Uwfl42, A Radio Logical Study of Rongelap Atoll - Maarshall Islands

8/9/2019 Uwfl42, A Radio Logical Study of Rongelap Atoll - Maarshall Islands

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UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTONLABORATORY/OF RADIATION BIOLOGY

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98105

US DOI?,IRCII!Y1;S326U.S.ATOMIC ENERGYRc,

co!!{(1:~:l+;kcii_.._..-.-.-- 11;os_2--------rJ$y#l#A&A=&+&J%.

REPORT NO. UWFL42


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UWPL-42

..

A RADIOLU31CALSTUDY OF ROIWELAPATOLL,MARSXALLmLAlms, DURnm 1954-1955

AppliedPisher/eeLaboratoryUniversityof Washl.ngtonSeattle,Washington

IdmrenR. DonaldsonDirector

DOE ARCHIV=3

Auguut 15, 1955

Operatedby the Universityof Washl.ngtonunder ContraotHo.AT(45-1)540with the United StatesAtomicEnergy Commission.


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AB9TRACT

The detonationof shot one at Bikini Atoll on Maroh 1,1954, produceda fallout of radioactiveash upon RongelapAtoll,Marshall Islands. The distributionof the radioactiveash onthe islandsand in the plants and anlw%ls of the area hag beenstudiedand evaluatedby the AppliedIMsherlesLaboratory,Universityof Washington.

During the first expeditionto RongelapAtoll on Nemh 26,1954, biologicalsampleswere collectedand measurementsmade ofthe radiationcontamination. On three additionalexpeditionsextensivecollectionsof mterlal were mile for this study, thelast on Janww 25-30, 19550

The decllne in radioactivity=S meas~ed ~ 1499 ~Plesof fish, invertebrates,land plants, algae,birds~ p18nktonjsoi l a n d water from the Rongelaparea.

During this study particularemphasiswas placed upon evalu-ation of the radioactivityin food used by the natives. Coconutmilk oollectedon Narch 260 1954> conti~d l~03 mlor~~~ef$ perkilogram of wet tissuewhile the ooconutmeat had 1.16 uo/kg.BYJmuary 25-30, 1955, the level ~ c~~ut m~k ~ decl~ed to0.041 uo/kg and the meat to 0*036 uc/kg.Fish =*cle On M=ch 26,1954, averaged 2.74 uo/kg and f~sh liver 204. UC@g. f~ deolfneto January 25-30 was 0.10 UCA for the ~sele ~ 30!52uc/@ forthe liver of fi8h. Somewhat stmilardeolineswere found forclam muscle, crab musole,bird muscle and llrer$ and for squash,

DOE A.RCHIVES


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papaya,arrowrootand pandanus. .The level of radioactivitywas highest

portion of the atoll, except for samplesofeathg birds, collectedduring J=WY 1955

in the northernalgae and fish-from the southern

part of the atoll, whloh had higher levels of radioactivitythan samplescollectedfrom the northern islandson the samedate. This may indicatea trmslocation of radhactivematerialswithin the lagoon.

DOE ARCHIVES


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Contents

?!269IntroductionSample processingprocedureand techniques 6

Radhactivlty and its rate of decline in foodl.tems 6

Evaluationof radioactivityIn the biological ..samplesFishInvertebratesLand plantsand algaeBLrdsPlanktonsoilWater

AA1118\1825313233

Evaluationof the chemicalanalyses of thebiologicalsamples 36

Study of the rate of physicaldecay of radiationin the biologicalsamples 41

Appendfx 49POE l@CHIV=


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*

Tables (Text)

Table Ho.I.11.III.m.

v.

VI.VII.VIII.

I.

11.

III.IV.

Radioactivityof foods from RongelapAtoll,1954-55Coeffiolentof variationin percent forvalues in Table IRadloaotlvltyof fish caughtat KabelleIsland,RongelapAtollRadl-ctlvity of fish caughtat RongelapAtoll, other than at Kabelle Island

Radioactivityof Rongelapbirds and birdeggsFiuslon productsand radio-calcim Insoil from RongelapAtollRadio-strontlu and radio-ceriumInbiologicalsamplesfrom RongelapAtollDecay raten of Rongelap samplesexpressedas the slope of the log-logrelationshipof activity to time after March 1, 1954

Tables (Appendix)

EsKs7713

17\ 27

3738

47

DOE ARCHIVl=Radioactivityof fish from RongelapAtoll,1954-55 50Scientificnames of fishes 53Radioactivityof invertebratesother thancoralscollectedat RongelapAtoll,1954-55 54Radioactivityof coral from RongelapAtoll,1954-55 56Radioaotlvityof coconutsfrom RongelapAtoll, 1954-55 57


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.

Tables (centtiued)

.

Table Ho.v.

VI.VII.VIII.

xx.x.XI.

XII.

Radloaotlvltyof edibleplants other than coco-nuts from RongelapAtolls 1954-55Radioactivityof plants other than thosecommonlyeaten from RongelapAtoll, 1954-55Radioactlvit of marinealgae from Rongelapitoll, 195 55Radioactlvit of birds collectedat Rongelapitoll, 195 !55Radloactivit of tern eggs from Rongelapitoll, 195 55 \,Radioactivityf plankton,soil-eand,and watersamplesfrom RongelapAtoll, 1954-55Data for computingpercentactivityof fissionproductsand calcium in Rongelap soil samplesbased on 1 milliliterreplicatesPhysioaldecay rates of Rongelap samplesr= t-x; to March 1, 1954

EMS585960616263

64

65

q

.


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F@urea

FiEure Ifo.. 1.

2.3*

4.

5.

6.7.

8.

9.108 q

10b.

Colleot~ areas at RongelapAtollRa~&: decline of radioaotlvityof RongelapAverageamounts of radioactivityin mloro-curiesper kilogramin floh tissuesfromKabelle Island 194-1955Averageamount8 of radioactivityin micro-curies per kilogramin liver,bone andmuscle of earni?orousand omnivorousfishesfrom Kabelle Islmd 1954-1955

RadioactivityIn microcurlesper kilogram In ,fish tissuescollectedin the vlclnltyofRongelapAtoll, December 1954 @ J=~w1955Radloaotlvityfn sea cucumber(Holothuriaatra) tissues from Kabelle Is~ 54-1955Radioactlvit & giant ohm tissues: HiPDOPUStn Maroh 2 , 1954 at Kabelle; Tz?ldama onJuly 16, 1954 at -belle, on JMUarY 2~, 1955

at Labaredjand on JanUIWY 30t 3955 at @jenRadioactivityIn tissuesof the land hermitcrab, Coenoblta on Xaroh 26 at Labaredj,on July 19~$ at Kabelle,and onJanuary 26: 1955 at RowelapRate of decllne in land plants, algae andsoil samplesat Kabelle 1954-1955Deollne of radl-ctivlty in muscle, liver,and kidney samples from north Rongelapexpressedas a ratio to the J@=h 26) 195*collection(birds)Deoline of P8d108CtiVityin bone and ileumsamplesfrom north Rongela$ expressedas aratio to the -oh 26$ 19(birds) collection

POE ARCHIVES

0.

12

15

1619

20

2124

28

28


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Figures (continued)

?Imre lfo.11 Semi-1ogplots of decay curves of gastricmillof crab, (?rapsusgrapsus,and musole of seacuoumber,Eolothurlaatra, collectedwoh 26, 1954 at m b=

BE

4312 q Log-logplots of Rongelapdecay samples ofMarch 26, 1954: pltiton from u~~j;muscle and mantle of giant clam, liimopus,from KabeUe; and soil on whluh decaycorrectionfactorswere based 4413. Log-log plots of radioactivedecay rate ofcooonutmilk, (Cocos)collectedDecember8,1954 at Kabelle,and of liver and muscle ofsurgeonfish(Acanthuruselonuatus) oollected\July 16, 1954 45

DOE ARCHIV~

q


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A RADICYLU31CALITHYYF RUWBLAP ATOLL, MARSNALLISLANDSDURINQ 1954-1955

IntroductlopThe program of study of the Applied FlsherlesLaboratory,

Universityof Washington,(Program19.1 of operationCastle)wasoutlinedin the Labor8tory~sreport UWFL-36. Thle program involvedetailedstudieoof radtologloalcontaminationof the fauna andflora of EnlwetokAtoll,with exploratorytrips to Biklnl Atoll ona quarterlybasis to ascertainthe levels of radiationremainingduring the year followlngthe test program.

The unexpectedpatternand magnitudeof the fallout\ofradioactivematerialsfrom t~ ~rch 1$ 1954 @xXrl~nt ~ntr~uce~the need for new areas of study over and above the plannedpro-gram. One such area was RongelapAtoll where the falloutresultedin the evacuationof the native people.

on March 21, 1954, the Ubora*orv recieveda r@west fromDr. Paul B. Pearson,AM Dlvislon of Biology and Medicine,tomake a survey of the islandsat RongelapAtoll to determinetheextent of radiologicalcontaminationof the native foods.

The expeditionto Rongelap,in response to tMs request,was organizedby Task Ck?oup7.1, with transportationand supportprovidedby the USS Nicholas (D D B 449). Members of Program19.1 were Lauren R. Donaldson,CharlesM. Barnes, IMuard E. NeldtRalph F. Palumboand Paul R. Olson. Thomas ShlPn~ ~ms NoWhite, P. R. Schivoneand W. W. Robbins acc~xnied t~ exWdl-tion to aid the natives In capturingsome of their animals onDOE ARCHIV=Rongelap Islandand to make radiationreadingson some of the


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s

q

(\-0

RONGELAP ATOLLN

NAUTICAL MILES5

4{ABAREDJ BMELLU/

- RONGELAP

POE ARCHIW,

FIG. I COLLECTING AREAS AT RONGELAP ATOLL


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islandsin the southernpart of the atoll.Collectionsof plantsand animals,soil samplesand radia-

tion readings w ere nmde at Iabaredj Island on March 26, 1954.Radiationreadingswere obtainedwith a June (ABCmodel SXC-17C,serialHo. 89) under a variety of conditions. The shield Ofthe instrumentwas closed for the first reading and open for thesecondfor each of the locationslistedbelow.

RadiationLevels LabaredjIslandMarch 26, 1954 - mr/h

Looatlon Helmt 31IntertidalzoneHigh tide lineOP:: ~:aOpen grass areaon island

In PisoniawoodsBeach rock slabsBeach above hightide line northside of islandEast aide of islandabove high tideline

26312153952503302405002707003710018o300200350

Eei~ht 1\

3001000370900

H280 6n700 6600150029400220600220700 DOE ARCHIV~

A second series of collectionswere made on the same dayat ~belle Island in the extremenortheasternpart of the lagoon.Radiationreadingswere also taken at this islandas follows$


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RadiationLevelsKabelle IslandMarch

LoaationBeach rook inter-tidal zoneBeach sand athigh tldeline

26, 1954 - nm/hrHeight 3~

4890190260

Edge of brush line 280on island lagoon 500sideOpen area in vege- 300tation-covered 600portion of island q

Coconut grove on 250lagoon side of 370island

Height 13030015035037014004101700480 \1500

Edge of trees (shieldopen) 2000Lee side of trees n 1500Windward aide of trees rl 2800The second expeditionto RongelapAtoll was made on

July 16, 1954o A U.S. Mavy Grumman Albatrossplane (U.S.N.ASR-16,Ho. 902) from the U.S. Naval Station,Kwajalein,wasueed to transportthe group to the atoll. Program 19.1 membersmaking the trip were Lauren R. Donaldson Fmnk Lo~~ ArthurWelanderand Lt. Cmdr. ClarenceF. Pautzke.

