symptoms related to the gastrointestinal tract and skink. Later they
developed a significant depression of their peripheral blood elements
radiation.
gamma
commensurate with the 175 and 69 r calculated dose of
l
Radiochemica
found.
were
also
epilation
Beta burns of the skin and spotty
analysis of urine samples showed that they had acquired a low-level body
bunden of radionuclides. Certain othsr findings possibly related to
radiation exposure included loss of weight in adults and a slight’ lag in
growth and development of the children. No deaths occurred that could be
related to their radiation exposure, and no specific therapy was given. The
5- and 6-year postexposure surveys were aimed primarily at evaluating the
general medical status of the people in relation to that of the unexposed
comparison population. Resuits are summanized from surveys on mortality
rats; birth rate; physical examinations; growth and development studies;
cardiovascular, ophthalmological, deatail, and hematological surveys;
measurements of the various parameters usually associated with aging;
possible genetic effects. Body burdens of gamma -emitting fission
products, such as Cs/sup 137/ and Zn/sup 65/, we re measured in a
and
whole-body counter and checked by radiochemical analysis of urine
specimens. Body bundens of Sr/sup 90/ were estimated from urinary excretion
as determined by radiochemical analyses.
This study of the internal
contamination of the Marshallese provided information on the movement of
Cs/sup 137/, Zn/sup 65/, and Sr/sup 90/ from the environme nt to man, on
the rate of equilibration of these isotopes with the environment, and on
the discrimination factors between food and man. Data are included on
changes in the vegetuticn of Rongelap Atoll which may be due to radioactive
fallout.
Tabulated data are appended.
57 references.
(C.H.)
Descriptors:
BLOOD CESIUM 137 CONTAMINATION FALLOUT FISSION PRODUCTS
FOOD GAMMA RADIATION GAMMA SOURCES INTESTINE MAN MEDICINE POPULATIONS
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS RADIATION DETECTORS RADIATION EFFECTS SKIN STOMACH
STRONTIUM 90 URINE ZINC 65; BETA PARTICLES BLOOD BLOOD VESSELS EYES FALLOUT
GENETICS HEART LIFETIME MAN MEDICINE POPULATIONS QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
RADIATION INJURIES RADIOISOTOPES THERAPY URINE; ENVIRONMENT FALLOUT PLANTS
RADIATION EFFECTS
Subject Codes (NSA): BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
10/5/178
155643
(Item 178 from file:
NSA-15-012705
109)
RADIOBIOLOGICAL STUDIES AT THE ENIWETOK TEST
THE WESTERN PACIFIC
Donaldson, L.R.
Washington.
Univ., Seattle.
Lab.
Publication Date: Apr. 15, 1959
Primary Report No.: TID-5967
Journal Announcement: NSA15
Document Type: Report
Language: English
SITE AND ADJACENT AREAS OF
of Radiation Biology _
19 p.
Studies with the radioactive materials resulting from the weapons testh
and deposited in the sea and on the islands at Bixiri and Eniwetok Atolls
in the Marshall Islands have made it possible to follow the biological
cycling of these materials even where they have become diluted to
90039864
infinitesimal quamtities. Extensive investigations have answered many
questions relating to the economy of the sea, have opened up new knowledge
of the life zonss of coral atolls, and have reshaped in important ways some
of the basic concepts of biological science. The physical and geographic
characteristics of the region are described, and the ecology is discussed.
A penfect economy of use of substances essential to life has been
demonstrated in this region. Little or no time is lost between steps in the
biological cycling of materials,
for there is not only an abundance of
organisms but also a wide variety of species. Availabls substances are
rapidly taken up by the bioth. Plankton and some of the algae, which are
the key organisms in the food chain, may concentrate within themselves more
than a thousand times the amount of radioactive substances found in the sea
water. The passage of fission products through the plants and animals of
the region is traced. By following the pattern of gross radioactivity, it
has been possible to delineate the broad trends in the distribution of
radioactive material in an atoll and its surrounding area. Experience in