ved
The main entry of fallout into the body is by way of ingestion;
inhalation contributes only a minor fraction.
Most, but certainly not
all, of the radionuclides are quite insoluble amd pass through the
gastrointestinal tract with only a minor irradiation of the stomach and
intestines.
The principal radionuclides that are absorbed into the body
after ingestion of radioactive contaminated foods are todine-131,
strontium-90, strontium-89, cesium-137 and carbon-14,
The Data The highest whole body exposures ever experienced from nuclear
weapons tests wee about 175 roentgens to 64 Marshallese following the
March 1, 1954 surface nuclear test detonation at the Pacific Proving
Ground’: .
This situation resulted from a shifting of the winds so that
the local heavy fallout from this large yield surface burst occurred,
in part, across the islands instead of the open sea,
The Marshallese were evacuated, given medical treatment and returned
to their home island of Rongelap on June 29, 1957 after radiation levels
had subsided to acceptable levels>*.
From 1956-1962 about 24 children
have been born - al] normal - and four persons have died from natural
causes®-, (One of these had been on another island and received 69 roentgens exposure.)
Four deaths have occurred in the comparison population.
There were, of course, noticeable effects immediately after the irradia-
tion such as nausea and itching of the skin (see section on Skin Exposure below {Section I C page
12
_).
iw