214 THE SHORTER-TERM BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS OP A FALLOUT FIELD Sanrple Wot ‘Tissoo wh. fe) Ca (rng) Beta activity dd/ém sample Iv Gamma aetivity (4jm. sumple Nuetitle xt0-ty Nueltde activity (dim sample x34) ervent af tatal acuity Sunshine fruits Ca} Goat Fish... ... . . Bone. “ | Viseora Skin 2... 10 w.. 28) Muscle. 1819.2 1543. .....| ..| Killer Clam... Soft Tissue. . Killer Clam Soft Pissue.. »| Langonsta Crab. 1520C........] Hed Eye Crab. . ..] 37.5 a 13 a0 mers @ RO.3 12.5 1.7 58 9 A me 0 12 03.4 25 27 89 4.9 337 2 ary ti 1800 743 20 882] 1565 3t La 7) 330 Rott Tissue BT 2843 O 9 4a 73 2900 78 : | Coconut Crab...... ..] Soft Tissue... Wa]. Us oe B87 AWD wet ee -- 0 ne 46234 we eee 180:313 = Muscle. .........-] 281 85 - RO 87 - metabolism to calcium metabolism. The skel' eton of a fish from Rongelap had 587 sunshine units, the highest observed in any fish. The highest number of sunshine units in anyof the detonation. The Co® activity in these samples. The Co® was detected by gamma spectra] analysis, and confirmed by chemical separation and absorption measurements. The ability of clams (o concentrate Cio” selectively was verified in laboratory experiments using clams obtained locally. Comparison ofthe fish and marine specimens collected immediately after detonation and 1 year later with those studied in the present A rooster caught on Rongelap Island had a beta activity of 6.1 x 105 d/m and a gamma About 86 percent of the total activity in the diaphysis. The concentration of activity in the diaphysis and its absencein the ends of the bone indicates that the primary deposition occurred soon: after the detonation while the chickens were youngand growing. Theradiation dose to the skeleton frominternal emitters is obviously considerably higher at this time than that to any other tissue. The muscle con- tained 8 percent of the beta activity, and the liver, 4 percent. The gastrointestinal tract had 1.3 percent of the beta activity, and about one-fourth of this was found in the respiratory tract. The average activity for individual tissues of 4 rats collected on Rongelap are also presented in Table 4, The rats had a beta activity of Taste 4.-SUMMARY OF GROSS BETA AND GAMMA ACTIVITY IN RONGELAP ISLAND ANIMALS 0.95 00 RE .. 410. 1 41 RE Srto, Pns_ - af 24, 0.5340.76 . 4} 380... 42 9 a2 24 5 O27 Radioactivity oe 9 wee eae 24434 |... eee Nomber of Saraple samples 1 Skeleton samples analyzed appeared in a clam from Rongelap (2.43 x 10° units). In general, snails had a high number of sunshine units (276 to 502). A relatively high level of Ru(19.2 percentof beta activity) was also found in a snail from Gejen. A high level of Cs(with a 37-year half-life) was found in a coconut crab, In the analyses from previous island resurveys, Cs” was the major radionuclide found in land food plants and also in the tissues of land animals. The coconuts, which had high levels of Cs"’, were Average weight (g) Beta (d/mjsample x 104) Rooster...-.--. ¢NDA»No Detectable Activity. retained the largest amounts of Sr™, as would be expected from the similarity of strontium the level of beta activity of this rooster was 40 *R. Ew Rare Earth Group high fission yield and ita availability to biological organisms. Sr® levels. and Sr/Ca (sunshine units) are reported for a number of samples in Table 3. The skeletons of fish concentrated and since activity of 1.2 x 10° d/m (Table 4), The 3A * Sunshine Unit =0.001 pe Srit/ke Ca. radioactive half-life (28 yr.) and also from ita body was concentrated in the skeleton. The pattern of distribution of residual activity within the skeleton is shown in the autoradiograph of the rooster tibia (fig. 1). Theactivity is diffusely spread throughout the The prescnee of Co™in. two samples of clams Jagoon had approximately one-fourth the activity of those analyzed | year postdetonation. 20. .. . Shine... ... was noted for the first time in the 2-year report (2 yoars after detonation) indicate a drop in activity. The fish from the Rongelap KAnRBItE Istanp W538... Snapper Fish -...2.... pereent of that of a rooster from the same locality analyzed at 1 year postdctonation, accounted for the major fraction of the total LS Soft Tissua 18201......} Red Spotted Crab....] Bort Tissue. 16208..... BOO undoubtedly the source of (he Cs" activity found in the coconut crab, peried RONGELAP Istany ¥8020), 215 PERSISTRNCE OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION IN ANIMALS RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS FROM RONGELAP ATOLL Muscle. _. Gastrointestinal tract. _ Liver. ....---.--Respiratory tract... 2250 ~| ween 560 52 1050 485 192 32 5.1 -8 24 2 Total activity... 2.22.22 0)..---.4-| 002 RAWS.. 2 ene eee one Skeleton_...-- Head .Musete._. Gastrointestinal tract. Liver. ...2--..-- Respiratory tract. 4 62.9 -| ~ 41 73 15 -3 32 5 - 08 Total activity... . 2... -|----waen|eenenn oe 93 49 43 12.5 37 (dfm/sample x 10™) 101 6.9 1.6 9 4 4 60.5 5.4 39 10 3.6 Gamma (d/m/ke x 10“) . 08 (d/mfkg x 104) 181 66 &7 49.0 17.4 Jee 179 36 75 32.0 21.7 62.0 «15 al ur 27 . 06 . 02 35, 5 18 10, 2 27 15.6 36, 0