Plutonium Injection Medical Case File 40-006 (Correspondence, Reports, Charts, Tables, 1/11/46 - 11/27/85)

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SUBJECT: Freedom of Information A c t Request We have been unable to locate the memo from Rowland t o 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 i s the last business day before the deadline, December 2, further search i s 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 i n the 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-to-privacy is protected by law. It would also constitute a violation of normal ethical practice in the handling of patient 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 t o the literature up tothe time of its publication can be found in Patricia W. Durbin, "Plutonium i n Man: A New Look a t t h e Old Data," pp.469-530, Radiobiology of Plutonium, Edited by Betsy J. Stover and Webster S.S. Jee, Published by t h e J. W. Press, Department of Anatomy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 1972.

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Project Name: Date Started: 2 Plutonium Studies a t the Center for Date Terminated : 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. Short De scrip tion: 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. A n important objective was to determine the relationship between the body content and the rate of excretion i n order t o provide data for estimating the body content of plutonium from measurements of plutonium in excreta (P+?assay). The results of this study were described i n ' The data i n LA-1151 were reviewed ina manuscript prepared by P. W Durbin for publication in the 1972 volume, Radiobiology of Plutonium. ( 2J Tissue and bone samples had been obtained a t autopsy from s i x of the cases a t times ranging from 5 days to 456 days after injection, and the longest collection time for excreta was about 5 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 D r . Durbin brought her records to CHR f o r possible further follow-up. The Center then undertook t o determine excretion rates i n study subjects who were still alive and to 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 twe deceased. samples (blood and excreta) were taken a t Strong Memorial Hospital (SMH), Rochester, New York. I n 1974, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) reviewed the origins and subsequent follora-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 CNR follow-up activities and last known status (July 58 1984) for each of the plutonium injection cases. CHR per onnel have published 10 reports on results obtained by study of these cases. 73-12) Copies of these reports are attached.

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ARCONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY Mails top E-201 , Human Health 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 I n response to Dr, C. W e Edington's memorandum of June 27, 1984, on the The fact sheet is i n the format requested by above subject, I have enclosed a fact sheet on "Plutonium Studies at the Center for Human Radiobiology (CHR)." Please letme know i f you need more information or documentation.

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Table 1. Plutonium injection cases: Summary of CHR activities and last known Old Case CHR Case N o contacts; said to have died in Australia N o contacts; cremation ashes N o contacts; case unidentified 1973: Next of k i n refused permission to exhume 1973: Next of k i n refused permission to exhume and radioactivity measurement 1973: Next of M n refused 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 PrOC. Seminar, Vienna, 8-12 December 1975, IAEA, Vienna, pp. 15-22 (1976). In Diagnosis and Treatment of Incorporated Radionuclides, R.E. Rowland and P.W. Durbin. Survival, causes of death, and estimated tissue doses ina group of human beings injected with plutonium. Health Effects of Plutonium and Radium, Proc. Symp. Sun Valley, Idaho, 6-9 of 239pU deposited i n 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 10’ days after injection. Health Phys. SOC., Atlanta, 3-8 J u l y 1977, Pergamon Press, NY, p.26 ROE. Rowland. The risk of bone sarcoma from plutonium-239. I n 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. Toohey. Macrodistribution of plutonium i n the human skeleton. I n Actinides i n Man and Animals, Proc. Snowbird Actinide Workshop, 15-17 October 1979, M.E. Wrenn (Ed.), RD Press, S a l t 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 (Ed.), RD Press, S a l t Lake City, R.A. Schlenker and B.G. Oltman. 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. Olbnan. Uranium concentrations i n human bone. In Actinides i n Man and Animals, Proc. Snowbird Actinide Workshop, 15-17 12. R.E. Toohey, COG. Cacic, R.P. Larsen, and R.D. Oldham. The concentration of plutonium i n hair following intravenous injection. Health Phys. 40, Reprints of references 3-12 a r e attached.

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Department of Energy Argonne Area Office 9800 South Cass Avenue Dr. Alan Schriesheim, Director Argonne National Laboratory - SUBJECT: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ( F O I A ) REQUEST DATED OCTOBER 30, 1985, The.enclosed FOIA request is for a copy of a memo from R. E. Rowland t o H. A. Schultz dated December 21, 1972, which discusses records of 18 plutonium research subjects. The request or is also asking for any supporting documentation and any subsequent memos regarding t h e subject. Due to statutory time limitations €or responding t o FOIA requests, w e must have your response no later than December 2, 1985. I

