Human Radiation Studies: Remembering the Early Years, Oral History of Biophysicist Cornelius a Tobias, PH.D

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HUMAN RADIATION STUDIES: REMEMBERING THE EARLY YEARS Oral History of Biophysicist United States Department of Energy Office of Human Radiation Experiments

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HUMAN RADIATION STUDIES: REMEMBERING THE EARLY YEARS Oral History of Biophysicist United States Department of Energy Office of Human Radiation Experiments

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her Openness Initiative. As part of this initiative, the Department of Energy Iundertook an effort to identify and catalog historical documents on radiation experiments that had used human subjects. The Office of Human Radiation Experiments coordinated the Department’s search for records about these experiments. An enormous volume of historical records has been located. Many of these records were disorganized; often poorly cataloged, if at all; and scattered across the country in holding areas, archives, and records centers. The Department has produced a roadmap to the large universe of pertinent information: Human Radiation Experiments: The Department of Energy Roadmap to the Story and the Records (DOEEH-0445, February 1995). The collected documents are also accessible through the Internet World Wide Web under records, and the fact that some decisionmaking processes were never documented in written form, caused the Department to consider other means to supplement the documentary record. In September 1994, the Office of Human Radiation Experiments, in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, began an oral history project to fulfill this goal. The project involved interviewing researchers and others with firsthand knowledge of either the human radiation experimentation that occurred during the Cold War or the irptitutional context in which such experimentation took place. The purpose of this project was to enrich the documentary record, provide missing information, and allow the researchers an opportunity to provide their perspective. Thrty audiotaped interviews were conducted from September 1994 through January 1995. Interviewees were permitted to review the transcripts of their oral histories. Their comments were incorporated into the finalversion of the transcript if those comments supplemented, clarified, or corrected the contents of the interThe Department of Energy is grateful to the scientists and researchers who agreed to participate in this project, many of whom were pioneers in the development of

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Forthcoming and Planned Publications ................................. 2 Wartime Studies of Effects of High Altitude on Aviators Study of Carbon Monoxide With Radioactive Tracers ..................... 5 Blood Studies With Radioactive Iron .................................. 8 Human Use Committees ........................................... 10 Approval for Studies on Ionizing Cosmic Particles ...................... 10 Heavy-Ion Research With the Bevatron ............................... 12 Boron Isotope Research and Therapy ................................. 14 Shared Knowledge and Coordination of AEC-Funded Research ............ 15 Classified Research Involving Human Subjects ......................... 17 Heavy-Particle Beams and Medical Research .......................... 21 Classification of Fallout-Induced Radioactivity Detected in Animals ........ 18 Pituitary Irradiation Studies ........................................ 22 Selection of Patients for Research .................................... 25 Remembrances of Dr. William Siri ................................... 29 Policy on Radiation Exposure Levels ................................. 29 Criticism of Insufficient Attention to Cosmic Radiation .................. 32 Radiation Therapy for Skin Disease .................................. 34 Studies With Various Isotopes ...................................... 37 Participation in International Research ................................ 38 Guggenheim Fellowship at Harvard University ......................... 39 Oak Ridge Chosen to Become the Isotope Production Center .............. 40 Research Collaboration Between Berkeley and Other Researchers .......... 41 Reflections on Research Accomplishments ............................ 44 Failed Private Venture to Build an Accelerator for Medical Research ........ 24 Penalties of Not Educating Physicians in Nuclear Science ................. 33 Publication of Medical Research .................................... 35

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The opinions expressed by the interviewee are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Department neither endorses nor disagrees with such views. Moreover, the Department of Energy makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the infonnation provided by the interviewee.

