FIVE MARSHALL ISLANDERS TO BE EXAMINED AT
BROOKHAVEN MEDICAL CENTER
Upton, New York, May
,» 1966.
Five people from Rongelap Atoll in the
Marshall Islands of the Pacific will be brought to the Medical Research
Center of AEC's Brookhaven National Laboratory at Upton, L.I., N.Y¥., this
month for clinical examination and possible surgery.
They have nodules --
a thickening or hardness -- in their thyroid glands which appear to be the
result of exposure to fallout radiation from an atmospheric nuclear detonation at Bikini 12 years ago.
Of the five, one is a mature woman, three are
girls in their early teens, and one is a young woman under 21 years of age.
The five additional cases, noted early this year during the continuing
énnual redical surveys of the islanders, bring the total nunber of thyroid
cases to 16 cut of the original 82 Rongelap people who were exposed.
The
thyroid nodules were first detected in March, 1964, during the tenth annual
medical survey of the people of Ronselap and Utirik Atolls,
Thirteen of 19
children in the more heavily exposed group, all of whom had been exposed at
less than ten years of age, had nodules.
AI nodules of those children who
vere examined or treated surgically were found to be benign.
Only one per-=
son, @ voran of 40 years, had cancer of the thyroid, for which she received
surgecy a year ago, and is now doing well.
In addition, there were two boys
with hypothyroidism in the exposed group who had previously shown growth
retardation,
These boys have improved as a result of the thyroid horrone
therapy instituted six months ago,
Ear
Dencrtent of
v\
Ko