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Biology and Medicine To disseminate the most up-to-date knowledge of fallout and radiation effects, Commissioner Libby presented a review and analysis of available data in-a speech delivered on March 27 before the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences Symposium on Radioactive Fallout.* Monitoring and sampling programs to study the distribution of radioactive fallout continued during the January-March quarter, as did research on the biological hazards of fallout. The results of analysis of some of the samples collected are gven below. The preliminary results of analysis for strontium 90 of some of the stratospheric 8am- . ples collected during the period November 1956 through November 1957 are summarized in Table 1. Progress was made in tests of filter efficiency but it was still not possible to interTable 1- Average Concentrations of Strontium 90 In Stratospheric Samples Collected November 1956 through November 1957’ Based on Data Available through April 14, 1958 (Strontium 90 content expressed in disintegrations per’minute per 1,000 cubic feet , of air, reduced to standard conditions) Panama Canal Zone . Minneapolis, Minn. San Angelo, Tex. France Air Force Base , Southern Hemisphere Average Number Average Number Average Number Average Number (feet) content samples content samples content ‘ samples content samples Altitude stroritium 90 of strontium 90 of strontium 90 of strontium 90 of q a c h altitude at esch locatlon. In some Instances the sample wan not recovered. Cryariatiom in 6troI:tium 90 content from month to month. w b e ntratosphere at this location. * Analyses have not been completed on all samples c o l l e c t d durlng qls perlod. The program calls for one sample a month from t Range shows one stadnrd devlatlon above and below average. standard devlatlons shown Include both errqrs of measurement and 0 These sampfea were collected wlthin the troposphere (bel& the stratosphere). The 50,000-foot sampllng level Is usually beloV -. Committee. The document includes tabulations of recent data and ~blbllographicalr e ference s to recent contrihutioiz to the subject
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BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE pret these data in terms of strontium 90 concentrations in the stratosphere. Moreover, there a r e considerable variations in the data from one sample to another, which have not yet been accounted for on meteorological grounds. The results of analysis for strontium and calcium of the food samples from the Philippine Islands, Turkey, and Libya collected by nutrition teams of the Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense a r e given in Table 2. . Table 2-Summary of Foreign Food Analyses Weight of Weight of Total strontium 90 Strontiu. units date 3 sample in sample per minute per gram of April-June 1957 0.6 to 25 0.07 to less than 0.4 . 1 t o 5 beans, milk products) vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, eggs, coconut, rice, evaporated milk) (meat, fish, bread, about 0.10 *The limits of the ranges of values given do not correspond to the same sample In each case. . t Data inadequate to convert to strontium units. The minimum range of values would be 5-29 strontium units (calcium content assumed to be 0.10, the maximum value given); if the calcium content is lower,, the range would be higher. The following values for United States foods may be used for comparison with the Value8 1. Determinations by Dr. J. L. Kulp, Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia Vegetables average 9.4 strontium units, with a range of 1-29 strontium units, coast to coast. Cereals average 13.5 strontium units, with a range of 4- 23 strontium units. Milk, liquid and powdered, averaged 6 strontium units in 1957, with a range of given in Table 2: *Taken from the manuscript, "Current Strontium 90 Level In United States Diet."