Collectionswere again made at Kabelle Islandand radiationreadings taken in the same generalareas as those recorded onMaroh 26, 1954q DOE ARCHI_


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RadiationLevels Kabelle IslandJUly 16, 1954 - ~k

lesssQQLow water lineHtgh tLde markon beaoh50~ inshorefromhigh tide line1001 inshorefromhigh tide llneOn Scaevolabrush

Lee edge of cooo-nut groveMiddle of islandin dead brushOpen clearinginmiddle of IslandMiddle of coconutgrove

HeiRht 3$9202928

283020252720

Hel~ht 11570100100

10010080 \904560

Dwtig the month Of Deoember 1954 t~ee collectionsofsamplesw ere made at RongelapAtoll. For the first trip on Decem-ber 8, the U.S. Naval Station,Kvajaleln,provtdeda PBJY(Ho. 2471) with a fine orew. LandlngIYwere made at both Kabelleand RongelapIslands. Dr. Walter D. Claus, AECogy and Medicine,qccompaniedEdward Held, PaulTaylor and William Blakeman on this expedition.

Dlvlslonof Biol-Olson, RobertFilm stripswere

placed at a number of locationsby Claus, Taylor and Blakeman torecord radiationover an intervalof time. poE iyicHIvEs

On December 18, the Mavy again furnisheda PIN for the tripto Rongelap to pick up the film stripsand to collectaddltlo-1


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-5-,blologioalsamples. A suoaessfullandlngwas made at RongelapIslandwhere the objoctivevas accomplished. An aocidentto theanohorlngmeohanismof the plane, homvor, preventedoompletlonof the sampllng at lShbelleIsland. Robert Rinehartand PaulZigman of U.S.S.R.D.L. accompaniedIaurenR. Donaldson,JaredDavis, Edward Held and Paul ois~ on this trip.

The moct extensivesurveyand biologicalcollectingtripwas eonduetedat RongelapAtoll from January 25 to January 30j1955* This mrvey waD made in conjunctionwith U.S.R.R.D.L.,with the U.S. Havy furnishingthe 00 vessel RioQrande fortransportationand supportfao~llties. Allyn H. Seymour and?rank Lowman, Program 19.1, sharedthe responsibilityfor khebiologicalsampling. Readingswere again made with the surveymotor on almost all of the islandsvisited. The readingsweretaken at a height of three feet unless otherwisenoted.

RadiationLeve3sRongelapAtollJanuary 25-30, 1955 - mr/hrRongelapIsland 0.5EMaetok Island 2.0Busuh Xaland 1.5LabaredjIsland :.:Xab:lle IsY#uMI 5:0 at ground levelLomuilal Island 8.0Gejen Ioland 7.0Lukuen Island 4*O

The eolleotionsat RongelapAtoll durtng thisstudy providedmaterialfoF 1499 s~lea Whioh ~ve

DOE ARCHIWperiod ofbeen proo-

eased, the radioaotlveoontentdeterminedand the results tabu-lated and evaluated.


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Sample ProcessingProceduresand TechniquesThe technlqueaand proceduresused in collec?thg,storing,

preparing,and countingthe Rongelap sampleswere similar tothose used in former years. For completedetails see UT-616(trim-33).*The specimenswere put on lce while in the field.Tissues were dissected,weighed and dried at the Eniwetok labor-atory. At the Universityof Washington,the dried sampleswereashed at temperaturesup to 540C, cooled, slurrled,dried, andthen counted in an internalgas-flowcountingchamber. countsper plate were convertedto disintegrationsper minute per gramofwet tissueas of the date of collectionby correctingforsampleweight,geometry,backscatter,self-absorption?Coinci-dence, and deoay.

For the summary tablesas used in this report, the radio-activityexpressedin disintegrationsper minute per gram (d/m/g)was convertedto mlcrocuriesper kilogramby

uc/kg= dlmlu(2.2)(10)3

Radioactivityand Its Rate of Decline in Food ItemsA general survey of the radioactivityof foods is given in

Table I, with the rate of decline**of these items uhown in Figure2. It shouldbe noted that the differencesdue to speciesand

DOE ARCHIV=* RadiobiologloalStudiesat EnlwetokBefore and After Mike Shot,Hovember 1952, LaurenR. Donaldson,AppliedFisheriesLaboratorUniversityof Washington,9eattle,Washington.q* The pa~ of decl~e is a p&aBe ao~ed to express the combined

physicaldecay and the biologicaluptake and decay rates.


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Table 1. Radioactivityof Foods fromRongelapAtoll, 1954-55

Values expressedin mlorocuriesper kilogramof wet tissueDate and Coconuts MI*Cq Jj Fish ClamsMuscle- Crabs1sland Milk Meat Muscle Liver ?4antle Musole3/26/54Kabelle,Labaredj 1.03 1.16 11.3 2.74 204. 43.5 70.07/16/54Kabelle .049 .123 .423 24.0 2.14 2.3912/8 OP 18/54 aKabelle,Rongelap .019 .040 .021 q 066 2.051/26-30/55y .041 .036 .049 .100 3.52 1.03 .498~/ edible portionsof squash,papaya,arrowroot,pandanus,spinach~/ Rongelap,Enlaetok,Labaredj,Kabelle,(3ejen,Lomullal,Lukuen

Table II. liCoefficientof VariationIn Per Cent-for Values In Thble I

Cooonuts Fish ClamsDate Milk Meat Ulso. Muscle Liver Musole- ~~~eMantle3/26/54 42(4)V --(1) --(1) 65(12) 119(12) 36(4) 79(3)7/16/54 lo(2) 13(3) 73(20) 65(20) 54(2) 35(5)

:12/8 Or ~8/54 37(5) 57(5) 23(8) 48(3) 30(3)

BirdsMuscle Liver5.38 25.4.576 3.23.040

.129

.213

.418

Bird~Muoole Liver41(5) 38(5)75(7) 48(7)27(4) 3764)

~1/26-30/55 61(18)!%

76(16) 88(16) 68(81) 97181) 115(4) 178(11) 99(13) 95(13)~ ~/Cin*= (standarddeviation+ mean) (100)Z ~/ number of samples4


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300200

100

10

lJCtGWET

I

0.1

0.0

\

DAYS AFTER MARCH I ,1954 DOE ARCHIV~FIG. 2 RATE OF DECLINE OF RADIOACTIVITY OF RONGELAP FOODS


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9-area, which are oonstderableand which are evident In the tablesof the appendixwhere all the individualsamplecounts are tabu-lated, are not apparent h this generalisation. The significanceof thesedifferences,however, 18 discussedon pages 11 to 34.From Table I andradioactivityinbe approximated.

The method

Figure 2 the past, present,and future grossthe prlnolpalfood items of RongelapAtoll can

seleatedto indicatethe error in estimatingthevalues in Table I is the coefficientof vartationwhioh 10the ratio of the standarddeviationto the me-. These values,C, expressedin peroent,are given in Table IIr-e in values from 10 percent to 178 peroent

(~ge 7 ). The\Indicatesa high

degree of variability.These data are closest to being

when plotted on a log-log scaleusingMarah 1, 1954, as tZme of origin.

points on a straightlinethe time of the blast,

From this data it appears that tied fissionproductsa r e the prinotpalsourceof radioactivityin the food stuffs.Exceptionsare bird thyroids,in which the radioactivitywaspracticallyall 1131, and the gastriomill in a cooonut c-b,for which the deuay ourve was nearly a straightllne on a semi- log plot. For the purpose of making an approxl=tlon of theaverage rate of decltne,the slope of a least-squaresllnethrough the averagesof the points In Figure 2 was determinedand found to be -1.75. POE ~CH1W!3

The variation in radtoaotivityassoclatedith area, inmost instances,Is related to fallout. RongelapAtoll was on


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the southernedge of the fallout from the March 1, 1954 Bikiniexperimentand as a consequencethere was considerablymoreradioactivityin the northernpart of that area. The biologicalsamples show the same pattern except for the bird collectionsand the algae and sand samplesfrom deep waters of the lagoon,taken duringJanuary 1955.

q


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Evaluationof RadiomtivltY In the BiologicalSamplesFish

Almost all of the fish spec?lmens,s in former years, werecolleotedby poisoningwith derris root In shallowwaters on ornear the reefs. Some specimenswere oaught In the deeperwaters of the lagoonwith hook and Ilne.vere obtainedoutsidethe atoll when theyduring the night.

hO flying fishlanded aboard ship

The species seleetedfor analysisare those commonlyfoundon the atolls and used for food. They includedamselflsh,groupers,parrot fish, squirrelfish,surgeonfish,goatfish,wrasse, snappers,mullet and tuna. The scientificrimesspeciesare given in the appendti.

The tissuesused for analysisof radioactivitywere

of the

skin,muscle,bone, liver and other viscera.of the stomachcontentsas well as the

qcases.

The latter Includedpartalimentaryoanal, In most

In an attempt to compare similar specieshorn the samelocality,analysiswas llmlted to the samplesfrom KabelleIsland. Collectionsoffish were made in waters adjacent tothis islmd on -ch 26, 1954$ July 16, 1954~m Jmuary 29$1955. The collectingarea lles near the north end of theislandand consistsof a ooral-filledchannel open to the seaat high tide. The radioaotlvityof the tissues from the fishDOE ARCHIVEScolleotedat Kabelle Is summarizedIn Figure 3. The data apelisted In Table III.


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I5oo-

IOOLTTt.0..-b...I .... ..

lo.og = ,+ \

WET

1.0. .T

GALL FOOD ITEMS

0.1 --JULY 16 JAN.29 I1 1 1 1 1 I I1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 10.05 I I25 50 100 500DAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954 POE ARCHIVES

FIG. 3 AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MICROCURIES PER KILOGRAM INFISH TISSUES FROM KABELLE ISLAND 1954 1955


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*

All fish

Omnivores

Carnivores

Damsel fish

Grouper

Table III. Radioactivityof Fish Caughtat KabelleIsland,RongelapAtoll

Values expressedIn microcurlesper kilogramof wet tissueDate3/26/547/16/54l/29/553/26/547/16/541/29/553/26/547/16/5411~9/553/26/547/16/54l/29/553/26/547/16/54~/29/55

NumberofSpecimens

8179224365

Skin20.82.46.35934.52.95.33014.82.03.41421.42.74.5457.541.47.303

Muscle2.740.50.0834.54;::;2.01.370.0853.45.256.0851.42.309

q 051

Bone Liver12.8 204.02.92 N 22.4.49124.72.9z4 67*952.90.5009.452.30.4263.371.50.288

3.18439.022.22.55103.022.74.426;;.;4:24::.~5:23

Viscera514.035*73.59

1,3:2.:4:10

110.013.92.561,700.038.43.18101.011.71.43


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These data substantiatethe generalhypothesis,mentionedearlier In this report, that the radioactivityin the tlssueaappears to be due principallyto mixed fissionproducts. Devi-ations from a straightllne In the curves might be due toselectiveuptake, eitherby the tissues themselvesor becausethere was selectiveuptake in the animalsused 88 food by thefishes. In general the slope of the curves comparesfavorablywith the averageat the beginning

Differencesas to amounts ofeat on March 26,

deulinecurve used for all food items discussedof this report.between the omnivorousand carnivorousfishesradioactivityIn comparabletissueswere great-1954q These differences

age of time and by January 29$ 1955, weredecreasedwith pass-negliglblein some

tissues (Figure4, Table III). These same data when analyzedby definite speciesof~omnivorousfish (damselflsh)and car-nivorous fish (grouper)show the same trends (TableIII).

