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The Medical Research Ceuter
.
Brookhaven National Laboratyiy
Upton, L. L, New York
COPPL
ALE 14
CESUin-iS7 AND STRONTIUM-90 RETENTION
FOLLGYING AN ACUTE INGESTION
r RONGZLAP FCOD
neposirony BNL KECORDS
cottection 2 ARSHALL ISLANDS
MEDICAL OEPT
‘FOLDER- #¢ 756
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4
EDWARD P. HARDY, Jr.,* JOSEPH RIVERA,* and ROBERT A, CONARD?
‘*Heaith and Safety Laboratory, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, New York,
New York. and ¢Brockhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York.
ABSTRACT
Marine
and
plant
foods
used by natives living on Rongelap in the
Marshall Islands contain higher levels of long-lived fission-product.
radionuclides than do diets of people living in the United States due to
residual contamination from fallout in 1954. During the 1963 medical
survey of the Rongelap population, three food items indigenous to the
Rongelap diet were brought back to the United States and consumed
over a Seven-day period by a member of the medical team, The inges-
tion of these foods introduced levels of Srand }"’Cs which were 20 and
60 times higher, respectively, than in the normaldiet and was therefore
considered in terms of an acute intake of two fission-product radionuclides that are important from a radiological standpoint. Urinary
and fecal collections were analyzed separately, and whole-body ‘Cs
measurements were made with a whole-body counter. The urine was
the principal excretory route for the ICs | whereas the feces was the
main removal means for the “Sr. The retention of Sr could be
.represented
by a series of exponentials, whereas the retention of
cesium as determined by whole-body counting indicated that a single
. long-term component with a biological half-life of 74 days describes
ine removal process. Reasonably good agreement was obtained be‘ween retention as determined by whole-body counting and by excre-
tion measurements. It is estimated that about 25% of the Sr from the
Rongelap food was
retained by the body at the end of 190 days. The
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