rchadiation-Associated Thyroid Carcinoma 242 € In 1957 Rongelap was considered radiothe south. logically safe, and they were moved back to a new village. A group of more than 200 Rongelap people who were relatives of exposed people, but had been a- way from the island at the time of the accident, moved back with the exposed people to their home island and have served as an ideal comparison population for the studies. Medical examinations have been carried out on these populations for the past 22 years. The most serious acute effects of the exposure were due to penetrating gamma radiation. These included transient anorexia, nausea and vomiting, and significant depression of the peripheral blood elements in INMany members of the higher exposure Rongelap group. The hematological depression (to about half normal level by six weeks) was not sufficient to produce definite clinical signs and required no specific therapy. Blood levels returned to near normal by one year. Contamination of the skin in the Rongelap group resulted in widespread beta burns and epilation. These lesions healed and hair regrew normally within several months. Radiochemical urine analyses revealed that measurable amounts of radionuclides were absorbed internally from ingestion of contaminated food and water and from inhalation (see Table 1). It is noteworthy that no acute effects due to this internal exposure were seen, in view of the late thyroid effects from radioiodine absorption to be described kelow. Followup examinations have revealed, except for one fatal case of leukemia and extensive thyroid lesions, only a few findings that might be related to radiation exposure, and space does not permit a discussion of these here‘. The above findings have been reported in numerous publications (-5) and presented in detail ina twenty-year review (6). wet Tur} asi C x weet \Y In addition to annual examinations the people have been seen on a quarterly basis by our resident physiclans in the islands, Drs. K. Knudsen and K. Kotrady.