Variation in radioactivity,associatedwith area and re-.lated to falloutand current movementswtthin and around the

atoll, indicatesan increaseIn the contaminationof the atollfrom south to north (Figure5, Table IV), The lagoon fishtaken in the northernpart of the lagoon, off Xabelle or NelluIsland,are comparablein levels of radioactivityto reef fishestaken in this regton. The two flying fish taken outside the atollare remarkablyalike in tissueradioactivity. POE ARCHIV~J


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100a

500

100

10

~C/KCWET

1.0

0.1

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ -\\ \ \

b \ * \ CARNIVORE

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \\

CARNIVORE MUSCL>\ OMNIVORE MUSCLE\ \ \

F

\

LIVER

LIVER

BONEBONE

L JULY 16 JAN. 291 1 1 I i I 1 I I0.05 * 1 1 1 1 J25 50 100 500 1000DAYS AFTER MARCH I ,1954 DOE ARCHN=

FIG. 4 AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MtCROCURIES PER KILOGRAM INLIVER , BONE AND MUSCLE TISSUE OF CARNIVOROUS AND OMNIVOROUS FISHESFROM KABELLE ISLAND 1954- 1955


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Date andAreal/30/55BetweenRongelapandRongerikAtolls

Table ~. RadioactivityIn FishCaughtat RongelapAtoll, other than Kabcllel@land

Values expressedin mlcrocuriesper kilogramof wet tissue

2/1/55BetweenRongelapandAillnginaeAtolls1/25/55Rongelap Island@8/55LabaredjIsland

1/30/55C3ejenIslandDecember,1954 andJanuary,1955U lagoonFish~ Combined

Flying fish

Flying fishOmnivoresCarnivoresAll fishOmnivoresCarnlvoreaAll fishOmnivoresCarnivoresAll fish

Carnivores

l!umberofSpealmens

1

1101222

Skin Muscle

q 050 .017

.152 .014

.124 q 022: n; q 045.034q 577 .159.741 .153.632 .157

1.56 q 159:77: .125.129

Bone

.031

.035

.184,390.296

.682.782.7181.09.804.836

Liver viscera

q 094 .052

.110 ,i451.02 2.072.74 1.201.95 1.605.36 17.003.31 5.364.64 12.9012.4 17.16.18 2.756.86 4.34

10 1.11 .081 .278 2.06 1.20


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InvertebratesRongelapInvertebratesshowedlevels of activity of from

102 to 104 UC/kg Onmroh 26, 1954* W1ate J=WY 1955 t~levels had dropped about two orders of -gnftude. The almostubiquitousblack sea cucumber,~olothurlaatra, serves best toexemplifythe trend (Figure6). Eext best as indicatorsweregiant clams,IJiPDoDusand Trldaenajland hermit crab, Coenobita;coconut crab, Blrgus; oorals;and spider snail,Pterocera-Radloaativltywas highest In the digestiveand excretory organs,IntermediateIn the integumentaryorgus, and lcweat tn,themusole. Actual values for the samplesare tabulatedin theappendix. The kidney of the gimt cl~ (FiWe 7) is of sPecialinterestbecause of its high level of activityand slow rate ofdecline. A graph of activity of the tissuesof land hermit@abs collectedat the more radioactivenorthernislands inMarah and July 1954,and from a less radioactivesouthern islandti January 1955, shows the effect of geographicaldifferencesInradioactivityupon the trend of decllne,accentuatingthe slopefn the later period (Figure8). The spider snail was similarto the hermit c!rabin the level of aotlvityof its tissues,while the corals were about an order of magnitudelower.Land Plants and Al~ae

Land plant and algae collectionswere made at Labaredj,DOE ARCHIVESKabelle,Lomuilal,Uejen, W RmgeMp Isl~* q Most oft~edible plants were collectedin December 2954 - J~uarx 1955at RongelapIsland. These were coconut,squash,papaya, arrow-


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.>

Iooc

10(

1(JJC/KGWET

I

0.1MAR.26 JULY 16 DEC.? ~AN.29I 1 1 I 1 1 1 i I I 1 1 1) 100 400DAYS AFTER MARCH 1, 1954 POE ARCHIV=

FIG. 6 RADIOACTIVITY IN SEA CUCUMBER (HOLOTHURIA A~A) TISSUES FROMKA6ELLE ISIAND 1964- 1955


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,\

1000

100

10

JJC/ KGWET

I

0.1MAR26 JULY 16 JqN.

I I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 I I20 100 400DAYS AFTER MARCI+ I , 1954 POE ARCHIV~FIG. RADIOACTIVITY IN GIANT CLAM TISSUES : HIPPOPUS ON MARCH 26,1SS4 AT KABELLE ; TRIDACNA ON JULY 16, 1954 AT KABELLE , ON JANUARY28, 1955 AT LABAREDJ ANO ON JANUARY 30, 1955 AT GEJEN


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*.

5000

1000

100jJC/KGWET

, 10

I

0.3

l)i\

\b*&-

-;Y R.26 JULY 16, \ JAN.I 1 1 1 I Q.1 120 100 400OAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954 DOE ARCHWE5

FIG. 8 RADIOACTIVITY IN TISSUES OF THE LAND HERMIT CRAB , ~ , ONMARCH 26 AT LABAREDJ , ON JULY 16, 1954 AT KA8ELLE , AND ON JANUARY26, 1955 AT RONGELAP


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-22-

root$ pandanus,spinach,and BIorinda. The algae were collectedboth In the shallowwater near shore and in the deeper water ofthe lagoon,usually in the vloinityof the fish-collecting8tatlonu.

Sample values are given in AppendixTables IV, V, VI and VII.From these tables It can be seen that the activityvaries widelyeven within samplesof the same kind. In January,for example,the pulp from one papaya had an activity of 8.6 x 10-7 UC/g (wet),the highest level found in any edible plant portion on that date,while the pulp from a secondpapaya specimenhad an activityof 1.3 x 107 uc/g (wet). \

In both edibleand non-edibleplants the specificactivitywas higher In the leaves than in the fruit, the differencegen-erallybeing two to eightfold. Much of the aotlvlty in theMarch 1954 plant sampleswas probablydue to surfacecontamina-tion. High uounts in the internalportionsof stems,however,Indicatedrapid uptake of fissionproductsby absorptionthroughthe root systems. Later collectionsalso Indfcateuptake offissionproductmaterialwithin the leaf tissue. For example,

q

leaf buds formedafter the initialfallout containas muchactivityas do older leaves,and washingremoves very ltttle ofthe activity,In the earltestcollectionsthe bark of shrubsand treesand the epidermisof edible plant parts containedfrom 14 to 40times more aotivfty than the Internalparts. In the later col-lections,however,this ratio was always less than two. It isPOE ARCHIVnot definitelyknown, however,whether differentialuptake or


32/122

.23.

residualsurfaceoontamlnationaccountsfor the higher activityof the externalplant parts.

Levels of activityin successivecollectionsthroughandfncludlngDeeember 1954 dPOP ti acoo~ance with the expectationrOr mixed fissionproducts. The JamarY 1955 land Pl~t oo1-lectlonb,however,show a trend toward Inoreasln.gctlvitylevels (Figure9)q This could be due to a samplingerror, butmight also be a reflectionof greateravailabilityof the fissionproducts to the plantsassociatedwith more rainfallduringlate Deciemberto January.

The values for arrowrootcolleotedon RongelapIsland inJanuary 1955 fell within the range of values for arronoot fromthe northern islands. The same is true of algae colleotedatdepths of 10 to 25 fathoms in the vicinityof Kabelle and Ronge-lap Islands. However, the =imum activitylevels found InHalimedaQ. and Caulem a ~. from Rongelapare higherby afautor of about two than the mxlmum levels found In the samespeciesoollectedat -belle. It smears likely then that al-thou~h maximum falloutoccurredat the north end of the atoll,the radloaotivematerialis helm redistributedthrowhout theatoll. atleastin the deeperwaters.

Decay rates of five individualsamplesof algae and landplants oollectedin July and Decetier 199 ~lcate Mlf-livesrangIng from 16o - 210 days during the period from Deceniber 1954to April 1955. A sampleIsland In December 1954,mately three years. The

of coconutmilk collectedat Kabellehowever,shows a half-lifeof approxl-DOE ARCHIVslopes ofthe deoay curves of land and


33/122

I0000rI{$II000 0~00 \I~C/KG ~

WET

10:

1I

I I \ \MARi 260.51 r I 110 100 1000DAYS AFTER MARCH 1,1954 POE ARCHI

FIG. 9 RATE OF DECLINE OF LAND PLANTS , ALGAE AND SOIL SAMPLES ATKABELLE 1954 1955 q


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.-25-

marine plants, other than the ooconuts,differ only slightlyfrom one anotherand from the slopes of the soil decay curves,the average slope bem -1.25 (-1.o5 to -1.36). This ~ioatesthat In-productfi8810n

these plants little or no differentialuptake of fissionmaterialhas been takingplace. In cooonuts,however,productsmixtureswith longerh81f-liveshave been ab-

sorbed into the meat and milk fraotions, Decay ourve slopesOr -.96 and -.54 for the coconutmeat and -.24 from the coco-nut milk Indicatea differentisotopemixture from that foundsoil oollectedIn the same area.Birds \

in

Birds were collectedat fourislandsof the atoll. Speci-mens from the northern islandsof (3ejen,Kabelleand Labaredjwere cons~deredto be from the same area and were oollected onall four dates, while those from the southernisland of Ronge-lap were taken only on January 26, 1955.

The birds are of two types as based on feedfnghabits andmigratorycharacteristics. These aret (1) the nodcly,crestedand fairy terns,whioh tend to stay in the vicinityof a fewIslandswithin the atoll and feed principallyon small fish, and(2) the ?nlgratoryshorebirds, which are transientsand feedma~y on crustaceansalong the beaches. The latter group in-oludes the plovers,ourlews,turnstones,ti tattlers.

The terns, because of their llmited tendenoyfor migration,POE ARCHIare more representativethan are the shorebirds with regard tochronicuptake of radioactivematerial.


