a4 ‘ea eon She Bed a ik Ee et c (¢ ch 244 Radiation-Associated Thyroid Carcinoma Table 1 ESTIMATED BODY BURDEN _ (uCi) OF RONGELAP PEOPLE Activity at day l Activity at day 82 896, 1.6 - 2,2 0.19 140, 4 0.34 - 2.7 0.021 Rare’ earth group 0 - 1.2 0.03 131] (in thyroid gland) 6.4 ~-11.2 0.0 103 24 0 - 0.013 - Oa 0 - 0.019 0.0 Fissile material 0 - 0.016 (ug) 0.0 high iodoprotein levels, which had led to a false in- terpretation of the PBI determination (9). It then became apparent that low thyroxine (Tq4) levels in some of the children had probably been masked by high levels of icodoprotein. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THYROID LESIONS a mn, fm Evidence for retardation of growth related to thyroid injury was soon followed by discovery of a thyroid nodule in a 12-year-old girl in 1963, 9 years after + Ae eae ATa: Sree In 1965 thyroxine analysis by ion exchange column showed that some of the children did indeed have low serum thyroxine levels. Control studies on normal Marshallese revealed that many of them had unusually + became particularly stunted in growth (8). They had been exposed at one year of age, and they gradually developed atrophy of the thyroid gland and signs of myxedema.