* = SOME pyc ; , ne,fo No. 6 * Tsyxts vo . NS rae ie rooeieee: ale I ale ae an a ad c ae BF to ‘Sok¥ wedsak ‘ninaWe pate Ge LATE EFFECTS OF RADIOACTIVE’IODINE IN:“FALLOUT* 2 a ut, ep Dp tataAO : ”Y we ee tt - + t ie ve De . wl! ef if_ oe , : 1221 *, * was’°noted, ‘however,except ‘perhaps for ‘some increased’menses ina few women. By 1 year the blood countsrecovered, but not quite to the exact levelof the comparison populations. «-!.0'.” There was a slight weight loss noted in the majority of the people during thefirst 2 months, but we were not sure whether this: was related to radiation exposure or was due to change in environment. However, no illnesses occurred that we could relate to radiation effect. We did not have to use any special form of treatment in these people as a result of exposure to the penetrating gamma radiation. Antibiotics were used for ordinary infections that oc- - curred, but these showed no obvious rela- pletely regrown and was of normal color and texture. As a residual effect of these “beta burns’ we see scarring in some 20 cases at this time with pigment aberrations persisting in some. Recently we have noted the development of benign nevi in areas that had been involved with “beta burns.” Figure 6 shows such lesions. However, there have not been any degenerative changes noted in the skin or any evidence of malignancy. The whole-body exposure from gamma radiation resulted in potentially the most serious effects. This was reflected largely in depression of the blood cells (Figure 7). The lymphocyte count dropped to about half that of the comparison population by $ to 4 days, andin the children the lymphocyte count dropped even lower. The neutrophils fell to about half the comparison population levels by about 6 weeks, but for- tunately no infections developed that we could blame on the depression of neutrophils. The platelets became depressed to about one third to one eighth of the level of the comparison populations, reaching a nadir at about 28 to 30 days. No bleeding 9012823 +25 | z CONTROL QASELINE z w wn tah tr ay 8 ve ' a a -25 t 4 5 i & -50;- ud a -75 WHITE BLOOD CELLS (AVERAGE COUNTS) -PLATELETS (AVERAGE COUNTS) Po 2550. 6 k-pAYS ——-Mo. : dd | @ 3 4 5 6 7 B 9 10 + YEARS TIME AFTER FALLOUT i - | : | tt Ficure 7. Depression of blood elements in Rongelap people (percent depression compared with average counts of unexposed people). AOEOLARMs meme Ficure 6. Recently developed benign nevi in an area previously affected with “beta burns.” tion to radiation. exposure. In addition to the whole-body and skin exposure, a third type of radiation exposure was from the internal absorption of radioactive materials by inhalation and ingestion. The island was quite contaminated from the fallout, and the people absorbed significant amountsof radioactive materials in the food and water. We were able to detect this by radiochemical urinalyses beginning a few weeks after the accident. ‘ Table 2 shows the radioisotopes that were calculated to be present in these people, extrapolating back to the first day as compared with the activity calculated to be