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-26-

The shore birds containedgreateramounts of radioactivematerialsin the differentorgus and tissuesshortlyafterfalloutat Rongelap than did the terns. A similar tendency

theWaa

noted in 1952(WL-33)).*organs of the

at Eniwetok followingMike shot (seeWT-616However, the averagelevelsof activity in theshore birds decreasedmore rapidlywith increasing

time after fallout than did those of the terns. These differ-ences may be aocountedfor, in part at least,by the differencesin feedinghabitsand migrationalcharacteristics.

The average speoificactivitiesof the organsand tissuesof Rongelap terns are given h Table V. With the exceptionOfmuscle, which is consistentlylow comparedwith the othertissues,there is no distinctpattern of relativeactivitiesbetween different organs.

The deoline of radioactivitylevels in the organsandtissuesof ternsmay be divided into three types (Figuresloaand b)z (1) organs in which the decline is semilogarithmic,half-life40 days-- therieincludethe muscle, liver,andkidney; (2) organs in which the deoline is logarithmic--these

t-2.852.35) ~ ilem (r -are the bone (r _ t ); and (3) organsin which the variabilityis extremelygreat--the skin and lungrepresentthis group.

The shapesof the radioactivitydeoline curves for thedifferentorgansare determked byability of the isotopes,(2) totaltive uptake of different isotopes,

a combinationof (1) avall-uptake and degree of selec-(3) radioactivehalf-life,

and (4) biologicalhalf-life. Slnoe the relativeeffectsand

q RadiobiologioalStudies . . . POE ~CHIV~~, ~., p. 6.


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. .

Datedbland3/26/%LsbaredJndKabelle3/26/54Kabelle7/16/54Icabelle7/i6/54KAbelle12/8/%Kabolle1/26/55Ralgelapl/26/55Rongolapl/28-30/55Labared~,Kabelle, a ndOejen

TtileVo Rdh@tltity OfROng.hpBirdsandBbd EggsValues expmosedinmicmoourleserkilogramfuettissue

Organi mn NumberofSpecinns Skin Msole he ThyroidIang LiverKidney Ileum

Curlmnoddy, Mry, andcyestedens

ohrleunoddyandfairytemmfairy teznsthmstme and@lover

neddy andftiryterns

DateadIBland7/16/54~bellewa15kKabellel/29/55Kabelle

4 167. 4.82 41*O1 2,260. 7073 161.6 1.31 .6411 .7Y4 d834 .454 .03955 .586 .2562 .173 .0445

q

6 .741 .0495m EggB

Numb.rof UgSpeoimenel Shell5 ,6503 .2954 .I.40

.7541.69.0973.654q@

.105

Yolk.932.129.020

76.4 7.64 22.7 18*4 179.6.82 1608 35.9 132. 30.06.86 U*3 3e&l 2.68 1.726.68 .795 1.03 1.50 9.91

.169 .212 e172 .05861.10 ,814 .877 .486.124 .226 .240 q425

.285 .154 .183 q0791

mite lhlbryo

.0255 .335

.00909

.12


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0.1RELATIVERADIOACTIVITY

.0 I

I

o

\

BIRD TISSUES0 Mtisckq Liver

*0 Kkhey

\

\ %: \

.001 I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I 1March Moy July Sept. NW. Jan. March May July054 1955FIG. 10A DECLINE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MUSCLE , LIVER , ANO KIDNEY SAMPLES FROMNORTH RONGELAP EXPRESSED AS A RATIO TO THE MARCH 26 , 1SS4 COLLECTION

BIRORELATIVE

RADIOACTIVITY-.01 =

.001 ~e

.0001S [ I I 1 I 1 I I I I I I I 1 I I I10 100DAYSAFTER MARCH,I , 1S54 DOE &CHIVFIG. 10 B oECLINE oF RADIOACTIVITY IN BONE AND ILEUM SAMPLES FROM NORWRONGELAP EXPRESSED AS A RATlO TO THE MARCH 26, 1954 COLLECTION


38/122

.

-2+

degrees of titeraotlonof these variableaupon the decllne ofradioaotivltyvlth increasing time after contaminationare notknown, rigid interpretationsof the shapes of the curves shouldnot be attempted. However, the cmrves are usefil fn estimatingthe levels of activity In the differentorgans on given datesfollowlngthe contaminationof the atoll.

Decay ourves were made for a limitednumber of samples. Ofthese, only that of the thyroidevidenceda prepondemnee of asingle isotope,I131, ~hich aucountedfor 99.9 peroent or moreof the total activity. In decay curves for bone, liver, andkidney there was evidenceof mixturesof tsotopes. Slopes of\,- t-1zs for liver, r - t-1.65 for bone, and a curvewhich Is not a straightllne either logarithmicallyorrithmioally,indicatethat these organs do not containratios of radioactiveisotopds. The deoay curve slopeliver is slmllar to that of Rongelap soil.

Chemical separationfor strontiumwas done on two

for kidney,8emlloga-almllarfo r tern

birdsamplesoollectedMarch 26~ 1954s at ~belle. SkIns from twodifferent terns contained2.9 pereentU 3.5 percent Of thetotal actirityas radioactivestrontium. In samplesof total

89-90muscle plus total bone from the same birds, Sr aompr18ed3.9 Pemmt - 11.3 percent Of t~ to-l activity {Table VII)q

The only collectionsat RongelapAtoll contatilngbirdsfrom both the northernand southernIslandswere made January26-30, 1955. In view of the fact that the general levels ofcontamlnattonvere higher on the northern islands,it was ~~~ ARCHIpeuteclthat the northernbirch would containmore radloactlvlty


39/122

q

-30-than the southernbirds. This was not the case except for theskin. The ratios, south to north, of aotlvity for the differentorgans and tissuesare as follows:

skin muscle bone lung liver kidney ileum.79 5.2 6.2 3.9 5.3 4.8 6.1

The presenceof more than aix times as much aotivity in the in-testinaltract of the southernisland terns as that found in thesame organ of the northern island terns suggeststhat the southernbirds have aocess to a supply of food fish oontalninggreateramounts of radioactivematerial. The higher level of activity inthe southernbird intestinaltracts 1s reflectedin the greaterconcentrationsof radioactivematerial in the other titernalorgans of the same animals. In view of these observationsitprobabl~would be advisableto &tafn samplesfrom AllnginaeAtoll, located seven and one-halfnauticalRongelapAtoll, since the Rongelapnatives

mllesmuthwest ofcollectbirds at

Alinginaeas part of their food supply.Tern eggs were collectedat Kabelle

1954, and January 29, 1955* The levelsvarious parts of the eggs were low, with

July 16, December8,of radioactivityin thethat of the shellapproxi-

mating the levels found In the bones of terns collectedthe sameday. Radioactivityin ~he egg yolks varied from Ii to 3 timesthat found In the muscles of birds in the same collections. Thewhites of the eggs containedthe lovestamounts of radloaotiveIsotopesof all bird samplesexamined. These kvels were from

DOE ARCHIl/2s to 1/2 those found in bird muscle collectedthe same day.


40/122

-31-The unhatxhedembryosaontalnedlevels of radioactivityqproxi-mately one-halfthat found in b~ muscle (AppendixTable VIII).

PlanktonThe Rongelapplanktoncolleotlonconsistedof a single tow

on March 56, paired tows on July 16, December 8 and December 18,1954, and four paired tows January 26-3o, 1955. A Michael Sarstype net, ~-meter in diameterand with either No. 6 or Ho. 20silk mesh was used. Tows were takm at thalight hours.

Radioactivityof the Rongelapplanktonthan one hundred times greater than that ofcollectedfromwith the U9COCof the Taney

the open ooean waters of the

surfaaeduring day-

sampleswas more\plankton samplesWestern Pacific

Taneynduring OperatfonTroll. On the cruisedm~ March and April, 1955, 85 pkdctm

sampleswere taken along the route from ltwajaleinto thePhilippinesto Japan. The average activity of these sampleswas .015x 10-3 uo/g of wet sample, the highest values being.050x 10-3 uc/g. For the eigh~ January1955 Rongelap pluktonsamples the average value was 2.0 x 10-3 uo/g, the lowest valuebeing 0.41 x 10-3 uc/g.

Other ooncluslonswhioh may be drawn from analysisof theRongelapplankton samplesare (1) that the radioactivityperunit weight is greater than for most other biologicalsamples,(2) the decay rate is similarto that for the soil sample,andl)OEARC(3) there Is considerablevariationin the radloactIvity of sam-ples from paired tows.


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-32-

SoilThe soil and sand samples includedthose from the islands

proper, from the beaoh, and from the lagoonbottom. The radio-activity of a sample taken from the top inch of soil onLabaredj Islti Na.rch26j 19542 was 6s8 microc~fes Per cam)whloh Is equivalentto one curie per 32s pounds of top soil.The activity of this sample ten months later,January 29, 1955,was one thlrtlethits origl.nalvalue~ l.e,~ It had passedthroughnearly five half-lives. The decay rate for this periodis expressedby the formula,r = t-1.31, with Mazwh 1, 1954,as the date of origin (Figure12). This rate approximatesthemixed fissionproductdecay rate and in generalapproximatesthe decay rate for many of the biologicalsamples. For thesereasons the decay factor for correctingcountsbac?kto the dayof collectionwas based on the decay curve of a similar soilsample

The decllne In radioactivityof the SO1l samplescan beobservedfrom the figures in AppendtiTable X. Considerablevariation In the activity of soil sampleafrom the same area onthe same day can be expectedbeoause of the nature of the fall-out patternand shouldbe kept in mind when interpretingresults.If considerationis given to the Eabelle samplesonly, the rateof decllne is greater than-thedecay rate from March to July1954, but 10SS from JUIY 1954 to JanurY 1955q men the samPlecounts from all islandsare averaged,the relativedecpti?wlv=activity of the March 1954 =mles and the January 1955 sa@esla the same as the decline In activity of the decay sample.


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.,

.

-33

Profile samples of the lagoonbottom were obtainedoffKabelle Island at depths of 60 feet and 40 feet and off LomuilalIslandat 55 feet. The sampleswere obtainedby an aquahng-equlppeddiver driving a foot long, 1~-alumtiumube into the. bottom sand. The Gore was removed i%om the tube and samples

. were taken at various levels. From the counts of these samplesit was observedthat the radioactivesand on the lagoonbottomwas several Inches thick with the level of activity ratherstant for the first five or six inches. The radloaatlvltyunit weight was less thm that of the soil from the island

con-per

proper but off Xabelle it was greater than that of the sand Inthe intertidalzone.

WaterThe water collectionincludedeight salt-watersamples

from the lagoon and eight fresh-watersamplesfrom the Islands\proper. A 5-millilitersamplewas used for the radioactivitydeterminationexcept for the December 18th collection(cisternwater, filteredwell water), for which 25-millilitersampleswere used. Becau8e the radioactivityof water samples Is oftenstated In terms of the radioactivityper liter,which wouldmean extrapolationconsiderablybeyond the observed values, itIS especially necessary to state the countingerror. For thesedata the 0.95 counttngerror,* vhl~h is equivalentto twostandarddeviations,was arbitrarilyselected. In Appendix

POE ARCHIV~* AECU-262 (Men P-126) Statlstlcalmethods used in the measure-ment of radioactivity(some useful graphs) - A. H. Jarrett,T.I.S., Oak Ridge, December 1949.