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BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 2. Determinations by the Health and Safety Laboratory, New York Operations Perry, New York New York City Powdered nilk, January-August 1957: 3-4.7 strontium units Liquid milk, January-August 1957: 3-6.5 strontium units Mandan, North Dakota Powdered buttermilk, January-July 1957: 4-17 strontium units (May 1956: Cabbage, July 24, 1957: 23 strontium units I Beans, July 29, 1957: 6 strontium units MEDICAL SURVEY OF RONGELAP UTIRIK PEOPLE,MARCH 1957 The final report on the medical survey of the Marshallese made in March 1957, three ' years after their exposure to radioactive fallout, has been completed.* Examinations were x r r i e d out at Majuro in the Marshall Islands on 82 people of Rongelap who had been exposed the heaviest fallout (doses estimated at about 175 roentgens) and on a comparison group of mexposed Rongelap people, matched for age and sex. In addition, 144 people of Utirik Island were examined from a Navy LST. The Utirik Islanders were exposed to the least fulout :doses estimated at about 14 roentgens) of any of the exposed people of the Marshall Islands. The medical survey of the Rongelap people showed them to be in generally good health. The followhg summarizes the findings: 1. Acute and subacute effects (1) Diseases. In general, the incidence of disease, infectious and noninfectious, was about the same in exposed and unexposed groups. No symptams were present that could be related to radiation effects. Several interesting findings were noted in both the irradiated and unirradiated (b) Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease appeared to be as (c) Peptic ulcer- and psychic disturbances were rare, (d) The incidence of dental caries was very high, (a) The incidence of congenital anomalies was high, ' I (2) Nutrition. Nutrition appeared to be as good in the exposed as in the *Report i n preparation for publication.
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BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE I . Growth and development. In the exposed Rongelap children from about 4 through 9 years of age there was a slight lag in bone maturation (based on X-ray studies of the left wrist), and these children were slightly shorter and weighed slightly less than unexposed children of the same age. In utero effects, pregnancy, fertility. Pregnancies in the exposed group are believed to have been in the normal range for the Marshallese with regard to number, course, and termination. No abnormalities were observed in the babies irradiated in utero. Psychic effects. Little or no effect on the psyche related to their ra- ' diation exposure or displacement has been observed in the Rongelap There remained in,the exposed Rongelapese 15 residual beta lesions,. which showed varying degrees of mild atrophy, scarrhg, and pigment aberration. No chronic radiation dermatitis was noted. Hematological effects. Lymphocytes and platelets (mead population counts) in the exposed groups continue to lag in complete recinexy,as compared with the unexposed people. The low values found m a y be, related to widespread.parasitism and chronic infections (skin, caries). These diseases may also be a factor in the elevated total serum proteins (average of about 8.0 grams) with high gamma globulin fraction , noted in most of the Marshallese. .. I An increase in incidence of certain conjunctival and corneal abnormalities was noted in the exposed groups. There were no acute or subacute effects from internal deposition of fallout isotopes because the body burden of radionuclides was low. , Premature aging, shortening of life span. One'death (at the time of this survey) or 1.5 percent incidence in the exposed Rongelap people compares favorably with 5 deaths of. 3.0 percent mortality in the ' Utirik people. In general, the exposed people did not appear older or ', ' to have aged faster than the unexposed Marshallese. Degenerative diseases. No increase in degenerative diseases was noted i n the irradiated people as compared with the unexposed populaCarcinogenesis, leukemia. No cancer or leukemia was seen. Examination of blood smears failed to reveal any consistent decrease .inalka-. line phosphatase activity of neutrophiles or increase in basophiles, indicative of early lehkemia. Ophthalmological effects. No loss of visual acuity or appearance of opacity of the lens was seen that could be related to radiation effect.
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(5) Genetic effects. No anomalies have bee d in the 13 babies born of irradiated parents since exposure. One possible exception might be the stillborn child of a woman in the original group of irradiatedRongelapese examined. It is not known whether the mother was irradiated before conception or early in pregnancy.* Gross and microscopic studies of r e s i d 9 skin lesions revealed no changes in the skin indicative of premalignant or ,malignant change. Radiochemical analyses of urine samples and whole-body gamma spectroscopy for’cesium 137 revealed levels of this isotope several times higher than found in Americans, but f a r below accepted “tolerance” levels. Because of subsequent worldwide fallout, residue of the original exposure was difficult to d&ferentiate from later absorption. Strontium 90 levels as of March 1957 were far below “tolerance” levels. The body burden of \ isotopes had dwindled rapidly over the 3 years since exposure and was not considered to present any long-term hazard, The levels of contamination on Rongelap Atoll were reduced sufficiently to allow safe habitation, and the Rongelap people were moved back to their home island in June 1957. , . fects, (2) long-term effects of radiation on the human being; and (3) careful ecological radiaisotopes still present on the island. tion studies of the people, particularly studies of the soil-food-human chain for the radio- I . Heightened interest in the radiation received by man from natural radioactivity has been stimulated by the assumption of many geneticists $hat there is a linear relationship between !
