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BNL BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY
AVI
ASSOCIATED UNIVERSITIES, INC. UPTON, Lil, N.Y. 11973
BOLO
TevepHoKe: (516) 345-39 7?
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
September 17, 1975
Senator Olympio T. Borja, Chairman
Special foine Comalcttes Concerning Rongelap
end Utirik Atolis
Congress of Micronesia
Saipan, Mariana Islands
R
96950
i ee
ere
Dear Senator Borja:
This is in response to a letter from Brian Farley (Aug. 27, 1975)
containing questions regarding the compensation of Rongelap and Utirik
people exposed to fallout. I have numbered the questions on a copy of
your letter and present the followlng auswers by these numbers:
(1) Ze would not he feastble to grade compensation with regard to
degree of thyroid injury in the surgical cases since it is not: possible
to quantify degree of injury or amount of heaithy thyroid. cissue remaining after surgery.
In any event thyroid replacement therapy used restores
the nemunl metabolite state (dependent on thyroid function). The thyroid
cancer cases follewing surgery have been asymotematic and have shewn no
evidence of recurvence. Such recurrence is extremely unlikely since it
is alveacy well beyond the time (5 years) of usual recurrence. In anever
to your query about the cases in whom the thyroid has ceased to function
we have vecoumended (see attached letter to Me. Rice) inclusion for cone
pensation of the tivo young Ronzelan men who had atrophy of the thyroid
With growth retardation.
wonan Whe had a
Also recomended for compensation was a Rongelap
vonthyroid neurofibroma surcically renioved from her neck.
ee
oosne.
Thisstumermuseyrhaye-beencrele ted=te-exposure.
(2) Tree to theiy chort radioactive life, none of the radLofodines
involved in thyroid tumor production remained on the island when the
people moved back to Ronzelap.,
Only emall amounts of other isotopes
mt
ae
(principally 90sr and 1378) remainod, which unlike radLoiodines are
not selectivaly absorbed by the thyroid gland. Therefore the thyroid
gose from tnese isotopes and from a slight amount of gamna radiation
wag for belew that known to produce tumors of the thyroid or other
effaccs on tha body. The finding of about the same incldence of such
tumors in tha pooulation Living on an uncontaminated iLsland in Likiep
atoll favored nonradiation involvement.
The thyroid tumors in the
Utirik population, one cf which was malignant, have to be considered
in a difigerent licht since the thyroida in this group received some
radioiodine exposure.
However, the dose received was quite low and
cince the lucidence of henign tumors of the thyvold was about the sama
os in the Renrelay contret and Liktep population Lt seema extremely un-
tiftely that vadtaticn was involved.
This contcnticn is suvported by
the fack that most of the tumors vere in thea older age proup (as found
in unexposed populations) and oniy one case ef nodularity developed in
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