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, .34.

Table X the values for the water samplesexpressedin d/m/ml t0.95 countingerror are given.

ofso

hole waterm sampleswere used for counting,I.e.,nonethe natural-oocurringradioisotopeswere chemicallyremoved,the values in the above table are those for total radio-

activity. For ocean w aters, the atomic disintegrations perminute per kilogram for potassium-40are 560 and for all othernatural-occurringisotopesabout 10.* This means that the con-tributionof natural-ocourringisotopesto the values in Appen-dix Table X for lagoon water samplesranged from 0.6 to 1.2d/m/ml.

Beeause of the relativelygreat countingerror of the lagoonwater samplesneither the rate of decline nor the decay rate wasestimated. A conservativeapproximationof the radioactivityof the lagoonwater, based upon the average differencebetweenthe observedvalue and the positive 0.95 countingerror forthe January 26-30, 1955 samples,is 2400 d/m/l (.0011 uu/1).

For the fresh-watersamplesthe countingdata are morereliable (AppendixTable X). The samples includecisternwater,filteredwell water, standingwater and ground water. The stand-ing vater was taken from an open oan on Eniaetok Islandand theground water from a two-foothole that was dug on Xabelle Island.The ground water was most radioactive,48,000d/m/l (.022uc perliter)and may have containedradioisotopesthat had leaohed

1.35 for the periodfrom the soil. However, the decay rate r = tfrom March 23 - July 30, 1955, was similarto that for mixed

DOE ARCHIVESo Schubert,J., RadioactivePoisons,Scientific American,

~01 q 193, ~Oo 2, pp. 3439, August 1955.


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3s

fissionproducts. For filteredveil water the decay rate for-1.39:the sa~ period was similar,r = t. Another observation

was that the rtiioaettvityof the fresh-watersamples increasedfrom south to north with the autivtty of the Rongelap Islandsamplebolng 1/4, lfi, and l/10 of the activity of the fresh-water samplesfrom Eniaetok,Labaredj,and Kabelle Islands,respectively.

DOE ARCHIV=


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-36-

EvaluatiOnOf the ChemioalAnalysesof the Biolo~lcalsamples?ission productand caldlumanalyseswere made of three SOI1

samples,strontiumanalyses of selectedfoods,and 1131 analysesq s Of plants. Additionalsamplescollected

to Dr. Walter Claus, Division of Biology.chemlealanalyses.

December8 were sentand Medlclne,for

Sampleswere taken f rom the top Inch of soil on March 26,1954, from both Labaredjand ICabelle.Portionswere ashed =d thendissolved In dilutenitric acid. There vas only a very smallamount of insolubleresidue containingless than 0.1 percent ofthe radioactivityof the solute. Aliquotsof this solutionwereused to determinetotalactivityand to provide samplesforehemlcal separation.

Standardmethods of separatingfissionproductsand calciumwere followed. Counts obtainedfrom the analysesfor cerlum,zirconium,niobium, strontium,ruthenium,and barium were oor-rected for chemicalor spike yield. The chemicalyield Is theratio of the veight of recoveredcarrier to added carrier. Ayield for calciumwas not determinedbecause ofthe large amountof oalciumcarbonatein the sample. The radloactlvltyof sevenfissionproductsand caloium correctedfor yield and adjustedto 100 percent r ecovery a n d expressedas a percentageof thetotal radioactivity1s given In Table VI. The chemicalyieldsand the observedcounts from which these valueswere computedare tabulatedIn Appendi%Table XI. POE ARCHW=

fromThe results of radlostrontiumanalysesof biologicalsamplesRongelapAtoll are given in Table VII. Radiostrontiu Was


46/122

,.-37-

Table VX. Fission Productsand Radio-Calcium

Element

in Soil from RongelapAtollu2/Per Cent Activity

Samplelfumber

ceriumtrivalentrare earthszirconiumnloblumrutheniumstrontiumbariumtalcIUIUtotal

24.16.5*96.94.45*5


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,.

Table VII. Radio-strontiumand Radio-t)riumIn Biological

Values expressedSamplesfromRongelapAtollin micro-mlcrocurlesper gram, wet

Date andOroup Tissue Area of CollectionBir# Carcass 3/26/54Skin Lab~redj $::5.127.

11.32.93*93.5II Carcass 1?1! Skin II Kab:lle

Squash Frl#t 1/26/55PapayaPandanus ?1Co~onut Meat !!Ml+k1??lhi 5I! 1! 1/29 51! t! ?1/30 55

Ron~elap 2*21.9

2.11.02.31.1 1.4.52.62.6I1!

II

LabaredjKabelleOejen

0.70 1.380.11 0.380.05 0.2J Io 02.30 0.00.38

0.02:.110:03 0 00 0

Coconut Muscle 1/29/55crab Kabelle 31, 27.9 597 5.5 1.0Tuna t!

?12/27/Mullet !1 1@6 55 MenuRongelap o0 00 0.82.4 0.74.4

ug ~ ~ne3/~6/54 collection processedin December1954; the January1955~yPr - July 1955. Values as of date of analyses.ocessedin July 1955. Valuesas of date of analyses.

collectionin


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.-4-

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTONLABORATORY/OF RADIATION BIOLOGY

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98105

US DOI?,iRCll!Yl;S326U.S.ATOMIC ENERGYRc,

co!!{(1:~:l~+;kcii_.._..-.--.-- 11;os ._2--------rJ$y#l#A&A=&+&J%.

REPORT NO. UWFL42


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UWPL-42

..

A RADIOIAX31CALTUDY OF ROHOELAPATOLL,MARSXALLZSLAHDS,DURmo 1954-1955

AppliedPisher;eeLaboratoryUniversityof Washl.ngtonSeattle,Washington

huren R. DonaldsonDirector

DOE ARCHIV~

Auguut 15, 1955

Operatedby the Universityof Washl.ngtonunder ContraotHo.AT(45-1)540with the United StatesAtomic Energy Commission.


50/122

AB9TRACT

The detonationof shot one at Bikini Atoll on Maroh 1,1954, produceda fallout of radioactiveash upon RongelapAtoll,Marshall Islands. The distributionof the radioactiveash onthe islandsand in the plants and anlu!alsof the area hag beenstudiedand evaluatedby the Applied?isherlesLaboratory,Universityof Washington.

During the first expeditionto RongelapAtoll on Namh 26,1954, biologicalsampleswere collectedand measurementsmade ofthe radiationcontamination. On three additionalexpeditionsextensivecollectionsof =terlal were tie for this study, thelast on Janwry 25-30, 19550

The decllne in radioactivity=S meas~ed ~ 1499 ~Plesof fish, invertebrates,land plants, algae,birds~ p18nktonssoil and water from the Rongelaparea.

During this study particularemphasiswas placed upon evalu-ation of the radioactivityin food used by the natives. Coconutmilk oollectedon Narch 260 1954> conti~d l~03 mlor~~~ef$ perkilogram of wet tissuewhile the ooconutmeat had 1.16 uo/kg. BYJmuary 25-30,1955, the level ~ c~~ut m~k ~ decl~ed to0.041 uo/lcgand the meat to 0*036 UCA. Fish =tcle On Mch 26,1954, averaged 2.74 uo/kg and f~sh liver 204. UCA. f~ deolfneto January 25-30 was 0.10 UCA for the ~sele ~ 3052 uc/@ forthe liver of fioh. Somewhat stmilardeolineswere found forclam muscle, crab musole,bird muscle and llmr$ and for squash,

POE A.RCHIVES


51/122

papaya,arrowrootand pandanus. .The level of radioactivitywas highest

portion of the atoll, except for samplesofeathg birds, collectedduring J=wY 1955

in the northernalgae and fish-from the southern

part of the atoll, whloh had higher levels of radioactivitythan samplescollectedfrom the northern islandson the samedate. This may indicatea trmslocation of radhactivematerialswithin the lagoon.

DOE ARCHIVES


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.

Contents

?!269IntroductionSample processingprocedureand techniques 6

Radhactivlty and its rate of decline in foodl.tems 6

Evaluationof radioactivityIn the biological ..samplesFishInvertebratesLand plantsand algaeBirdsPlanktonsoilWater

AA1118\1825313233

Evaluationof the chemicalanalyses of thebiologicalsamples 36

Study of the rate of physicaldecay of radiationin the biologicalsamples 41

Appendfx 49POE l@CHIV~


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*

Tables (Text)

Table Ho.I.11.III.m.v.VI.VII.VIII.

I.

11.

III.IV.

Radioactivityof foods from RongelapAtoll,1954-55Coeffiolentof variationin percent forvalues in Table IRadloaotlvltyof fish caughtat KabelleIsland,RongelapAtollRadl-ctlvity of fish caughtat RongelapAtoll, other than at Kabelle Island

Radioactivityof Rongelapbirds and birdeggsFiuslon productsand radio-calcim Insoil from RongelapAtollRadio-strontlu and radio-ceriumInbiologicalsamplesfrom RongelapAtollDecay raten of Rongelap samplesexpressedas the slope of the log-logrelationshipof activity to time after March 1, 1954

Tables (Appendix)

EsKs7713

17\ 27

3738

47

DOE ARCHIV~Radioactivityof fish from RongelapAtoll,1954-55 50Scientificnames of fishes 53Radioactivityof invertebratesother thancoralscollectedat RongelapAtoll,1954-55 54Radioactivityof coral from RongelapAtoll,1954-55 56Radioaotlvityof coconutsfrom RongelapAtoll, 1954-55 57


54/122

.

Tables (centtiued)

.

Table Ho.v.VI.VII.VIII.

Ix.x.XI.

XII.

Radloaotlvltyof edibleplants other than coco-nuts from RongelapAtolls 1954-55Radioactivityof plants other than thosecommonlyeaten from RongelapAtoll, 1954-55Radioactlvit of marinealgae from Rongelapitoll, 195 55Radioactlvit of birds collectedat Rongelapitoll, 195 !55Radloactivit of tern eggs from Rongelapitoll, 195 55 \,Radioactivityf plankton,soil-eand,and watersamplesfrom RongelapAtoll, 1954-55Data for computingpercentactivityof fissionproductsand calcium in Rongelap soil samplesbased on 1 milliliterreplicatesPhysioaldecay rates of Rongelap samplesr- t-x; to March 1, 1954

EMS585960616263

64

65

q

.


55/122

F@urea

FiEure Ifo.. 1.

2.

3*

4.

5.

6.7.

8.

9.108q

10b.

