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Declassified record · U.S. Department of Energy

Plutonium Injection Medical Case File 40-005 (Correspondence, Reports, Tables, 1/11/46 - 2/27/86)

Dated
Feb 27, 1986
Document type
Employee record
Length
93 pages
Open the original scanArchive record OSTI ID 16368127 · public domain

Document text

Machine-read from the scan, so expect some errors. Lines that couldn’t be read are left out.

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With respect to your telephone inquiry relating to plutonium studies in the En vi roniiiental Health Section(previously Center for Human Radio biology),I refer you back to the fact sheet furnished Dr.Thiessen in 1984 (copy I had follow - u p completed on cases Cal-111 and lip-6. Case Cal-111 died i n 1984 o f causes not reasonably rel a table to plutonium. Case HP-6 is living as of several days ago. a review of the case file, suggest that the functioning of this subject is such that direct contact is contra indicated.I hope this is of some assistance to you. both the interviewer who contacted the household, and Best personal wishes. Epi de in io lo yy Group Leader

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SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Act Request We have been unable to locate the memo from Rowland to Schultz dated December 21, 1972 which you requested about,5:15 p.m. yesterday following the receipt of a letter from D. T. Goldman t o A. Schriesheim concerning this matter. As today is the last business day before the deadline, December 2, further search is not possible without missing the deadline. Locating this memo i s complicated by the fact that Rowland retired about two years ago and Schultz Other intra - laboratory memos on the 18 plutonium research subjects referred to inthe Goldman letter, mention them by name and give personal information about them. The release of such documents would be a violation of the patients ' privacy and the right - t o - privacy is protected by law. constitute a violation of normal ethical practice in the handling of patient It would also The subjects referred to have been studied by several organizations since the mid 1940s. Non-personal information can be found in the scientific literature.A good review and guide to the literature up tothe time of its publication can be found in Patricia W. Durbin, "Plutonium i n Man: A New Look atthe Old Data," pp.469-530, Radiobiology of Plutonium, Edited by Betsy J. Stover and Webster S.S. Jee, Published by the J. W. Press, Department of Anatomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 1972.

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September 11, 1973 Please reply to: Southwest Field Stotion ACT MATERIAL REMOVED We have checked with the undertaker(. and Service,Inc.) re but with little or no success. The same applies to the time in the past and they are not sure whether they still have any record on Cemetery - they had afire some . They agreed to look and letus know. Today I called telephone information in Ohio and obtained the following information : ofI n Dayton, Ohio was employed by t h e - In Cincinnati, Ohio (she and her father were born there) : Til is actually lives in Fort Thomas, just across the river from Cincinnati. We will also cneck with the Dayton Board of Education and let yqu know what we learn.

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TO: CHR Records Room Drove t o ,'Chatham, Kew Jersey. Met and obtained his and his sister's signature for exhumation of the House locked up - left request and forms in mailbox to be mailed to me. , Chatham, to obtain signature of .. Called - and in Orange, New Jersey - nobody home. Phone calls - May 2 3 , 1973: talk to you, go and visit him.'' - but we have no ashes. In accordance with instructions, they were scattered PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED

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PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED TO: CHR Records Room FROM: Jan Lieben, M.D. SUBJECT: Phone calls and contacts 5 - 1 4 - 7 3 (1) Re: - . Called Chicago information t o locate or cr on- Ave., according to m y 1 9 7 1 records, no number listed. Called in Moberly, Mo., to ask for above number, does not know, will ask my sister, call m e back tomorrow. Blue Island, Illinois. no did not get my sister, you better call her yourself. , Moberly . Maybe the lived in Called information at Blue Island, no listed. Made 3 calls t o- in Loganport, Indiana, nobody home. ..__-Three more calls for Called , see above. Shelast heard from thefour years ago and then their address was Ave., Chicago 60648 (the address we had before) but no phone available. S 1 9 - 7 3 (1) Drove to to look for . A opened t h e door andinformed m e that h e knew all about Dr. '.,hn. a t home, is only there on Wednesday, stays with her daughter in Mt. phone In Osceola t h e phone is He did not think she would sign since it would disturb the rest of the phone book, wife says s h e doubts that he is related, is out playing golf. Went to Oak Ridge Cemetery, spoke to office girl. Superintendent John Westerberg said I have to go through m y archives, call m e during Went to Hallowell Funeral home 1706 Jackson Blvd., no we don't have records this far back, our place changed hands 1 0 years ago. He said h e was a friend of the family. - Called home of the only Wm. listed in the