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radiation dose and the incidence of genetic mutations. Although this relationship has not been demonstrated a t the low dose rates prevailing in nature, the possibility of such a relationship has led to the suggestion that geographical variations i n the frequency of spontaneous muta; tions may be correlated ultimately with differences in the natural radiation dose to populations. The July-September 1957 quarterly report described the ’preliminary results of a study of natural background radiation performed in August by a team from the Health and Safety Laboratory of the New York Operations Office. A report dated March 11 entitled “External Environmental Radiation Measurements in the United States” (HASL-25)presents the data and the trial gamma radiation, an effort-trras made to attain results which would be representative of the unperturbed natural background and which would be influenced as liftle as posqible by ~e ’ occasional substantial variations in the observed natural radiation levels produced by l?~a.lized The measurements were made with a specially desibed ionization chamber over a period of 17 days’during the course of a round trip by automobile from New York’City to Utah; Readings were recorded from 154 locations in 19’states. To account for the cosmic ray contribution at the higher altitude locations in the mountain states, measurements were later made at corresponding altitudes along the east coast during airplane and airphip flights. In general, the terrestrial contribution to natural background radiation was found to be about 60 to 90 millirade per year. The cosmic ray contribution was found to range from about 30 millirads at sea level to about 90 millirads at Denver, Colorado, where the elevation is about 5,000 feet above sea level. In order to establish the approximate range of population exposures to cosmic and terresACTIVITIES IN ATOMS FOR PEACE PROGRAM Mobile Radioisotope Training Laboratory for presentation to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Each mobile laboratory wodd consist of two units, a laboratory and a counting room, contained in a trailer. trailer laboratories, accommodating a total of 12 students in each laboratory session, would cost an estimated $85,000. It is felt that a course can be presented that would be essentially the same as the basic course given by the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies except for the omission of an activation experiment. Preliminary plans have been drawn up for two mobile radioisotope training laboratories It is planned to include the two mobile laboratories in the United States technical exhibit at the International Conference at Geneva in September 1958, The laboratories would be presented to the International Atomic Energy Agency at the General Conference to be held in Vienna shortly after the close of the Geneva Conference. Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Turrialba, Costa Rica Under the AEC program for the support of agricultural research and radioisotopes train- .’ ing at the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences at Turrialba, Costa Rica, a.200curie gamma irradiation 7ource supplied by Brookhaven National Laboratory has been installed in a gamma field constructed at the institute. the first time in the fall of 1958. A humidity-controlled room for counting equipment and a Work continued in preparation f o r the course in radioisotope techniques to be offered for
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BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE laboratory for handling radioisotopes have been constructed, and some equipment has been set up. It is expected that between 8 and 15 students will take the first radioisotope course. , Flans for expansion of the institute call for the construction of a new plant science building with facilities for radioisotope work and classrooms for teaching. Training Equipment Grants On March 7, 1958, the AEC announced the award of 31 additional grants totaling $373,599 to 30 colleges and universities to provide assistance in equipping their laboratories for training in nuclear applications in the life sciences. Grants in this group were for assistance in the fields of medicine (12), biology and agriculture (17), and health physics (2). ment grants have been made to 46 educational institutions for a total of $713,597. Amounts requested range from $1,900 to $112,000; the awards granted range from $1,381 to $30,000 and average about $13,500. The next review of requests for such assistance was scheduled for May 1958. (End of UNCLASSIFIED section.) Since the first awards were made under this program in October 1957, 52 training equip-