70
EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION
Table 5.2.—Summary of Human Urine Analysis, Gross Beta Activity
mEFost
14 MontHs
No.
;
Rongelap
Age in vears
7
B (5-16)
ll
C (> 16)
31
Ailinginae
|
A (<5)
j;
B (5-16)
C (> 16)
American
D/M
24 HRS
No.
VOLUME
(Q48R3)
ML
3 Montus
p/m
24 HRS
No.
VoLuue
(24 HRS)
ML
6 MontHs
D/M
24 HRS
No.
VOLUME
(24 HRS)
ML
DiM
24 HRS
8
360
12
33
625
0
400
655
0
0
!
|
A (<5)
Age in years
VOLUME
(24 HRS)
wL
2}4 MontHs
|
404
581
1208
758
2
10
275
722
150
217
| 25
1158
309
,
|
i
1
165
439
|
10
824
705
10
126
553
379
339
12
3
12
510
5
}
I
All values corrected for decay.
highest activity was in the Rongelap group
(Table 5.2).
The Ailinginae group had less
than half that of the Rongelap group, and the
Americans had about one-quarter the activity
of the Rongelap group.
The mean gross betn activity of the urine of
the three groups above was roughly proportional to the external dose each group received.
However, x comparison of the mean beta activity of the urine of Ailinginae and American
groups indicated that the latter had a somewhat
lower amount of internal contamination, even
though both groups received about the same ex-
ternal dose.
This may be accounted for by the
fact that the Ailinginae group drank contam-
inated water from open containers and ate contaminated food up to the time of evacuation,
wherens the Americans ingested much less contaminated food and water, since both were
largely stored in closed containers. Indoctrination of the Americans concerning radiation
hazards probably was also a factor in reducing
the amount of contamination which they received,
The variation of gross activity among the
individuals in any of the three groups is quite
large (Tables 5.8 and 5.4). This is chiefly the
result of variations in the quantity of water
and both the kind and quantity of food ingested. The degree of exposure of the individual to air-borne activity is also a factor in
determining the individual degree of contamination. While there were Jarge variations
among individuals, the day-to-day levels of activity for each individual were fairly consistent.
Further information on the source of individual variations was obtained by grouping
the individuals from the Rongelup and Ailinginae groups uccording te age ( Tables 5.3 and
5.4). While the activity excreted per unit volume of urine is about the same for both children
and adults, the mean activity of the urine excreted in 2+ hours by children under 15 years
was signiticantly lower than that excreted by
adults. The data available do not indicate
definitely whether the lower total excretion
indicates a smaller total body burden in the
children resulting from Jower inhalation and
ingestion, or whether it represents a higher de-
vree of fixation of the radio-elements by growing bone,