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July 1995 Interview with Cornelius A. Tobias, Ph.D. Setting: January 16,1995; Eugene, Oregon InteWiewefS: Pnta Pillai (DOE Omce of Human Radiation Experiments) and Anna Berge (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Archives and Records Office) ORAL HISTORY OF BIOPHYSICIST Conducted on January 16, 1995, in Eugene, Oregon, by Prita Pillai ofthe Ofice of Human Radiation Experiments, US.Department of EnergV (DOE), and Anna Berge fromLawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Dr. CorneliusAnthony Tobias was selected for the oraI history project because of his extensive biophysics and medical physics research activities while he was employed by the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco and at the Dr.Tobias was born in Budapesf Hungary, on May 28, 1918. He received his M.A. (1940) and Ph.D. (I 942) in Nuclear Physics from the University of California at Berkeley. Upon completing his Ph.D., Dr.Tobias was employed by the University as a physicist from 1942 to 1945. From 1945 to 1955, he taught Biophysics, first as an instructor and then as an associate professor. From 1955 onward, Dr.Tobias was a professor of Medical Physics at the Donner Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley. From 1960 to 1967, he was the vice chairman in charge of Medical Physics for the Department of Physics. From 1967 to 1971,he chaired the Division of Medical Physics; from 1969 to 1973, he chaired the graduate group in Biophysics and Medical Physics. In 1965 he became a professor of Electrical Engineering and, from 1977 onward, he was a professor of Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco. During his teaching career, Dr. Tobias also held the foIlowing positions: 1945 to 1947-Fellow in Medical Physics at the University of California at Berkeley 1956 to 1957-Guggenheim Fellow, Karolinska Institute, Sweden 1960-Visiting Professor at Harvard University 1960 to 1963-Member of a subcommittee of the Natural Resource Council, Member of the Committee on Radiology of the National Academy of Science, Member of the Radiation Study Section of the National Institutes of Health 1969 to 1972-President of the Radiation Biophysics Committee, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics Dr. Tobias has received a number of professional awards, including: Dr.Tobias’s main research focused on the biological effects of radiation; cancer research; and space medicine. He has published numerous scientific journal articles on his research findings. He is married with two grown children. 1972-Annual Award, American Nuclear Society Aerospace Division 1981-Alexander Von Humboldt U.S. Senior Scientist Award

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Setting: January 16,1995; Eugene, Oregon Interviewers: Prita Pillai (DOE Office of Human Radiation Experiments) July 1995 and Anna Berge (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Archives and Records Office) Forthcoming and Planned Publications Interview of Dr. Cornelius Tobias by Anna Berge of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory [(LBL)] Archives and Records Office and by Prita Pillai of the Department of Energy’s Office of Human,FbdiationExperiments in Washington, on January 26, 1995, in Eugene, Oregon. So, Dr. Tobias, I thought maybe we could start with a little bit of a general question, which is, could you tell us a little bit about the development of research trends as they pertained to radioisotopes? For example, in the early years: you started with studies of xenon [and] argon; other people started with iodine; and from then it developed, say, through studies with iron, phosphorus, and so on. I was wondering if there’s anything you can say about that. First, I wish to state that the interviews I have conducted with Sally Hughes will be appropriately edited and [will] be available to the public at the Bancroft Library of the University [of California at Berkeley]. Secondly, I am preparing a manuscript now which relates to my scientific history. The title is, People and Particles, that I hope to publish sometime in the future. Thirdly, I am engaged in a more detailed scientific volume that is only about a third completed. If it gets completed, it may have technical information. Thank you. You wanted to ask about the isotopes? Yeah,the development of the studies of radioisotopes. Was there a particular development in the focus of interest, or was it just haphazard which ones you happened to have at the time? Wartime Studies of Effects of High Altitude on Aviators TOBIAS: During the war, I was working with Dr.John Lawrence,’ and our group decided to accept responsibility for research on a disease, decompression sicknes2In order to do this, it was necessary to use radioactive I John Lawrence, M.D., brother of Ernest 0. Lawrence, was Director of the Division of Medical Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He operated a clinic at Dormer Laboratory, where he treated leukemia and polycythemia patients with radioactive phosphorus. For a colleague’s recollection of Dr. search to Laboratory Production of Plutonium,” “Medical Treatments With Radioactive Phosphorus tein Research With Human Subjects,” and “Radiophosphorus Therapy for Polycythemia Vera.” “the bends.” The bends are caused by tiny air bubbles released into tissue by a too-rapid decrease in air pressure after staying in a compressed atmosphere, such as the too-rapid ascent of a diver from deep in the sea to normal atmosphere at sea level. It is potentially fatal. Aviators experience a similar phenomenon in ascending too rapidly to high altitude in an unpressurized cockpit without the protection of a pressurized flightsuit. In this circumstance, aviators are at high risk of blacking out and losing control of their

