l4

finger has been noted previouslyin children in the
unexposed group, but not in children of exposed
parents.
Miscarriages and Stillbirths

During the past year two questionable miscar-

riages occurred in the exposed women. and two
miscarriages and one other questionable one occurred in the unexposed women. Thus. during the

past two vears the incidence of miscarriage appears to be no greater tn the exposed than in the
unexposed women, and the previously reported
suggestive increase in incidence in the exposed
women is no longer apparent. Unfortunatelyit

was not possible to have a physician examine the
products of miscarriage.
Ilinesses

There were few major illnesses reported in the
Rongelap population during the past year. Two
unexposed people were hospitalized for surgical
procedures: No. 867. as mentioned above, had her

Fallopian tubestied following severe post-partum
hemorrhage, and No. 855 had a hemorrhoidecto-

that improper preparation mayresult in the type

of sickness described.

During the interviewthe health aide admitted

that some of the people had at times eaten coconut

crabs in spite of the fact that they had been re-

quested not to. Since the individuals involved were
not named, it was not possible to attempt to correlate Sr" urinary levels with crab ingestion.
ADULT EXAMINATIONS
Table 3 shows the various abnormalities noted

in the exposed and unexposed adult population

examined. In Appendix 6 the variousclinical find-

ings are enumeratedfor each individual.

Certain abnormalities such as moderate to
severe arteriosclerosis and cataracts showed a
higher percentage incidence in the exposed group:
however, the increases in both cases were likelv
related to the larger percentage of older people
in the exposed group. In the exposed group 20°.
of the adults were >>65 years of age compared

with 7°. of the unexposed adults. Taking this into

consideration, 1t does not appear that the abnor-

epidemics of disease occurred in the population,
and the dispensary record of the health aide

malities in the two groupsare verydifferent, and
no evidence of anvincreased incidence of degenerative diseases or other diseases is apparent in the

atorvinfecuons including a notable number of

exposed group (No. 57, F, age 107; No. 46, Mf. age

my: recovery in both cases was uneventful. No

showed the usual number of cases of upper respircases of acute bronchitis. Gastroenteritis wasfre-

quent as noted in the past. A number of cases of
ottus media and skin infections including the prevalent fungus and impetigenouslesions were treated, and also a small numberof minor wounds and
injuries.

In spite of the complaint at the village meeting
of sickness from eating fish, the health aide reported no cases of fish poisoning during the past

vear. He did report that several members of a few
families had developed a sickness 8 to 24 hours
after eating arrowroot flour (as mentioned at the
village meeting). The affected people developed

inflammation and burning of the mucous membranes of the mouth which persisted for about a
week. Several also had diarrhea of one-day duration shortly after eating the flour. These illness oc-

curred at two separate umes, in June and September 1960. Since most families were not sick from
eating the arrowrootflour, it was concluded that

in the families in which sickness developed the
Hlour had not been properly prepared. It is known

exposed group. Several of the older people in the
86; No. 55, M, age 82; No. 36, F. age 78: and No.

28, F, age 73) showed markedinfirmitiesof old age

with such findings as arteriosclerotic heart disease,
kyphoscoloisis, osteoarthritis, and cataracts with

blindness and had to beassisted to the examination room. Only two unexposed people were in
this age bracket (No. 862, M, age 88 and No. 946.
M. age 85). They showed similar infirmities, but

could walk alone.

Cancer Detection Survey

Examinations as thorough as possible under
field conditions were carried out for the detection

of malignancy. All tumors including presumabiy

benign tumors were recorded. No malignant lesions were detected in either the exposed or unexposed groups.

Pelvic examinations were carried out on the
sexually mature females (except when pregnant).

Cervical erosions, lacerations, and prolapse were

noted with great frequency. Papanicolaou'sstaining was done on vaginal and cervical smears.

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