ysis of 137¢s,
Four persons visited Argonne from Rongelap and, in addition,
pooled urine samples from both atolls were analyzed radiochemically for 1370
and 905,
Subsequent Brookhaven National Laboratory expeditions by members of
the Medical Department and Safety and Environmental Protection Division utilized
whole body counting and radiochemical analysis of urine and blood samples to
identify and quantify the radionuclides that were present in the body.
The re-
sults of these radiological measurements are given in terms of body burden in
. Tables 1 and 2.
Throughout this paper the units of quantities are SI derived
and those which are accepted for use with the SI for the time being. "Thue both
the Curie and the Becquerel may be used as units for the quanrity activity.
The aforementioned body burden tables illustrate adult mean values for
Rongelap and Utirik.
of age.
An adult, as classified here, was a person over 16 years
The mean body mass in this age interval was 60 kilograms.
The observed
body mass versus age distribution is shown in Figure 1 for Rongelap residents.
The same body mass versus age distribution was observed at Utirik.
Because of the paucity of measurements at Utirik, information on 60.,,
655, and 5556 was in some instances derived from the ratio of adult mean body
burdens between Rongelap and Utirik.
A mean ratio of 2.6 was observed in body
burdens for 65 “Zn, 906, and 1376, after they reached their maximum values.
The
standard deviation of this ratio was 15%.
tervals, in conjunction with contemporary dosimetric models, are used to estimate internal dose.
Dosimetric distributions were constructed from the results
and a summary of the derived activity ingestion rates and dose equivalents was
provided for various subgroups of the population.
Additionally, exposure rate
history curves were constructed for each atoll for the period following the
tt
In the following analysis, personal body burden histories and residence in-