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A CAN NET T NEWSPAPER U.S. Department of Energy Freedom of Information and Privacy A c t Branch To the FOI Officer: This request is made under the federal Freedom of Information Please send m e copies of. Memorandum, dated 12-21-72, from Dr. R.E. Rowland t o H.A. Schultz, senior staff assistant, Records and Data Processing, Center f o r Human Radiobiology, Argonne National Lab. Memo discusses instructions from Rowland t o 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. A s you know, the FOI Act provides that if portions of a document are exempt from release, t h e remainder must be segregated and disclosed. Therefore, Iwill expect you t o send m e all nonexempt portions of the records which I have requested, and ask that you justify any deletions by reference t o 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, if you estimate that the total fees will exeed $50, please notify me so thatI 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 o r reduction of fees if disclosure could b e considered as "primarily benefiting the general public." I am a journalist employed by The Knoxville Journal and intend t o use the information Iam requesting as the basis fora planned article. Therefore, I ask that you waive all search and duplication fees. I f 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 fora waiver. AS Iam making this request as a journalist and this information i s of timely value, I will appreciate your calling me than by mail, i f 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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me attached Freedom of Information (FUI) request is being sent to you for action as the records requested appear to be principally within the purview of your organization. Ifour determination is incorrect, please inform me hdi at ely 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 FOI Office are responsible f o r requesting their participation and for coordinating the response. It is important that a n appropriate response be forwarded to the requester within 10 working days as failure to act can be deema denial. On the reverse side of this m ranc bm,a "Reminder of Procedures for Handling FDI Hequests" s h l d assist your staff. I f you have any questions, I can be reached on FIS 252-5955. - Chief of FQI and Privacy Acts Dlvjsion of Reference and Info m tion bnagemen t

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MEMO ROUTE SLIP too mo about thlr. Forr -one& For utlon. Form ERDA-93 (1-75) ERDAL -40 Noto and roturn. For slgtiaturo. For lnformrtlon. Division of B iomedic re: DIVISION OF BIOMEDICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH,'-MTC I HEADQUARTERS - REQUEST TO LOCATE UNIDENTIFIED SUBJECT KNOWN AS CHICAGO-I11 (41-2-117) TO (Narno and unlt) FROM (Narn. and unlt) Per our conversation enclosed is a copy of our report concerning

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ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION Jon D. Anderson, Director Division of Inspection DIVISION OF BIOMEDICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, HEADQUARTERS - REQUEST TO LOCATE UNIDENTIFIED SUBJECT KNCXSN AS CHICAGO-111 (41-2-117) This investigation was predicated upon the request of Dr. James L. Liverman, Assistant General Manager for Biomedical and Environmental Research and Safety Programs, and Director, Division of Biomedical and Environmental Xesearch, Headquarters, that an attempt be made to locate an unidentified white Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, 950 East 59th Street, Chicago, Illinois, in 1945, but who was subsequently lost to followup. . male who w a s involved in a clinical testing program at the University of Review of a report entitled Medical Industrial Hazards Section, dated Janpart as follows: . uary 19, 1946, arid identified as WC-HC-1187, disclosed that it states in "Special Urines: Two humans were injected with 94.91pg of plutonium on December 27, 1945. The composition of the in- JUN 2 7 lm. jected solution and the volume injected is given in Table I. The urinary plutonium excretion for the male subject is given RECORDS ROOM . in Table I1 and for the female in Table 111." Examination of Table 11 and Table 111, in the referenced report, disclosed that the former tabulated the daily plutonium urinary excretion data for a male known as MX-200, and the latter tabulated similar data for a female Examination of a publication entitled Plutonium in Man: Old Data, authored by Dr. Patricia W. Durbin, Radiobiologist, Biology and Medicine Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, formerly Lawrence Radiation A New Look 8 t the

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Laboratory, disclosed that, with respect to Chicago-I11 (CHI-III), it states in part as follows: "Chi-3: White male, young adult,injected 12/27/45,- 0.085 tion. Died & 170 days post injection, autopsy withheld. (Also designated as MX-200 i n Ref. 48)." Examination of Reference 48 disclosed that it states in part as follows: dust rial Hazards Section and Biochemical Survey Section Reports, The above report in Reference 48 (a) was not pursued because the date of the reporc, Msy 1945, preceded the known date of injection of the subject of the inquiry, December 27, 1945. A consolidation of the urinary excreta disclosed that 108 samples were taken fran the unidentified subject over a period of 163 days post injection, Hr. John C, Stuhlmann, Resident Investigator, Division of Inspection, stationed atthe Chicago Operations Office, perused the records atthe Center f o r Human Radiobiology, Argome National Laboratory, and advised that no reports sucb 88 those i n Reference 48 could be located beyond June 1946. He further advf.ed that the only report which he could locate that related to the clinical testing program was identified as CH-3607-C, issued on October 2, 1946, the examination of which disclosed that it dealt with the d is - tri but ion and excretion of plutonium i n two human subjects designated as CHI-I and CHI-11, both of whose identities were already known. RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION vers it y Health Services, and Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, and Mr. Mark Olson, Director, Office of Medical

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* Legal Affairs, University of Chicago, were interviewed jointly.Dr. LeRoy requested that Mr. Olson be present at the interview because he (Olson) is always consulted on any matters concerning patient inquiries,to which the done sane preliminary searching of hospital records totry to isolate the subject of the inquiry; that the Registry of Neoplastic Diseases was scanned to identify young, male,adult, Hodgkin's disease patients ; that this Registry was compiled during t h e mid-1950's by going back through autopsy and various other hospital records; that,inhis opinion, the Registry is about 98 per - cent accurate; that while there was'a possibility that the subject may not have been recorded inthe …