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‘OF_ HEALTHGLINICAL STAFF.«”

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iaternal Medicine

“eeRovgelsp‘with the exposed people. This
“group makes up our comparison popula7ottion and is a rather good onesince [1] most
YOEthe people are bloodrelatives of the

“xexposed people; [2] they match reasonably

a’. well for age and sex; and [3] they live under
wis
«the same environmental conditions.
“noted? In about 2 weeks the deposit of
fallout material on the skin resulted in the
development of radiation burns that first
. appeared as pigmented areas. About 90%
of the people developed these so-called
“beta burns.” These pigmented areas usua ally desquamated in a few days leaving raw
...depigmented areas, sometimes ulcerations.
Figure 4 shows extensive lesions in a young
‘boy. Fortunately, most of these burns were
ex fairly superficial and healed and repig. mented within several weeks without any

-y special treatment. Epilation was noted in
“about 90% of the children and 40% of the
' ‘adults. This was spotty in nature. In Figure
_|5 we see epilation in the temple area of
“a‘young girl: The hair regrew in all of
these people, starting at about 3 months,
. and’ by the end of 6 months it had comFicure 4. . Numerous superficial
“beta burns”
in * *aeSad abatea :
perfici
u
a young boy who had little clothing on at time of aseeee
exposure.
_
«—
4

Wecarry out annual medical surveys on
these people. The surveys are sponsored by

the Atomic Energy Commission and Brookhaven National Laboratory and are carried

out in conjunction with the Medical Department of the Trust Territory of the

Pacific Islands. Numerous publications have

described the results of these annual surveys (1-10).

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In 1957 the Island of Rongelap was monttored and was pronounced safe for habitation, and the people were moved back.

Figure 3 shows Rongelap Island today with
new construction that is far superior to

;

what they had previously. Over 200 Ronge-

7

tase

lap people who were not on the island at
the time of the accident moved back to

Ficure 5. Epilation in the temporal area of the
scalp of a young girl.

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PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED

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