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Argonne National Laboratory Massachusetts Institute O F Technology New Jersey F i d d Station Southwest Field Station TO: M. M. Shanahan MIT Radioactivity Center SUBJECT: Exhumation of CHR c a s e s with prefix number 40. Enclosed are folders containing -&pies of all CHR information on t e n radioactivity patients in the "40" series. These are all the cases in t h i s series for which we now have death certificates. Please take the necessary steps to locate relatives and obtain permissions to exhume any or a l l of these ten persons. It should be noted that we want to examine the remains in order to determine the microscopic distribution of residual radioactivity from past medical treatment. Center for Human Radiobiology Today, I received from A. F. Stehney copies of folders for the following MIT Radioactivity Center %iVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED CENTER FOR HUMAN RADIOSIOLOG[;-) 9700 0Avenue, Argonne. Illinois 6 0 4 3 Tal. 312-739- ... Ext. 4625 ,

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PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVE@ Cass Avenue, Arc;oniic, Illinois 60433 Tel -.;y312-730-771 1

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ARCONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY Mailstop E-201, Human Hsalth Studies Office of Health and Environmental Research Office of the Environment U.S. Department of Energy SUBJECT: Congressional Investigation into Health and Safety Policies of the Department of Energy (DOE) In response to Dr. C. W. F ding ton ' s memorandum of June 27, 1984, on the above subject, I have enclosed a fact sheet on "Plutonium Studies at the Center for Human Radiobiology (CHR)." The fact sheet is i n the format requested by Please letme know if you need more' information ur documentation. Environmental Res Arch Division

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P r oj ect Name : Date Started: 2 January i W 3 Plutonium Studies at the Center for Date Terminated: Ongoing Objectives of Test : 1. To determine the excretion rate of plutonium 27 years after injection. 2. To determine the retention and body distribution of plutonium. I n 1945-1947, 18 hospital patients of limited life expectancy were injected with plutonium in order to obtain information about the retention and organ distribution of plutonium. relationship between the body content and the rate of excretion in order to provide data for estimating the body content of plutonium from measurements of plutonium i n excreta (Pf yas say). An important objective was t o determine the The results of this study were described i n The data in LA-1 151 were reviewed ina manuscript prepared by P. W ( 2JDurbin for publication in the 1972 volume, Radiobiology of Plutonium. Tissue and bone samples had been obtained at autopsy from six of the cases a t times ranging from 5 days to 456 days after injection, and the longest collection time for excreta was about5 years. In addition to preparing the manuscript,’ Durbin traced the later history of the cases and discovered that four were still living in 1972. The Center’s direct knowledge of the plutonium injection cases dates from December 13, 1972, when Dr. Durbin brought her r e c o r d s to CHii for possible study subjects who were still alive and t o exhume deceased subjects in order t o determine the amounts and body distribution of plutonium. During 1973, CHR obtained metabolism samples from three living patients, obtained permission t o exhume from next of kin of three deceased patients, and disinterred and transferred to CHR the remains of one of these deceased. The metabolism samples (blood and excreta) were taken at Strong Memorial Hospital (SMH), Rochester, New York. The Center then undertook to determine excretion rates i n I n 1974, the U.S.Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) reviewed the origins and subsequent follow-up of the plutonium studies. On December 31, 1974, the AEC authorized CHR t o proceed with the program of study of the living patients who were injected with plutonium during 1945-1947 and of the bodies of deceased individuals from that group for whom legal consent for examination is Table 1 summarizes CHR follow-up activities and last known status(July 5, 1984) for each of the plutonium injection cases. CHR per onnel have published 10 reports on results obtained by study of these cases. 93-12) Copies of these reports are attached.

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Old Case CHR Case Plutonium injection cases: Summary of CHR activities and last known CHR Activities s ta tus C a l - I ' 40-001 10/16/75: Exhumed cremains Died 1/9/66 Cal - I 1 40-002 No contacts ; said to have Died 1/6/47 Aug 78: Re turned died in Australia No contacts ; cremation ashes No contacts ; case unidentified 1973: Next of kin refused permission to exhume 1973: Next of kin refused permission to exhume and ra did activity measurement 1973: Next of Ifin refused 1973 and 1977: Next ofkin refused permission t o exhume Lost to Study,

