fluctuations, 2) movement of adults in the study population to a clean island or
atoll for a month's visit with family or friends and 3) to the initial success
and subsequent failure of a food subsidy program which began at Rongelap in 1958
(Co80b).
Derived Quantities
The k values calculated for each nuclide in the Rongelap and Utirik adult
populations are given in Table 4.
In the cases of the Rongelap and Utirik peo-
ple for whom sequential body-burden data was available, k was found to have a
positive value for 13766, 6570, 60 c0, 2395. and 905,
The 2395, data for urine
of three adult males at Rongelap in 1973 and 1976 provided a single tentative estimate of k.
The value of k for 23954 was 7.5x107> + 9.1x10> at,
For 5356,
only one bioassay estimate was published as a result of studies by the BNL medical program (Be72, Co75); thus an estimate of k was not possible.
For the esti-
mate of cumu lated 97 Fe intake, k was assumed equal to zero which implies that
radioactive decay was the only cause of reduced daily activity intake during residence.
Where data were available for comparison, the values for k for 1370, and
Os, were found to be similar for both males and females as well as for resi-
dents of both Rongelap and Utirik.
The yearly per cent decrease in the atom in-
gestion rate was computed using Eq. 3 and the derived k value for each nuclide
of interest.
This intake relationship shows a 9% reduction in dietary 13766 for
each year at Rongelap and Utirik.
For dietary 905, an 8% reduction was
estimated for each year at Rongelap and Utirik.
The 60 60 and a intakes were
reduced rapidly during the first few years post return to Rongelap Atoll.
An
80% per year reduction in dietary 672 and a 60% per year reduction in dietary
0
Co were observed for adults.
Also, for adult males at Rongelap, a
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