36 EFFECTS JONE, ING OF third to the sixth oor ehh gay. ane was ctie acterized by a more severe esvthemar i oy Dhe third phase ats to tl days. was characterized by vesicle and builae formation, The ers thera spread to new areas during the following : weeks, and the active process subsided by v4 1 32 days. The bullae ciried up, and desquamation and epithelization took place on less severely damaged arens: (+) The fourth phase or chronie stage was haracterized by further breakdownof skin with necrosis im areas which were damaged suthciently to eompromise the blood supply. Atrophy of the epidermis and loss of epithelia: structures took place. whi h necessitated skin grafting im some cases. Robbins et a/. 7) reporteu six eases aceident ally exposed over mach cf their bodies to seat tered cathode ravs from a 1200 ky primary beam with exposure time of about 2 minutes and a rough estimation of dose to the skin of between 1000 and 2000 rep The lesions described were similar to those reported by Knowlton ef af, with t primary ervthema de- veloping within 36 hours; secondary erythema with vesiculation and suallae formation ap pearing about ly to 14 dave later; and, in the more severely arfected. a tertiary phase char acterized by further vreakdown of the skit In comparison with severe roentgen ras ceac tions these investigators stressed ihe unique periodicity of cathode ray burns, relative an sence of deep damage to the skin, less pain. greater rapidity of healing, and absence of pigmentation. hese point. would apply 10 the Marshallese lesions except for the mult: phasic reactions and ibsence of pigmentation Crawford (8) report. a case of cathode rus burns of the hands wh eh were similar to those described by Robbins - 6 1 Iixxperimental beta radiation burns on hn man beings have beer reported oy Low-Beer 9) and Wirth ind Raper 10) Both ives tigators used P? discs apphed te che flexcr surface of the wrms. forearms. or thighs fai varying lengths of time bow-Beer reported “monophasic” skin reactions He found that a calculated dose of 144 rep co the test mith meter of sking nor cg@ se feapsorotion. pre RADIATION tuced a threshold erythema. Dry, scaly, des- juamanion was produced by 7200 rep in the ist mniliimerer and bullous, wet desquamation sas produced by 17.000 rep to the first milli neter Erythema developed in 3 to 4 days, followed later by pigmentation and desquama- ‘ion with Ingher doses. Recovery was observed with doses of 17.000 rep. The lesions after showed depigmented centers with hypernemented edges salso seen in the present AseS Wirth and Raper (10) produced primary erythema within 6 hours after exposure to a lose of 635 to 1180 rep of P? radiation. M1nute vesicles with dry, spotty desquamation were noted with 1180 rep at about the fifth to axth weeks post-exposure. Twenty-three Japaneses fishermen were ex- posed to the same fallout material which involved the Marshallese and Americans. There were many similarities in appearance of skin esions that developed. Pigmentation was also ‘common in the Japanese and some degree of erythema was reported (11) which was not seen nthe Marshallese. Distribution of lesions was iet the same due to different parts of the body ‘eing protected by clothing. For example, in ‘he Japanese scalp lesions and epilation were nore common on the crown of the head since nandkerchiefs were usually worn around the wad leaving the crown exposed. Shoes prorected the feet of the Japanese, but lesions of ‘he ands between thumband index finger were ‘common, apparently due to handling contaminated fishing lines. Lesions with belt line dis- ‘ribution occurred in the Japanese fishermen ‘ut not the Marshallese. Similar mild lesions were observed on several American sailors who vere on ships of the task force exposed to fallvat From available information, the severity ind course of the lesions in the Japanese fishermen uppeared to be similar to those seen in the Rongelap Marshallese group. The lesions in this report did not follow srectsely the same course as those beta radiation esions described by Knowlton, Robbins, and thers ¢t-Es and they presented certain unique Tontaces which merit further diseusston.