SRN
UBRSTUONS
a. Nhelter. Those indisid ials who reimiutiier,
indoors or under the trees during the fab our
period developed less severe lesions,
b. Bathing. Small chimdren «whe went wad
ing 1n the ocean developed fewer foot lestons
Most of the Americans. wo were more aware
of the danger of the fadlout. took shelter
wuminum
i:
changrert
buildings, bathed and
clothes and consequentiv ieveloped only vers
mutld beta lesions.
c. Clothing Asmnele ciserofotter matel ai
offered almost complete protection. as sas
demonstrated by the fact that lesions developed
tlimost entirely on the exposed paits of the body
3.54
Factors Favoring
Lesions
a. .lrens
Lesions
of
were
meas
more
the
Development
of
perspiration
Ants a ‘hat
ciumerous
i
arenas
where
lb. Delay in decon tunenets oy
There was a
lelay of | or 2 days befor satisfactory decon
tumimition was poss ble
Phe y rolonged con
tact of radioactive initetia son tue skin during
this period increased the cose to
he skin
However, the dose rete feo off riprdbs and de
contamination would faye Had te be | rempt or
order to lave neen nioast effeerie
C Differdtiesinds onciatniiration,
Theth ch
hair, anointed with . neass ocomit ob dress
ing, resulted in heavy cortamunation
Decen
tamination of the head was slower than for the
other parts of the bouy and may ave enhancec
the development of epilation und seal lesions
Lack of Correlation With Hematological Findings
ArrempTs WerE Mabe to correlate the severity
and extensiveness of skin esions with hemato
logic findings for individuals in the Rongeiap
group. No positive correlation was found wtl
depression of any element. Thus, the contann
nation of the skin apparentl]s did not - 2
nificantly contribute re he tofa. body dose ot
radiation.
OF PYLAT TON
35
3.7
Discussion
ly ert Elas Bren Jittle previous experience
sit oendiation dermatitis resulting from exouire to fallout material from nuclear detomawoos, and the general consensus, until this event,
ia been hat the hazard from fallout material
aus nevhgible. From the present experience
+ sevident that following detonation of a large
wile device close to the ground, serious ex-
woure of persounel with resulting radiation
eons of tae skin may occur from fallout
natertal, even at considerable distances from
he site of detonation. ‘This incident is the first
esaluple of large numbers of radiation burns of
nan beings produced by exposure to. fallvatommaterial
perspiration is abuncant sich as the folds of ‘he
peck, axillae, and antecubital fossae,
3.6
ANE
With the Hiroshima and Naga-
“thi detonations fallout was nota problem since
‘he bombs were detonated high in the air. The
dash purns of the Japanese were due to thernar radiation only.
Foilowsmg the Alamogordo atomic detona-
‘ou a umber of cattle grazing near the point
of detonation developed lesions on their backs
due tothe deposit of fallout material (4). Also,
tol owimg a detonation at the Nevada Test Site,
is eer horses near the Test Site developed
rsons cesuiting from fallout deposit on thetr
pike Ke (cas
Ionewlton ef a/. (6) described burns of the
wards of four mdividuais who were handling
fiss on produer material following detonation
frog nuclear device. These burns were due
The gross lesions
ip reiy te beta radiation.
of he hands occurred from an exposure of
abeut. heur resulting in doses between 5,000
he
.6.000 rep of beta radiation (maximum en-
spout | Mes) with a small gamma comporent considered to be insignificant. The
lessons were deseribed as developing in. four
phases © 9 An utial phase which began almot immediately after exposure wid consisted
(fo onoerythema with tingling and burning of
tere
roe bards, resching a peak in 48 hours and sub
sothg rip idly so that by 3 to 5 days there was
Hiatt. ibsence of signs and symptoms: (2)
ver
gd,
shase whieh ocenrred from about the