72
Bikini (see Table 41 and Appendix 12), and a
gammasurveyofthe island was made by Greenhouseet al.156 (see Appendix 14).
On Bikini Island almost all the gammaradia-
tion is now due to 137Cs. The gammalevel due to
natural radioactivity is considerably less on these
islands than in the U.S.; this is why the average
gamma dose to an inhabitant is lower in Bikini
Village than in certain parts of the U.S. The
people living on Bikini eat a diet consisting almost
entirely of imported food, but they ingestslight
amounts of radioactivity from local seafood. The
newly planted coconut, pandanus, and breadfruit
trees will not bear fruit in any significant quantity
for some years yet. The urinary radionuclidelevel
of the Bikini people is now several times as high as
when they wereliving on Kili Island, butstill con-
siderably below the permissible range. The total
estimated internal bone marrow dose in 1974 to
the people living on Bikini was abouthalf that to
the peopie living on Rongelap, but with the ex-
ternal dose included, the dose to the bone marrow
was about the same(see Table 42). It is reassuring
that analyses of urine for plutonium show levels
near backgroundin the Bikini people (see Table
ining groups have been concerned also with general health care at the time oftheir visits. The responsibilities have been filled by carrying out extensive annual examinations. supplementedin recent vears by semiannual hematology checks and
quarterly visits by a resident physician. The examinations, which have been carried out with the
assistanceof the Trust Territory Health Services,
have resulted in extensive medical histories and
records for each individual and have madeit possible to diagnose and treat many diseases andillnesses at an early stage.
An importantaspect of the medical surveys is to
maintain rapport with the people, to keep them
informedof the medical findings, to explain the
need for examinations, and at times to correct un-
founded rumors about fallout effects. Unfortunately this has not always been successfully kept
up because ofdifferences in language and culture.
Somestudies have been of benefit to the Marshall Islands as a whole, such as the surveys of the
incidence of diabetes and of parasitic infestation.
In addition, a great deal of data has accumulated
from studies of genetically inherited characteristics
which may prove valuable not only in determin-
37). Well water on Bikini has had low levels of ac-
ing possible genetic effects of radiation butalso in
anthropology.
,
should be considerably lower than the levels based
on analyses of fruit from old trees because of the
B. COMPARISON WITH OTHER
HUMAN EXPOSURES
actual evaluation must await maturity of the trees
and further analyses. It is planned to add supple-
the Marshallese are unique in that they comprise
tivity (see Table 38). The dietary levels projected
for Bikini when the newly planted trees bear fruit
soil removal procedures used at planting, buttheir
mentary calcium to the diet of the Bikini people
to help reduce absorption of Sr. Experiments are
under way to investigate the tolerance of Marshallese people for powdered milk as a source of
calcium. Races other than the Caucasianarereported to have a lowertolerance for milk because
of a genetic inability to digest lactose which gives
rise to abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, and other
symptoms. !75
In contrast to other groups exposed to radiation,
the only human population ever exposed to acute
radiation from fallout. The accident focused attention for the first time on the hazards of fallout
from nuclear detonations. The atomic blasts above
Hiroshima and Nagasaki resulted in casualties
due to penetrating gammaand neutron radition
directly from the bombswith little or no fallout involved and therefore caused no effects dueto internal absorption of radioactive materials. In contrast, the Marshallese were not exposedto direct
effects of the detonation but only to radioactive
exposure. Trauma and extreme psychological dis-
A. THE EXAMINATIONS
Marshallese as they did in the Japanese. The importance of the hazard from internal absorption of
The primary responsibility assigned the medical
team by the AEC (now ERDA)was the diagnosis
and treatmentof possibie effects of radiation expo-
sure in the Marshallese, but inevitably the exam-
sotd1b4
fallout resulting in whole-body, skin, and internal
Vil. Comments and Conclusions
turbances did not contribute to the effects in the
radioactive iodine has been clearly demonstrated
by the Marshallese experience. The 23 Japanese
fishermen on the Lucky Dragon recetved an exposure similar to that of the Rongelap group but