March 1957 Medical Survey of Rongelap and Utirik People Three Years after Exposure to Radioactive Fallout ( Attch: Medical Survey of Rongelap People, March 1958, 4 Years after Exposure to Fallout )

This report presents the results of a medical survey carried out in ,March 1957 on the Mar-shallese people who were accidentally exposed to radioactive fallout in March 1954. The accident occurred following the detonation of a large thermonuclear device durin,g experiments at Bikini in the Pacific Proving Grounds. An unpredicted shift in winds caused deposition of significant amounts of fallout on four nearby inhabited Mar-shall Islands and on 23 Japanese fishermen aboard their fishing vessel, the Lucky Dragon. Sixty-four inhabitants of the island of Rongelap, 105 nautical miles away from the detonation, received the largest fallout exposure among the inhabited islands: an estimated dose of 175 r whole-body gamma radiation, beta lesions of the skin, and epilation from contamination of the skin and slight internal absorption of radioactive material. The Japanese fishermen probably received a similar exposure, although estimation of their dose is much less certain. Also 18 Rongelap people away on a nearby island (Ailingnae), where less fallout occurred, received only about half this exposure. Twenty-eight American servicemen on an island (Rongerik) further away received about the same amount of radiation as did the 18 people on Ailingnae. Lastly, 157 Marshallese on Utirik Island, some 200 miles distant, received only about 14 r whole-body radiation. The fallout was not visible on this island and no skin effects were seen. The initial findings have been reported on the Marshallese and Americans' and the Japanese fishermen.' Subsequent examinations of the Rongelap people have been reported at the following times after exposure: six months, J one year,~ and two years.' The present report concerns the examination of the Rongelap and Utirik people three years after exposure to fallout radiation. In addition examinations were carried out on an un-exposed comparison population. The following is a brief summary of the past findings which can be found in detail in the refcr-ences. ]'3-s During the first 24 to 48 hr after after exposure, about two-thirds of the Rongelap people experienced anorexia and nausea and a few vomited and had diarrhea. At this time many also experienced itching and burning of the skin and a few complained of lachrymation and burning of the eyes. Following this, the people remained asymp-tomatic until about two weeks after the accident, when cutaneous lesions and loss of hair developed, due largely to beta irradiation of the skin. The effects of the radiation can best be summarized under three headings according …