussion on whether the volumes
of urine that were collected actually represented the total

amounts excreted during 24 h, as the mean values of

Select target paragraph3