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in the development of lesions.(''beta burns") and spotty epilation of the
head in the majority of the people between 2 and 4 weeks following
exposure,
The skin lesions healed within several weeks and the hai«
regrew by 6 months,
Some of the people had slight residual atrophy,
scarring and pigment changes of the skin.
The acute effects appeared
to be more severe in the children than in adults.
No acute effects
of the internal exposure to the radionuclides were noted in the people
.and the full significance of this exposure was not appreciated at that time.
‘Until the development of thyroid abnormalities 5 years ago, only
|
a few possible late effects of exposure were observed in the Rongelap
people.
These have been described in detail in other reportsl-3 and are
to,
.
'
only briefly summarized
here.
:
During this period the general health
of the exposed population remained about as good as that of the unexposed ,
|
population Living on the same island with no illnesses that could be
attributed to radiation exposure,
A slightly higher death rate was noted
in the exposed group but this may have been due to the larger number of
older people in that group.
Of possible significance has been the continuing .
slight depression of the mean peripheral blood levels in the exposed
1
population compared with those that were unexposed,
About twice the incidence
.
of miscarriages and stillbirths were noted in the exposed women during
4
the first 5 year period but general fertility in the exposed people appears
’
,
to have been about the same as that in the unexposed based on the number of °
‘
live births.
developed,
4
.
No malignant lesions of the skin and no cases of leukemia have
{
Two cases of cancer of the female genital tract in exposed women
-
DOE ARCHIVES
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se