Colleot~ areas at RongelapAtollRa~&~ decline of radioaotlvityof RongelapAverageamounts of radioactivityin mloro-curiesper kilogramin floh tissuesfromKabelle Island 194-1955Averageamounts of radioactivityin micro-curies per kilogramin liver,bone andmuscle of earni?orousand omnivorousfishesfrom Kabelle Islmd 1954-1955

RadioactivityIn microcurlesper kilogram In ,fish tissuescollectedin the vlclnltyofRongelapAtoll, December 1954 @ Jm~ry1955Radloaotlvityfn sea cucumber(Holothuriaatra) tissues from Kabelle Is~ 54-1955Radioactlvit & giant ohm tissues: MiPDOPUStn 14aroh2 , 1954 at Kabelle; Tz?ldama onJuly 16, 1954 at -belle, on JmuarY 2~, 1955at Labaredjand on JanumY 308 3955 at ~ejenRadioactivityIn tissuesof the land hermitcrab, Coenoblta on Xaroh 26 at Labaredj,on July 19~$ at Kabelle,and onJanuary 26; 1955 at Ron8elapRate of decllne in land plants, algae andsoil samplesat Xabelle 1954-1955Deollne of radl-ctivlty in muscle, liver,and kidney samples from north Rongelapexpressedas a ratio to the Nmch 26) 1954collection(birds)Deoline of P8d108CtiVityin bone and ileumsamplesfrom north Rongela$ expressedas aratio to the -oh 26$ 19(birds) collection

POE ARCHIVES

0.

12

15

1619

20

2124

28

28


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.

Figures (continued)

?Imre lfo.11 Semi-1ogplots of decay curves of gastricmillof crab, (?rapsusgrapsus,and musole of seacuoumber,Eolothurlaatra, collectedkoh 26, 1954 at = b=

BE

4312 q Log-logplots of Rongelapdecay samplesofMarch 26, 1954: plmkton from m~~t;muscleand mantle of giant clam, liimopus,from Kabelle;and soil on whluh decaycorrectionfactorswere based 4413. Log-log plots of radioactivedecay rate ofcooonutmilk, (Cocos)collectedDecember8,1954 at Kabelle,and of liver and muscle ofsurgeonfish(Acanthuruselonuatus) oollected\July 16, 1954 45

DOE ARCHIV~

q


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A RADICWX31CALSITHYYF RUWBLAP ATOLL, MARSNALLISLANDSDURINQ 1954-1955

IntroductionThe program of study of the Applied FlsherlesLaboratory,

Universityof Washington,(Program19.1 of operationCastle)wasoutlinedin the Labor8tory~sreport UWFL-36. Thle program involvedetailedstudieoof radtologloalcontaminationof the fauna andflora of EnlwetokAtoll,with exploratorytrips to Biklnl Atoll ona quarterlybasis to ascertainthe levels of radiationremainingduring the year followlngthe test program.

The unexpectedpatternand magnitudeof the fallout\ofradioactivemateria ls from t~ ~rch 1$ 1954 @JPrl~nt ~ntr~uce~the need for new areas of study over and above the plannedpro-gram. One such area was RongelapAtoll where the falloutresultedin the evacuationof the native people.

on March 21, 1954, the mbora~ory recieveda r@quest fromDr. Paul B. Pearson,AEC Dlvislonof Biologyand Medicine,tomake a survey of the islandsat RongelapAtoll to determinetheextent of radiologicalcontaminationof the native foods.

The expeditionto Rongelap,in response to t~s request,was organizedby Task Ck?oup7.1, with transportationand supportprovidedby the USS Nicholas (D D B 449). Members of Program19.1 were Lauren R. Donaldson,CharlesM. Barnes, IMuard E. NeldtRalph F. Palumboand Paul R. Olson. Thomas Shlxmwb ~-s NOWhite, P. R. Schivoneand W. W. RObbins acc~xnied t~ exWdl-tion to aid the natives In capturingsome of their animals onDOE ARCHIV=Rongelap Islandand to make radiationreadingson some of the


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s

q

(\-0

RONGELAP ATOLLN

NAUTICAL MILES5

4{ABAREDJ BMELLU/

- RONGELAP

POE ARCHIW,

FIG. I COLLECTING AREAS AT RONGELAP ATOLL


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.-2-

islandsin the southernpart of the atoll.Collectionsof plantsand animals,soil samplesand radia-

tion readings w ere =de at Iabaredj Island on March 26, 1954.Radiationreadingswere obtainedwith a June (ABCmodel SXC-17C,serialMO. 89) under a variety of conditions. The shield Ofthe instrumentwas closed for the first reading and open for thesecondfor each of the locationslistedbelow.

RadiationLevels LabaredjIslandMarch 26, 1954 - mr/tW

Looatlon Hel@Yt 31IntertidalzoneHigh tide lineOP:: =:?Open grass areaon island

In PisoniawoodsBeach rock slabsBeach above hightide line northside of islandEast aide of islandabove high tideline

26312153952503302405002707003710018o300200350

Eei~ht 1\

3001000370900

H280 6n700 6600150029400220600220700 DOE ARCHIV~

A second series of collectionswere made on the same dayat ~belle Island in the extremenortheasternpart of the lagoon.Radiationreadingswere also taken at this islandas follows$


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i3-

RadiationLevelsKabelle IslandMarch

LoaationBeach rook inter-tidal zoneBeach sand athigh tldeline

26, 1954 - nm/hrHeight 3~

4890190260

Edge of brush line 280on island lagoon 500sideOpen area in vege- 300tation-covered 600portion of island q

Coconut grove on 250lagoon side of 370island

Height 13030015035037014004101700480 \1500

Edge of trees (shieldopen) 2000Lee side of trees n 1500Windward aide of trees rl 2800The second expeditionto RongelapAtoll was made on

July 16, 1954o A U.S. Mavy Grumman Albatrossplane (U.S.N.ASR-16,Ho. 902) from the U.S. Naval Station,Kwajalein,wasueed to transportthe group to the atoll. Program 19.1 membersmaking the trip were Lauren R. Donaldson!Fmnk Lo~~ ArthurWelanderand Lt. Cmdr. ClarenceF. Pautzke.

Collectionswere again made at Kabelle Islandand radiationreadings taken in the same generalareas as those recorded onMaroh 26, 1954q DOE ARCH1_


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-4-

RadiationLevels Kabelle IslandJUly 16, 1954 - ~k

lesssQQLow water lineHtgh tLde markon beaoh50~ inshorefromhigh tide line1001 inshorefromhigh tide llneOn Scaevolabrush

Lee edge of cooo-nut groveMiddle of islandin dead brushOpen clearinginmiddle of IslandMiddle of coconutgrove

HeiRht 3$9202928

283020252720

Hel~ht 1157010010010010080 \904560

Dwtig the month Of December 1954 t~ee collectionsOfsamplesw ere made at RongelapAtoll. For the first trip on Decem-ber 8, the U.S. Naval Station,Kvajaleln,provtdeda PBJY(lJo.2471) with a fine orew. LandlngIYwere made at both Kabelleand RongelapIslands. Dr. Walter D. Claus, AECogy and Medicine,qccompaniedEdward Held, PaulTaylor and William Blakeman on this expedition.

Dlvlslonof Biol-Olson, RobertFilm stripswere

placed at a number of locationsby Claus, Taylor and Blakeman torecord radiationover an intervalof time. poE iyicHIvEs

On December 18, the Mavy again furnisheda PBN for the tripto Rongelap to pick up the film stripsand to collectaddltlo-1


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-5-,blologioalsamples. A suoaessfullandlngwas made at RongelapIslandwhere the objoctivevas accomplished. An aocidentto theanohorlngmeohanismof the plane, howovor,preventedoompletlonof the sampllngat lShbelleIsland. Robert Rinehartand PaulZigman of U.S.S.R.D.L. accompaniedIaurenR. Donaldson,JaredDavis, Edward Held and Paul ois~ on this trip.

The moct extensivesurveyand biologicalcollectingtripwas eonduetedat RongelapAtoll from January 25 to January 30j1955* This mrvey waB made in conjunctionwith U.S.R.R.D.L.,with the U.S. Xavy furnishingthe 00 vessel RioQrande fortransportationand supportfao~llties. Allyn H. Seymour and?rank Lowman, Program 19.1, sharedthe responsibilityfor thebiologicalsampling. Readingswere again made with the surveymotor on almost all of the islandsvisited. The readingsweretaken at a height of three feet unless otherwisenoted.

RadiationLeve3sRongelapAtollJanuary 25-30, 1955 - mr/hrRongelapIsland 0.5Eniaetok Island 2.0Busuh Xaland 1.5LabaredjIsland ;.:Xab:lle IsY#uMI 5:0 at ground levelLomuilal Island 8.0(3ejenXoland 7.0Lukuen Island 4*O

The eolleotionsat RongelapAtoll durtng thisstudy providedmaterialfoP 1499 s~les whioh ~ve

l)OEARCHIWperiod ofbeen proo-

eased, the radioaotlveoontent determined and the results tabu-lated and evaluated.


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-6-

Sample ProcessingProceduresand TechniquesThe technlqueaand proceduresused in collec?thg,storing,

preparing,and countingthe Rongelap sampleswere similar tothose used in former years. For completedetails see UT-616(lnnm-33).* The specimenswere put on lce while in the field.Tissues were dissected,weighed and dried at the Eniwetok labor-atory. At the Universityof Washington,the dried sampleswereashed at temperaturesup to 540C, cooled, slurrled,dried, andthen counted in an internalgas-flowcountingchamber. countsper plate were convertedto disintegrationsper minute per gramofwet tissueas of the date of collectionby correctingforsampleweight,geometry,backscatter,self-absorption?Coinci-dence, and deoay.

For the summary tablesas used in this report, the radio-activityexpressedin disintegrationsper minute per gram (d/m/g)was convertedto mlcrocuriesper kilogramby

uc/kg= dlmlu(2.2)(10)3

Radioactivityand Its Rate of Decline in Food ItemsA general survey of the radioactivityof foods is given in

Table I, with the rate of decline**of these items uhown in Figure2. It shouldbe noted that the differencesdue to speciesand

DOE ARCHIV=* RadiobiologloalStudiesat EnlwetokBefore and After Mike Shot,Rovember 1952, LaurenR. Donaldson,AppliedFisheriesLaboratorUniversityof Washington,9eattle,Washington.q* The pa~ of decl~e is a p&aBe ao~ed to express the combined

physicaldecay and the biologicaluptake and decay rates.


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.

