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UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LABORATORY OF RADIATION BIOLOGY Environmental Sciences Branch Division of Biology and Medicine U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Enclosed are data concerning Sr 90 in food samples collected at Rongelap Island in August 1958. These are being sent in response to a request from Gordon Dunning Information concerning the collection of the food samples is to be found in a letter to Seymour 23 September 1958, and in the table "Cs137 in Daily Rati.ons of Food Grown at Rongelap Atoll'. These two items are Some additional remarks might clarify questions as to the interpretation of these data, First, it should be clearly understood that the samples are daily rations of locally grown foods only and do not represent the-- tot;1 daily ration. If the weight Fthe total rationgiven by Dunning in "Radioactive Contamination in the Pacific Ocean:'1957, is used, then the locally grown foods accounted for about 40 per cent of the total daily ration on the average in August 1958. At the present time this proportion of locally grown foods in the diet is probably lower due to the current supply of "C-rations! (Dr. Conard obtained data concerning diets during March 1959 and may have sent them to Dr. Dunning.) Second, obtaining a truly representative sample of the diet for even a single day involves many possible sampling errors as, for example, bias on the part of the Rongelapese in an effort to please. This might result in too large a sample being taken. As has been pointed out before, it is to be expected that there will be discrepancies between information obtained at differThird, the Srg" results enclosed are based on analysis of aliquots of a pooled sample made up of the 13 sam-
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pies for which Cs13? levels have been given. The Srg" values are given as approximate because the Srg" spike was erroneously omitted from aliquots which were to be analyzed for accurate yield determination for these specific samples (new aliquots have been taken and the complete analysis is being repeated by a second person). We hope these data will be of use to you pending more precise determinations. We are retaining enough of the sample for cross checking by other laboratories if this seems desirable. Please enter the enclosed data as page 38~ in the Research Assistant Professor
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SrgOin Locally Grown Food Collected at Rongelap Island, August 1958 SrgO in local food (weight of food as received) 0.267 yvc/g subject to revision Calcium in local food 4.24 x 1f4 g/g Average daily intake of local food in 361 g* Daily intake of calcium 0.8 g/day (National Bureau of Standards, Handbook 52, Sr90 intake per day 0.267 p&g x 361 g Strontium Unit intake per day 96.4vpc Srgo + 0.8 g Ca * The locally grown food is to be regarded as a supplement to the diet of the Rongelapese.