1
52
Table 33
Urinary Sr*° Levels, in ppC/1, of Marshallese, 1959

Males
Age 1-15

Rongelap exposed
Rongelap unexposed

Ailingnae
Utirik
Ebeye

Females
Age >15

2.4
(2)*
7,142.0 (3)

-

Age I-15

Age >15

+5.1 (8)
72.8 (9)

3.9 (2)
-

3.4 42.2 (9)
4.2 42.3 (6)

+0.9 (5)
0.56+0.37 (4)

3.9 (1)
-

2.5
(2)
0.70+0.70 (3)

(t)

-

-

3.0

(1)

*The numbers in parentheses are the numbers of people in the groups.
Table 34

Cs'*? Body Burdens, in muC/kg, of Marshallese as Measured by Whole-Body Gamma Spectroscopy, 1959
Males

Rongelap exposed
Rongeiap unexposed
Ailingnae

Utirik

Females

Age 1-15

Age >15

Age 1-15

Age >15

12.4+6.2 (9)*
11.824.8 (20)
8.9
(2)

14.2-5.1 (10)
14.02%4.7 (37)
11.5%3.6 (4)

11.3%2.7 (12)
9.92.1 (15)
10.0%3.1 (4)

1102:3.4 (16)
9.8>=2.8 (33)
114445 (5)

4.61.2 (14)

4.51.6 (15)

4.51.9 (14)

3.61.3 (15)

*The numbers in parentheses are the numbers of people in the groups.

on an average 24-hr urine output of 1660 ml(see
Table 33). No significant difference was found
between the Rongelap exposed and unexposed
groups, although the exposed adult group hada
slightly higher mean value than the unexposed
group. Females tended to have a lower mean Sr*°
value than males, but the difference was not sta-

tistically significant. Relatively few children <15

years of age weretested for urinary Sr®°; therefore,

it was not possible to comparetheir levels statistically with those of the adults. The mean Sr®
urinary value for an adult inhabitant ofUtirik was
1.8 puC/I, which is about 35% that of the Rongelap group. The control group on EbeyeIsland (not

contaminated) hadstill lower values, 0.62 puC/l.

The lack ofsignificant difference between the
exposed and unexposed groups on Rongelap seems
to indicate that essentially no residual Sr*° from

the initial exposure is detectable in the exposed
group.
Cesium-137. The Cs'*' urinary excretion levels
of the Marshallese people for the period from 50
to 180 days following exposure can be expressed
as a single exponential function with a half-life of
70 days (see Figure 56). This figureis not in agree-

ment with the value of 140 days obtained by Anderson,**? but a biological half-time of 31 to 59

days was obtained ina clinical study made over a

4-month period following injection of Cs'Cl,
Into two patients. **

The estimates of body burden of Cs'** in 1958,

derived indirectly from urinalysis, are presented in
Table 32.
The urinary excretion of Cs'*’ of 34 puC/l in

1957 indicates that the Rongelap people were exposed to a continuing low level of Cs'*’ from
stratospheric fallout during 1956 while residing on
Majuro. By contrast, the mean body burden of
Cs'*" in 1957 of the Utirik people (who werereturned to their atoll in 1954) was 334 mpC, considerably higher than that of the Rongelap people
whowereresiding on Majuroat that time.*° This
higher burden among the Utirik people in 1957
can be attributed to the higher level of Cs**’ contamination on Utirik than on Majuro at that time.
Zinc-65. Zn** urinary levels were not measured
before 1958. With the assumptions that excretion
of Zn® is exponential and urinary excretion is
10% of total excretion (urinary/fecal ratio=),
the March 1958 urinary excretion level of 175

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