RESULTS
Body Burden Data and Urine Activity Concentrations
The average body~burden data for adults since their return to Rongelap and
Utirik Atolls are presented in Tables 1 and 2.
‘In these tables, the zero day or
day of return for Utirik was nearly 1,000 days prior to the zero day or day of
return for Rongelap. Directly measured body burdens were listed for 6c, 6570
and 137 Cs.
For 1376, an initial rise in body burden and a subsequent general
decline was apparent.
These data were plotted in Fig. 2 along with their stan-
dard deviation and standard error.
Conversion of adult average 905. and 2395, urine activity-concentration
data was done as indicated in the methods section in order to derive a body
burden for these nuclides.
Average data were listed in Tables 1 and 2 and
plotted in the case of 90. (see Fig. 3).
obtained from Beasley (Be72).
The body burdens listed for 555 were
The methods used to derive 5556 body burdens
from blood measurements were given in Be72.
The most recent whole-body counting data available (1981) are presented in
Table 3.
Analysis of the data indicated that 1376, adult average body burdens
at Rongelap and Utirik were from 40 to 90 times greater than those of a comparison population at Majuro, a southern atoll which received little fallout from
testing (Le80c).
The 40, levels and corresponding potassium content were in
close agreement with naturally occurring values developed from data in ICRP 23
CICRP74).
Due to the paucity of early measurements of activity in Utirik residents
(see Table 2), their 8000, 23954, and re body burdens were estimated by
comparing nuclide ratios for Utirik and Rongelap residents.
The measured body
burdens for these nuclides in Rongelap residents and the observed atoll-to-atoll
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