20 miles of ground zero where there wasrelatively heavy local fallout from the bursts occurring on towers. Crude estimates suggest that the external whole body exposures in these same areas would have been in excess of 75 roentgens from gamma rays.!! The principal example of skin damage wasin the case of the Marshallese people following the heavy fallout on March 1, 1954.4 The most damaged areas were (a) in the regions of hair on the head (oiled), (b) folds of the moist bare skin such as the neck region and inner elbow, and (c) tops of the feet where the fallout material remained in place (figs. 4a and 4b). The extent of skin damage to the most heavily exposed group may be summarized as follows. 45 individuals......... superficial lesions 13 individuals.........deep lesions 6 individuals......... no lesions Total......... 64 35 individuals (of the 64 above)......... some degreeof epilation Hair of normal color and texture has regrown and all lesions have healed without visible effects except for permanent loss of pigment in the healed areas in individuals and some scar tissue behind the ear of one man, marking the location of a previous deep lesion. Additional cases of skin damage from fallout were ob- served on some Japanese fishermen aboard the Fukuryu Maru and some American service personnel on the island of Rongerik, as a result of the March 1, 1954 fallout. Also, four men in charge of handling “hot” filters from monitoring aircraft at the Pacific Testing Site in 1948 received severe beta burns on the hands. One additional case was an Air Force officer in charge of transportation of radioactive samples from the Pacific Proving Ground to the United States in 1951. A lesion developed on his forehead and right eyebrow region. The damaged area showed normal repair processes but the previously black hair of the eyebrow was replaced by white hair upon regrowth." There have been no known cases of human beta burnsat or around the Nevada Test Site. Evaluation Serious skin damage can result if highly radioactive fallout remainsin direct contact with the skin. Simple measures such as washing can be very effective in reducing this hazard —the sooner the better. 10 Skin damage has not been observed except