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Setting: January 16,1995; Eugene, Oregon Interviewers: Prita Pillai (DOE Office of Human Radiation Experiments) and Anna Berge (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Archives and Records Office) inert gases, which we [could produce] at the cy~lotron.~It was almost the only source. So, the initial research was revolving around the use of radioactive nitrogen, argon, krypton, [and] xenon, toward discovering the nature of decompression sickness, which was a disease, or a condition, that aviators who fly to high altitude were getting. It was very important for the American war effort to know the mechanism and to protect people fiom Were those studies funded by the Manhattan Engineer [Distri~t]~? No. At the time, they were funded by the [U.S.]OSRD, Office of Scientific Research and Development.' Did someone fiom the OSRD oversee these studies, or did you and other researchers have leeway in how you were conducting the research? tee which was headed by John Fulton, professor, I think, of Scientific History at Yale University; and a number of other gentlemen were on it. And what kind of committee was that? Was it a committee that oversaw the studies on humans? pression sickness and everything we were doing [that was] related to this [was discussed]. The committee did not have [full] authority over us. They were an advisory committee to OSRD and to us [in order] to correlate research and suggest how it might be done. How did you choose the subjects for these studies? We chose [the field] because, after Pearl Harbor, the United States went to war, and we wished to make the best contribution we could to the war We had two choices. One was to work on medical and physiological problems of high-altitude aviators, which were very critical at the time, because both the English and the Americans were sending many, many bombers over to Europe, and we wanted our aviators to survive [their an accelerator in which particles move in spiral paths in a constant magnetic field the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers organization set up to administer the development of the atomic bomb under the top-secret Manhattan Project. Originally headquartered in New York, it was moved to Washington, D.C., and finally to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the summer of 1943. established by an executive order June 28, 1941-six days after German troops invaded the Soviet Union. The-OSRD's Director reported directly to the President and could invoke the prestige of the White House when dealing with other Federal agencies. The National Defense Research Committee, at the time headed by Harvard President James Conant became an advisory body responsible for making research and development recommendations to the OSRD.

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Setting: January 16.1995; Eugene, Oregon Interviewers: Prita Pillai (DOE office of Human Radiation Experiments) and Anna Berge (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Archives and Records oftice) [Another possible choice] was the question of what was the toxicity of fission products and fissionable materials. Within the [Radiation] Lab,6 it was decided that the aviation [research] would be headed by Dr. John Lawrence, and the fission [research] would be headed by Dr. Joseph So, we had two [separate] subgroups, each with a completely different mandate. Dr.Hamilton’s work was supported by the Manhattan Project. Well, I was going to go on [to the research] that you conducted. I’m interested in the [specifics] of the experiments, the particular procedures, [the] people you worked with, and the particular radioisotopes You’re asking a big question. Yeah. For example, after the uptake studies of inert gases, you did some studies with carbon monoxide. Perhaps you could tell us a little bit about [First, let me take] the aviation medicine part. [This] was very much a rush-service project to help the Air Force.’ We also had direct liaison with the Air Force. We knew that bends might be caused by nitrogen dissolved in our body, which, when you [fly] to high altitude, becomes supersaturated, and, if sues]. The bubbles cause joint pains, possibly passing out, even, and another [symptom] called chokes, which is choking the lungs. So in order to find out about this, we chose [to use] radioactive nitrogen. We thought [nitrogen] was the culprit. The problem was that the only isotope available had 10 minutes’ half-life, which was too short, although we did some studies [with it]. We [then] realized that the other inert gases-neon, argon, krypton, xenon-were similar in their behavior, so finally we ended up with most of these studies [using] radioactive krypton. [Our] aim was to find out the mechanism [that causes the bends], but also to give our forces a technical advantage. A lot of the studies related The UC Radiation Laboratory was founded by Ernest Lawrence in 1936 on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. Upon Lawrence’s death in 1958, the lab’s name was changed to Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. The name changed again, in 1971, to Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, a National Joseph Hamilton, M.D.,worked at Crocker Laboratory, then the site of a 60-inch cyclotron that he operated to produce radioisotopes in support of research and some medical diagnosis and treatment. Crocka was part of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. Hamilton is discussed in several transcripts of this series, notably in the interviews with John Gofman (DOlXH-0457, June 1995) and Earl Miller (DOEEH-0474, June 1995). Hamilton spent most of his career at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory before dying prematurely of leukemia brought on, colleagues believe, by occupational exposure to radiation. then a generic term for the U.S.Army Air Corps, which became the U.S. Air Force, a separate service, in

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Setting: January 16, 1995; Eugene, Oregon Interviewers: Prita Pillai (DOE office of Human Radiation Experiments) and Anna Berge (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory,Archives and Records Office) to a quick test of aviators with radiokrypton, [which might tell us whether individuals] were susceptible to bends. We did find out that, basically, these gases were responsible for the [bends]. We wrote a detailed paper on this [in the] Journal of Clinical We also found out where the disease struck, by doing experiments with injected bubbles in our own joints, and how to get rid of [bends] by breathing oxygen for five hours before [each] flight. And, finally, we did flight tests in an actual high-altitude bomber plane. Our subjects, who were aviation …