CHEMICAL AND RADIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF
THE RONGELAPESE DIET
INTRODUCTION
Rongelap Atoll was contaminated with radioactive fallout
resulting from the Bravo test on March 1,
1954,
that it
population
was necessary
Rongelapese.
June 1957,
habitation.
Some 200
to evacuate
the
Marshallese
returned
to the extent
to
(Dunning,
1957).
In March 1958,
human
several surveys to
determine levels of radioactive contamination at
Atoll
Rongelap in
after the area had been declared safe for
Since 1954 there have been
of 82
Rongelap
a study of the ecology
of the atoll relative to radioactive contamination was initiated at the request of the U.
S.
Atomic Energy Commission,
Division of Biology and Medicine.
One of the objectives of this investigation was to arrive
at an estimate of the amount and kinds of radionuclides and
minerals ingested by the Rongelapese through foods.
The fat,
protein and carbohydrate were determined to provide a basis
of comparison with known diets.
To our knowledge there are no
published data on the diet of the Rongelapese.
Rongelap Atoll
lies in
the
northern Marshall Islands,
an area of comparatively low rainfall and limited variety
of