Table 1. Radioactivityof Foods fromRongelapAtoll, 1954-55

Values expressedin mlorocuriesper kilogramof wet tissueDate and Coconuts MI*Cq Jj Fish ClamsMuscle- Crabs1sland Milk Meat Muscle Liver ?4antle Musole3/26/54Kabelle,Labaredj 1.03 1.16 11.3 2.74 204. 43.5 70.07/16/54Kabelle .049 .123 .423 24.0 2.14 2.3912/8 OP 18/54 aKabelle,Rongelap .019 .040 .021 q 066 2.051/26-30/55y .041 .036 .049 .100 3.52 1.03 .498~/ edible portionsof squash,papaya,arrowroot,pandanus,spinach~/ Rongelap,Enlaetok,Labaredj,Kabelle,(3ejen,Lomullal,Lukuen

Table II. liCoefficientof VariationIn Per Cent-for Values In Thble I

Cooonuts Fish ClamsDate Milk Meat Ulso. Muscle Liver Musole- ~~~eMantle3/26/54 42(4)V --(1) --(1) 65(12) 119(12) 36(4) 79(3)7/16/54 lo(2) 13(3) 73(20) 65(20) 54(2) 35(5)

~12/8 Or ~8/54 37(5) 57(5) 23(8) 48(3) 30(3)

BirdsMuscle Liver5.38 25.4.576 3.23.040

.129

.213

.418

Bird~Muoole Liver41(5) 38(5)75(7) 48(7)27(4) 3764)

~1/26-30/55 61(18)!%

76(16) 88(16) 68(81) 97181) 115(4) 178(11) 99(13) 95(13)~ ~/Cin*= (standarddeviation+ mean) (100)Z ~/ number of samples4


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300200

100

10

lJC/ KGWET

I

0.1

0.0

\

DAYS AFTER MARCH I ,1954 DOE ARCHIV~FIG. 2 RATE OF DECLINE OF RADIOACTIVITY OF RONGELAP FOODS


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9-area, which are oonstderableand which are evident In the tablesof the appendixwhere all the individualsamplecounts are tabu-lated, are not apparent h this generalisation. The significanceof thesedifferences,however, 18 discussedon pages 11 to 34.From Table I andradioactivityinbe approximated.

The method

Figure 2 the past, present,and future grossthe prlnolpalfood items of RongelapAtoll can

seleatedto indicatethe error in estimatingthevalues in Table I is the coefficientof vartationwhioh 10the ratio of the standarddeviationto the me-. These values,C, expressedin peroent,are given in Table IIr-e in values from 10 percent to 178 peroent

(~ge 7 ). The\Indicatesa high

degree of variability.These data are closest to being

when plotted on a log-log scaleusingMarah 1, 1954, as tZme of origin.

points on a straightlinethe time of the blast,

From this data it appears that tied fissionproductsa r e the prinotpalsourceof radioactivityin the food stuffs.Exceptionsare bird thyroids,in which the radioactivitywaspracticallyall 1131, and the gastriomill in a cooonut c-b,for which the deoay ourve was nearly a straightllne on a semi- log plot. For the purpose of making an approxl=tlon of theaverage rate of decltne, the slope of a least-squaresllnethrough the averages of the points In Figure 2 was determinedand found to be -1.75. POE ~CHWES

The variation in radtoaotivityassoclatedith area, inmost instances,Is related to fallout. RongelapAtoll was on


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the southernedge of the fallout from the March 1, 1954 Bikiniexperimentand as a consequencethere was considerablymoreradioactivityin the northernpart of that area. The biologicalsamples show the same pattern except for the bird collectionsand the algae and sand samplesfrom deep waters of the lagoon,taken duringJanuary 1955.

q


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-11-

Evaluationof RadiomtivltY In the BiologicalSamplesFish

Almost all of the fish spec?lmens,s in former years, werecolleotedby poisoningwith derris root In shallowwaters on ornear the reefs. Some specimenswere oaught In the deeperwaters of the lagoonwith hook and Ilne.vere obtainedoutsidethe atoll when theyduring the night.

hO flyingfishlandedaboard ship

The species seleetedfor analysisare those commonlyfoundon the atolls and used for food. They includedamselflsh,groupers,parrot fish, squirrelfish,surgeonfish,goatfish,wrasse, snappers,mullet and tuna. The scientificrimesspeciesare given in the appendti.

The tissuesused for analysisof radioactivitywere

of the

skin,muscle,bone, liver and other viscera.of the stomachcontentsas well as the

qcases.

The latter Includedpartalimentaryoanal, In most

In an attempt to compare similar specieshorn the samelocality,analysiswas llmlted to the samplesfrom KabelleIsland. Collectionsoffish were made in waters adjacent tothis islmd on -ch 26, 1954$ July 16, 1954~m J~uary 29$1955. The collectingarea lies near the north end of theislandand consistsof a ooral-filledchannel open to the seaat high tide. The radioaotlvityof the tissuesfrom the fishDOE ARCHIVEScolleotedat Kabelle Is summarizedIn Figure 3. The data apelisted In Table III.


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I5oo-

IOOLTTt.0..-b...I .... ..

lo.og = ,+ \

WET

1.0. .T

GALL FOOD ITEMS

0.1 --JULY 16 JAN.29 I1 1 1 1 1 I I1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 10.05 I I25 50 100 500DAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954 POE ARCHIVES

FIG. 3 AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MICROCURIES PER KILOGRAM INFISH TISSUES FROM KABELLE ISLAND 1954 1955


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*

All fish

Omnivores

Carnivores

Damsel fish

Grouper

Table III. Radioactivityof Fish Caughtat KabelleIsland,RongelapAtoll

Values expressedIn microcurlesper kilogramof wet tissueDate3/26/547/16/54l/29/553/26/547/16/541/29/553/26/547/16/5411~9/553/26/547/16/54l/29/553/26/547/16/54~/29/55

NumberofSpecimens

8179224365

Skin20.82.46.35934.52.95.33014.82.03.41421.42.74.5457.541.47.303

Muscle2.740.50.0834.54;::;2.01.370.0853.45.256.0851.42.309

q 051

Bone Liver12.8 204.02.92 N 22.4.49124.72.9z4 67*952.90.5009.452.30.4263.371.50.288

3.18439.022.22.55103.022.74.426;;.;4:24::.~5:23

Viscera514.035*73.59

1,3:2.:4:10

110.013.92.561,700.038.43.18101.011.71.43


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.

-14-

These data substantiatethe generalhypothesis,mentionedearlier In this report, that the radioactivityin the tlssueaappears to be due principallyto mixed fissionproducts. Devi-ations from a straightllne In the curves might be due toselectiveuptake, eitherby the tissues themselvesor becausethere was selectiveuptake in the animalsused 88 food by thefishes. In general the slope of the curves comparesfavorablywith the averageat the beginning

Differencesas to amounts ofeat on March 26,

deulinecurve used for all food items discussedof this report.between the omnivorousand carnivorousfishesradioactivityIn comparabletissueswere great-1954q These differences

age of time and by January 29$ 1955, weredecreasedwith pass-negliglblein some

tissues (Figure4, Table III). These same data when analyzedby definite speciesof~omnivorousfish (damselflsh)and car-nivorous fish (grouper)show the same trends (TableIII).

Variation in radioactivity,associatedwith area and re-.lated to falloutand current movementswtthin and around the

atoll, indicatesan increaseIn the contaminationof the atollfrom south to north (Figure5, Table IV), The lagoon fishtaken in the northernpart of the lagoon, off Xabelle or NelluIsland,are comparablein levels of radioactivityto reef fishestaken in this regton. The two flying fish taken outside the atollare remarkablyalike in tissueradioactivity. POE ARCHIV~J


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73/122

Date andAreal/30/55BetweenRongelapandRongerikAtolls

Table ~. RadioactivityIn FishCaughtat RongelapAtoll, other than Kabcllel@land

Values expressedin mlcrocuriesper kilogramof wet tissue

2/1/55BetweenRongelapandAillnginaeAtolls1/25/55Rongelap Island@8/55LabaredjIsland

1/30/55C3ejenIslandDecember,1954 andJanuary,1955W lagoonFish~ Combined

Flying fish

Flying fishOmnivoresCarnivoresAll fishOmnivoresCarnlvore8All fishOmnivoresCarnivoresAll fish

Carnivores

l!umberofSpealmens

1

1101222

Skin Muscle

q 050 .017

.152 .014

.124 q 022: n; q 045.034q 577 .159.741 .153.632 .157

1.56 q 159:77: .125.129

Bone

.031

.035

.184,390.296

.682.782.7181.09.804.836

Liver viscera

q 094 .052

.110 ,i451.02 2.072.74 1.201.95 1.605.36 17.003.31 5.364.64 12.9012.4 17.16.18 2.7s6.86 4.34

10 1.11 .081 .278 2.06 1.20


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.

-18-

InvertebrateRongelapInvertebratesshowedlevels of activity of from

102 to 104 UC/kg Onmroh 26, 1954* W1ate J=u=Y 1955 t~levels had dropped about two orders of -gnitude. The almostubiquitousblack sea cucumber,~olothurlaatra, servesbest toexemplifythe trend (Figure6). Eext best as indicatorsweregiant clams,I&RDoDusand Trldaena;land hermit crab, Coenobita;coconut crab, Blrgus; oorals;and spider snail,Pterocera-Radloaativltywas highest In the digestiveand excretory organs,IntermediateIn the integumentaryorgus, and lcweat tn,themusole. Actual values for the samplesare tabulatedin theappendix. The kidney of the gimt cl~ (FiWe 7) is of sPecialinterestbecause of its high level of activityand slow rate ofdecline. A graph of activity of the tissuesof land hermit@abs collectedat the more radioactivenorthernislands inMarah and July 1954,and from a less radioactivesouthern islandti January 1955, shows the effect of geographicaldifferencesInradioactivityupon the trend of decllne,accentuatingthe slopefn the later period (Figure8). The spider snail was similarto the hermit c!rabin the level of aotlvityof its tissues,while the corals were about an o r d e r of magnitudelower.Land Plants and Al~ae

Land plant and algae collectionswere made at Labaredj,DOE ARCHIVESKabelle, Lomuilal,(3ejen,W RmgeMp Isl~s q Most oft~edible plants were collectedin December 2954 - J--x 1955at RongelapIsland. These were coconut,squash,papaya, arrow-


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.>

Iooc

10(

1(JJC/KGWET

I

0.1 MAR.26 JULY 16 DEC.? ~AN.29I 1 1 I 1 1 1 i I I 1 1 1) 100 400DAYS AFTER MARCH 1, 1954 POE ARCH1=FIG. 6 RADIOACTIVITY IN SEA CUCUMBER (HOLOTHURIA A~A) TISSUES FROMKA6ELLE ISIAND 1964- 1955


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,\

1000

100

10

JJC/ KGWET

I

0.1MAR26 JULY 16 JqN.I I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 I I20 100 400DAYS AFTER MARCI+ I , 1954 POE ARCHIV~

FIG. RADIOACTIVITY IN GIANT CLAM TISSUES : HIPPOPUS ON MARCH 26,1SS4 AT KABELLE ; TRIDACNA ON JULY 16, 1954 AT KABELLE , ON JANUARY28, 1955 AT LABAREDJ ANO ON JANUARY 30, 1955 AT GEJEN


77/122

*.

5000

1000

100jJC/KGWET

, 10

I

0.3

l)i\

\b*&-

-;Y R.26 JULY 16, \ JAN.I 1 1 1 I Q.1 120 100 400OAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954 DOE ARCHIV-

FIG. 8 RADIOACTIVITY IN TISSUES OF THE LAND HERMIT CRAB , ~ , ONMARCH 26 AT LABAREDJ , ON JULY 16, 1954 AT KA8ELLE , AND ON JANUARY26, 1955 AT RONGELAP


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-22-

root$ pandanus,spinach,and BIorinda. The algae were collectedboth In the shallowwater near shore and in the deeper water ofthe lagoon,usually in the vloinityof the fish-collecting8tatlonu.

