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E. 1. DU PONT DE NEMOURS & COMPANY ATOMIC ENERGY DIVISION Defense Nuclear Agency Dear Colonel Still: Your letter concerning activities at Enewetak Atoll was discussed OUT Health Physics personnel to try to get you a total picture of problem as we urrderstandit. that each person to be cx~oscd have a wlnolcbody count Clnd.a urine bioassay for plutonium before Coing. ~Len, eac’nweek, about 10~ or more of the folks can submit a bioassay s.ampl.ewhich your plane can take out so the entire wor’k force is monitored during their stay, then upon completion, get another whole body count and bioassay. While there, full face respirators are suggested which filter pa.rticulatcs and have a,filter factor of at least 50. ?he reason I have gone so far into prevention i.sbecause I can offer so little toward cure. Nasal smears merely state something went by; there is no rhyme or reason to the count as a low nasal count, but a long exposure gives more internal deposition than a sir@e breath and high nasal count, for example. Then too on insoluble, the only real therapy is to enhance coughing or sneezing as no drug is of any BEST COPY AVAILABLE
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Some questions arise also. Were would bioassays be run, and how quick an zr.swercan you get e.tEnevetak? Tf there is a question of a person who by history !lasreceived quite an inhaled dose, an ampoule of DTPA could bz given by almost a.n?[onef<amiliarwith using a syringe and needle, one gram in the deep muscle of the upper outer.quadrant of the gluteus muscle (fanny). A few vials could be obtained from Dr. l!eyzen for Fecal analyses are only good therapeutically if the chemical form is u.nkno~,rn,high fecal excretion and no w~ine excretion means an insoluble compound whereas the reverse is seen with soluble compounds and only these latter are readily amenable to therapy. If this all seems to be skirting the subject, it is to a degree, because of the unknowns, etc., but is an attempt to help you as much as possible.