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excretion of plutonium administered to man. Los Alamos Scientific P.W. Durbin. Plutonium i n man: a new look a t the old data. I n -The Press, Salt Lake city, UT, pp. 469-537 (1972). Robinson. The excretion rate and retention of plutonium 10,000 days after acquisition.In Diagnosis and Treatment of Incorporated Radionuclides, Proc. Seminar, Vienna, 8-12 December 1975, IAEA, Vienna, pp. 15-22 (1976). R.E. Rowland and P.W. Durbin. Survival, causes of death, and estimated tissue doses ina group of human beings injected with plutonium. Health E f f e c t s of Plutonium and Radium, Proc. Symp. Sun Valley, Idaho, 6-9 of 239Pu deposited in bone from a human injection case. Effects of Plutonium and Radium, Proc. Symp. Sun Valley, Idaho, 6-9 J. Rundo and F.H. Ilcewicz. Blood content and excretory plasma clearance of plutonium lo4 days after injection. Health Phys. SOC., Atlanta, 3-8 July 1977, Pergamon Press, NY, p.26 R.E. Rowland. The risk of bone sarcoma from plutonium-239. In Biological Implications of Radionuclides Released from Nuclear Industries, Proc. Symp., Vienna, 26-30 March 1979, V o l . 11, IAEA, Vienna, pp. 211-224 R.P. Larsen, R.D. Oldham, and R.E. lbohey. Macro distribution of plutonium i n the human skeleton. I n Actinides i n Man and Animals, Proc. Snowbird Lake City, UT, pp. 191-197 (1981). J. Rundo. The late excretion of plutonium following acquisition of known amounts. I n Actinides i n Man and Animals, Proc. Snowbird Actinide Workshop, 15-17 October 1979, M.E. Wrenn (Ea.), RD Press, Salt Lake City, R.A. Schlenker and B.G. Olbnan. Plutonium micro distribution in human bone. I n Actinides i n Man and Animals, Proc. Snowbird Actinide Workshop,

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1 1 . R.A. Schlenker and B.G. Oltman. Uranium concentrations in human bone. In Actinides i n Man and Animals, Proc. Snowbird Actinide Workshop, 15-17 of plutonium i n hair following intravenous injection. Reprints of references 3-12 are attached.

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Department of Energy Argonne Area Office Dr. Alan Schriesheim, Director Argonne National Laboratory SUBJECT: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) REQUEST DATED OCTOBER 30, 1985, The enclosed FOI A request is for a copy ofa memo from R. E. Rowland t o H. A. Schultz dated December 21, 1972, which discusses records of 18 plutonium documentation and any subsequent memos regarding the subject. Due to statutory time limitations for responding t o FOIA requests, we must have your response no l a t e r than December 2, 1985. The request or is also asking €or any supporting

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U.S. Department of Energy Freedom of Information and Privacy Act Branch To the FOI Officer : This request is made under the federal Freedom of Information Please send me copies of Memorandum, dated 12-21-72, from Data Processing, Center for Human Radiobiology, Argonne National Lab. Memo discusses instructions from Rowland to Schultz on records of 18 plutonium research subjects. Records were transferred to Schultz for his disposition.Please include any supporting documentation and any subsequent memos regarding this subject. As you know, the FOX Act provides that if portions of a document are exempt from release, the remainder must be segregated and disclosed. Therefore,I will expect you t o send meall nonexempt portions of the records which I have requested, and ask that you justify any deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the FOI Act.I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any materials. I promise t o pay reasonable search and duplication fees in connection with this request. However, i f you estimate that the total fees will exeed $50, please notify meso that I may authorize expenditure of a greater amount. Iam prepared to pay reasonable search and duplication fees in connection with this request. However, the FOI Act provides for waiver or reduction of fees if disclosure could be considered as " primarily benefiting the general public." I am a journalist employed by The Knoxville Journal and intend to use the information Iam requesting as the basis fora planned article. Therefore,I ask that you waive all search and duplication fees.If you deny this request, however, and the fees will exceed $50, please notify me of the charges before you fill my request so thatI may decide whether t o pay the fees or appeal your denial of my request for a waiver. AsIam making this request as a journalist and this information i s of timely value,I will appreciate your calling me than by mail, if you have any questions. Thanks and I t o your reply within 10 business days, as required by by telephone, rather will look forward

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..US. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY The attached Freedom of Information (FOI) request is being sent to you for action as the records requested appear to be principally within the purview of your organization. If our determimtim is incorrect, please inform me inmediately to whan you are forwarding this request. If other divisions, offices or field organizations also have records relevant to this request, you as the appropriate FOX Office are responsible for requesting their participation and for coordinating the response. It is important that an apyrapriate response be forwarded to the requester …

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