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Annual medical surveys of the Bhmhallese Islanders vere caroled out in to thedallout * the WUIWOa qploded at Bikini Harch 1, 1954. m the 1959 survey 76 UXPXA P-=CW, including their cMldren#and 166 Kuajalein Ablls wera examined as controls for the growth d devulostudies on the qsed ROnge* children. The 1960 survey was btief, only the qmsed people being -w& As a result of thair qsure in 1954, manyof the Rmge.tap people bad eqmiezwed early qRptcus related to the gastrointestinal tract ad beta bums of the skin along with spot@ qpll+rtion. Iater they showed wmle) l In addition, Iwalochemical aaalyses of Urlm SaBples Idicated tbatthey hadacqcired fractional body burdens of Certdn radionuclldes l Despite these -dunces of qsure, acute radiation sickness did not dmelop in * people ad there were no deaths then (or subsegpently) that could be assigned to their radiation qsure. Ho specific therapy was gimn. Reccwury of thU puz?Ipheral blood e~s, particularly the qmphocytes and platelets, proceedea graduauy Cmr the ensuing yaars. for the aost part, sup-old in nature and kale& in saveml weeks; only a few lesion8 persisted ti t&se were not disabllng in w vay. The &air regrew MmaUy, beginuing abuut three months after exposure. The imteraally *so2bed radioauclides cansed w known acute effects * evaluatlag the general medical status of the people In ~son with * unexposed control population, particularly as to slowly developing Biedloal Mstofies of the people durlmg 1958 to lgdl ware essentially mweatfU; no special disease occurred ~ there were no significant ~ with 8.3 per MOO for the control population a,M 6.8 for the births represent a rate of 48 per MOOpopuMMm, ccmpamd with 62 per MOO for the cmtrol population ad 37.3 for the Marshall Islands (1957). US DOE ARCHIVES 326 US. ATOMIC ENERGY
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Physical examinations showed both tlm exQomd and unexposed people to be genmdly In a state of good health. Ho ccmdttzons vere seen that could be directly related to rdlation effects. Tlm lgmidence of mxkms minor dIsoxders h boa adults d ~ Uaaabout thesame in the In connection with grouth ad dam loment studies In * six-year girls in the exposed group exhibited slgnifi&ntly HY&wIed skeietal maturation as Judged by X-W examination,but the over-ti group sizes aretoo smallto warrant hterpratation. A-cardiovasti survey of the adults showed no outstanding differences between the eqosd and uneqosed groups. An artmtis SuIvey showad no real dlfferencee b&een the exposed and the uneqmsed people; - incidence 18 about * sameas that seen In An opthemological Surv’q demonstrated m differences betwen the exposed corned hypertrophy and scars in the exposed _. A dental S- showed no significant differences h either caries rate or incidence of paridontal disease between eqosed * unexposed groups. R3diation exposure appears mt to ham affected dentition in the !&e late effects of radiation m dimmt to assess as they are those associated tith nomal egelng (skin looseness, elasticity, axd senile visual acnlty, and ‘amue senilis; rednced barlngj cazdiovaecular changes including blind pressure and degrees of pextpheral ad retlnd *eriosclerosis; retrogression of neummnscular ftmction and hand strength were meamred or estimated on a O to 4 + scale). Cceprlson of these meaeurements in ~sed aui uneqosed individuals of the same age groups zwealed no clear differences. tie case of cancer developed In the ~ed group five years after qpcmre, but this 1s too soon, it 18 belleved, to be related to radtation exposure. Iaukeda SUZWYs includlng physical, ~, studies of whtte cell counts ami -s, alkallne phoephatase statdng, and basophil counts showed m uvldence of leukemia or leuktic tedency. DOE ARCHIVES MIC effects have not been speciftc~ stmdled because of the small nwnber of people imrolved. Bwwer, no appwemt radiation-iduced genetic changes have been detected on routine physical examination in the first-generation childmsn of exposed paredx.
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five years post-exposure ( 1959), ths exposed people Sun had mean platel~ levels 10 to 15%below those of the unexposed group, but in U60thely qphocytelm melsforthe first time equled those of* theeqmsed people but ageneral anemic tedmcydstsi,n all Marshallese, both qsed ad unqwsed. ~ fact that same of the blood elements intheqsed group ~not~~tothe ~els of the unexposed group mises the possibility that a residawl radiation effect on the bone marrow persists, but other, not immdiate@ appamat, factors may be involved. 8e~ in a -la-body counter or w estimation ~ radiochmical. axxt+co xtinnetotisebu tat decreasing rates, whereas thelewl for @~ appears to have reached eqpillbritm and now to be diminishing. LlttZeor noneofthe body bwdeas oftMqsed group appear tobe due to the initial exposure, since at present there is little difference WMQontests held in the area m &posited additional fission products into the ~~auithefact that certain staplesof ewlromemt. n Consequently, it w never be possib~ to lmti S tins with emlromexltal Conttminaticjns.Imqoase, the body bUzdens aremTrandwiUbe Ofsmall significance interns of radiation ~~*J=w-$e-ti- beinsstudiedbythe Atsaic Bcab Marshallese. Since animal eqpe~s indicate that still other late effects ~occuriaman suchas premature mtirteningof life Contimed careful examination of these populations is in oxder; all bmlens of radionucWMa of the people II* there, imperfect - it is, Warrmts tise study* JIOE ARCHIVES ‘ihe Ihited Eations Scientific Camittee on the Effects of A-c
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