Sample values are given in AppendixTables IV, V, VI and VII.From them tables It can be seen that the activityvaries widelyeven within samplesof the same kind. In January,for example,the pulp from one papaya had an activity of 8.6 x 10-7 UC/g (wet),the highest level found in any edible plant portion on that date,while the pulp from a secondpapaya specimenhad an activityof 1.3 x 107 uc/g (wet). \

In both edibleand non-edibleplants the specificactivitywas higher In the leaves than in the fruit, the differencegen-erallybeing two to eightfold. Much of the aotlvlty in theMarch 1954 plant sampleswas probablydue to surfacecontamina-tion. High uounts in the internalportionsof stems,however,Indicatedrapid uptake of fissionproductsby absorptionthroughthe root systems. Later collectionsalso Indfcateuptake offission productmaterialwithin the leaf tissue. For example,

q

leaf buds formedafter the initialfallout containas muchactivityas do older leaves,and washingremoves very ltttle ofthe activity,In the earltestcollectionsthe bark of shrubsand treesand the epidermisof edible plant parts containedfrom 14 to 40times more aotivfty than the Internalparts. In the later col-lections,however,this ratio was always less than two. It isPOE ARCHIVnot definitelyknown, however,whether differentialuptake or


79/122

.23.

residualsurfaceoontamlnationaccountsfor the higher activityof the externalplant parts.

Levels of activityin successivecollectionsthroughandfncludlngDeeember 1954 dFOP ti acoo~ance ~~th the expectationrOr mixed fissionproducts. The JamarY 1955 land Pl~t oo1-lectlonb,however,show a trend toward Inoreasln.gctlvitylevels (Figure9)q This could be due to a samplingerror, butmight also be a reflectionof greateravailabilityof the fissionproducts to the plantsassociatedwith more rainfallduringlate Deciemberto January.

The values for arrowrootcolleotedon RongelapIsland inJanuary 1955 fell within the range of values for arronoot fromthe northern islands. The same is true of algae colleotedatdepths of 10 to 25 fathoms in the vicinityof Kabelle and Ronge-lap Islands. However, the mimum activitylevels found InHalimedaQ. and Caulem a ~. from Rongelapare higherby afautor of about two than the mxlmum levels found In the samespeciesoollectedat -belle. It smears likely then that al-thou~h maximum falloutoccurredat the north end of the atoll,the radloaotivematerialis helm redistributedthrowhout theatoll. atleastin the deeperwaters.

Decay rates of five individualsamplesof algae and landplants oollectedin July and Decetier 199 ~lcate ~lf-livesrangIng from 16o - 210 days during the period from Deceniber 1954to April 1955. A sampleIsland In December 1%4,mately three years. The

of coconutmilk collectedat Kabellehowever,shows a half-lifeof approxl-lIOEARCHIVslopes ofthe deoay curves of land and


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I0000rI{$II000 0~00 \I~C/KG ~

WET

10:

1I

I I \ \MARi 260.51 r I 110 100 1000DAYS AFTER MARCH 1,1954 POE ARCHI

FIG. 9 RATE OF DECLINE OF LAND PLANTS , ALGAE AND SOIL SAMPLES ATKABELLE 1954 1955 q


81/122

.-25-

marine plants, other than the ooconuts,differ only slightlyfrom one anotherand from the slopes of the soil decay curves,the average slope bem -1.25 (-1.o5 to -1.36). This ~ioatesthat In-productfi8elon

these plants little or no differentialuptake of f i ss ionmaterialhas been takingplace. In cooonuts,however,productsmixtureswith longerh81f-liveshave been ab-

sorbed into the meat and milk fraotions, Decay ourve slopesOr -.96 and -.54 for the coconutmeat and -.24 from the coco-nut milk Indicatea differentisotopemixture from that foundsoil oollectedIn the same area.Birds \

in

Birds were collectedat fourislandsof the atoll. Speci-mens from the northern islandsof Gejen, Kabelleand Labaredjwere cons~deredto be from the same area and were oollected onall four dates, while those from the southernisland of Ronge-lap were taken only on January 26, 1955.

The birds are of two types as based on feedfnghabits andmigratorycharacteristics. These aret (1) the nodcly,crestedand fairy terns,whioh tend to stay in the vicinityof a fewIslandswithin the atoll and feed principallyon small fish, and(2) the ?nlgratoryshorebirds, which are transientsand feedma~y on crustaceansalong the beaches. The latter group in-oludes the plovers,ourlews,turnstones,ti tattlers.

The terns, because of their llmited tendenoyfor migration,POE ARCHIare more representativethan are the shorebirds with regard tochronicuptake of radioactivematerial.


82/122

-26-

The s ho r e birds containedgreateramounts of radioactivematerialsin the differentorgus and tissuesshortlyafterfalloutat Rongelap than did the terns. A similar tendency

theWaa

noted in 1952(UWL-33)).*organs of the

at Eniwetok followingMike shot (seeWT-616However, the averagelevelsof activity in theshore birds decreasedmore rapidlywith increasing

time after fallout than did those of the terns. These differ-ences may be aocountedfor, in part at least, by the differencesin feedinghabitsand migrationalcharacteristics.

The average speoificactivitiesof the organsand tissuesof Rongelap terns are given h Table V. With the exceptionofmuscle, which is consistentlylow comparedwith the othertissues,there is no distinctpattern of relativeactivitiesbetween different organs.

The deoline of radioactivitylevels in the organsandtissuesof ternsmay be divided into three types (Figuresloaand b)z (1) organs in which the decline is semilogarithmic,half-life40 days-- therieincludethe muscle, liver,andkidney; (2) organs in which the deoline is logarithmic--these

t-2.852.35) ~ ilem (r -are the bone (r _ t ); and (3) organsin which the variabilityis extremelygreat--the skin and lungrepresentthis group.

The shapesof the radioactivitydeoline curves for thedifferentorgansare determked byability of the isotopes,(2) totaltive uptake of different isotopes,

a combinationof (1) avall-uptake and degree of selec-(3) radioactivehalf-life,

and (4) biologicalhalf-life. Slnoe the relativeeffectsand

q RadiobiologioalStudies . . . POE ~CHIV~~, ~., p. 6.


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Datedbland3/26/%LsbaredJndKabelle3/26/54Kabelle7/16/%Icabelle7A6154KAbelle12/8/%Kabslle1/26/55Ralgelapl/26/55Rongolapl/28_30/55Labared~,Kabelle,ndOejen

TtileVo Rdh@tltity OfROng.hpBirdsandBbd EggsValUeS exprwsed inmicmoourleserkilogramfuettissue

Organin NumberofSpecinns Skin Msole he ThyroidIang LiverKidney Ileum

Curlmnoddy, Mry, andcyestedens

ohrleunoddyandfairytemmfairy teznsthmstme and@lover

noddy andftiryterns

DateadIBland7/16/54~bellewa15kKabellel/29/55Kabelle

4 167. 4.82 41*O1 2,260. 7073 161.6 1.31 .6411 qm d834 .454 .03955 .586 .2562 .173 .0445

q

6 .741 .0495BirdEggB

Numberof UgSpeoimenel Shell5 ,6503 .2954 .I.40

.7541.69.0973.654ql@

.105

Yolk.932.129.020

76.4 7.64 22.7 18*4 179.6.82 1608 35.9 132. 30.06.86 U*3 3e&l 2.68 1.726.68 .795 1.03 1.50 9.91

.169 .212 .172 .05861.10 ,814 .877 .486.124 .226 .240 q425

.285 .154 .183 q0791

mite lhlbryo.0255 .335.00909

.12


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0.1RELATIVERADIOACTIVITY

.0 I

I

o

\

BIRD TISSUES0 Mwckq Liver

*0 Kkhey

\

\ %: \

.001 I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I 1March Moy July Sept. NW. Jan. March May July054 1955FIG. 10A DECLINE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MUSCLE , LIVER , ANO KIDNEY SAMPLES FROMNORTH RONGELAP EXPRESSED AS A RATIO TO THE MARCH 26 , 1SS4 COLLECTION

BIRORELATIVE

RADIOACTIVITY-.01 =

.001 ~e

.0001S [ I I 1 I 1 I I I I I I I 1 I I I10 100DAYSAFTER MARCH,I , 1S54 DOE &CHIVFIG. 10 B oECLINE oF RADIOACTIVITY IN BONE AND ILEUM SAMPLES FROM NORWRONGELAP EXPRESSED AS A RATlO TO THE MARCH 26, 1954 COLLECTION


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-2+

degrees of titeraotlonof these variableaupon the decllne ofradioaotivltyvlth increasing time after contaminationare notknown, rigid interpretationsof the shapes of the curves shouldnot be attempted. However, the cmrves are usefil fn estimatingthe levels of activity In the differentorgans on given datesfollowlngthe contaminationof the atoll.

Decay ourves were made for a limitednumber of samples. Ofthese, only that of the thyroidevidenceda prepondemnee of asingle isotope,I131, ~hich aucountedfor 99.9 peroent or moreof the total activity. In decay curves for bone, liver, andkidney there was evidenceof mixturesof tsotopes. Slopes of\,- t-1zs f or liver, r - t-1.65 for bone, and a curvewhich Is not a straightllne either logarithmicallyorrithmioally,indicatethat these organsdo not containratios of radioactiveisotopds. The deoay curve slopeliver is slmllar to that of Rongelap soil.

Chemical separationfor strontiumwas done on two

for kidney,8emlloga-almllarfo r tern

birdsamplesoollectedMarch 26~ 1954s at ~belle. SkIns from twodifferent terns contained2.9 pereentU 3.5 percent of thetotal actirityas radioactivestrontium. In samplesof total

89-90muscle plus total bone from the same birds, Sr aompr18ed3.9 peroent- 11.3 percent Of t~ to-l activity (Table VII)q

The only collectionsat RongelapAtoll contatilngbirdsfrom both the northernand southernIslandswer e m a d e January26-30, 1955. In view of the fact that the general levels ofcontamlnattonve r e higher on the northern islands,it was ~fk ARCHIpeuteclthat the northernbirch would containmore radloactlvlty


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q

-30-than the southernbirds. This was not the case except for theskin. The ratios, south to north, of aotlvity for the differentorgans and tissuesare as follows:

skin muscle bone lung liver kidney ileum.79 5.2 6.2 3.9 5.3 4.8 6.1

The presenceof more than aix times as much aativity in the in-testinaltract of the southernisland terns as that found in thesame organ of the northern island terns suggeststhat the southernbirds have aocess to a supply of food fish oontalninggreateramounts of radioactivematerial. The higher level of activity inthe southernbird intestinaltracts 1s reflectedin the greaterconcentrationsof radioactivematerial in the other titernalorgans of the same animals. In view of these observationsitprobabl~would be advisableto &tafn samplesfrom AllnginaeAtoll, located seven and one-halfnauticalRongelapAtoll, since the Rongelapnatives

mllesmuthwest ofcollectbirds at

Alinginaeas part of their food supply.Tern eggs were collectedat K

Documents

Uwfl42, A Radio Logical Study of Rongelap Atoll - Maarshall Islands