.

-4-

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
; LABORATORY/OF RADIATION BIOLOGY
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98105

US DOI? ,IRCII!Y1;S
326U.S.ATOMIC ENERGY
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REPORT NO. UWFL42

:

I
 UWPL-42

..

A RADIOLU31CALSTUDY OF ROIWELAP ATOLL, MARSXALL

mLAlms, DURnm 1954-1955

Applied Pisher/ee Laboratory

Universityof Washl.ngton
Seattle,Washington

Idmren R. Donaldson
Director

DOE ARCHIV=3

Auguut 15, 1955

Operatedby the Universityof Washl.ngtonunder Contraot Ho.

AT(45-1)540with the United States Atomic Energy Commission.
 AB9TRACT

The detonationof shot one at Bikini Atoll on Maroh 1,

1954, produced a fallout of radioactiveash upon Rongelap Atoll,
*
Marshall Islands. The distributionof the radioactiveash on
the islandsand in the plants and anlw%ls of the area hag been
studied and evaluatedby the Applied IMsherlesLaboratory,
University of Washington.
During the first expedition to Rongelap Atoll on Nemh 26,
1954, biological samples were collectedand measurementsmade of
the radiationcontamination. On three additionalexpeditions
extensive collectionsof mterlal were mile for this study, the
last on Janww 25-30, 19550
The decllne in radioactivity=S meas~ed ~ 1499 ~Ples
of fish, invertebrates,land plants, algae, birds~ p18nktonj
soil and water from the Rongelap area.
During this study particularemphasiswas placed upon evalu-
ation of the radioactivityin food used by the natives. Coconut
milk oollected on Narch 260 1954> conti~d l~03 mlor~~~ef$ per
kilogram of wet tissue while the ooconut meat had 1.16 uo/’kg. BY
Jmuary 25-30, 1955, the level ~ c~~ut m~k ~ decl~ed to
0.041 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~ deolfne
to January 25-30 was 0.10 UCA for the ~sele ~ 30!52uc/’@ for
the liver of fi8h. Somewhat stmilar deolineswere found for
clam muscle, crab musole, bird muscle and llrer$ and for squash,
DOE A.RCHIVES
 -.

papaya, arrowrootand pandanus. .

The level of radioactivitywas highest in the northern
portion of the atoll, except for samples of algae and fish-
eathg birds, collectedduring J=WY 1955 from the southern
part of the atoll, whloh had higher levels of radioactivity
than samples collected from the northern islands on the same
date. This may indicatea trmslocation of radhactive
materials within the lagoon.

DOE ARCHIVES
 Contents

?!269

Introduction
.
*

Sample processingprocedureand techniques 6

Radhactivlty and its rate of decline in food 6

l.tems

Evaluation of radioactivityIn the biological ..

AA
samples
11
Fish
Invertebrates 18\

Land plants and algae 18

B Lrds 25

Plankton 31

soil 32

Water 33

Evaluation of the chemicalanalyses of the 36

biological samples

Study of the rate of physical decay of radiation 41

in the biological samples

Appendfx 49

POE l@CHIV=
 *

Tables (Text)

Table Ho. EsKs

,
I. Radioactivityof foods from Rongelap Atoll,
1954-55 ‘7
11. Coeffiolentof variation in percent for
values in Table I 7
III. Radloaotlvltyof fish caught at Kabelle
Island, Rongelap Atoll 13

m. Radl-ctlvity of fish caught at Rongelap

Atoll, other than at Kabelle Island 17

v. Radioactivityof Rongelap birds and bird

eggs \ 27

VI. Fiuslon products and radio-calcim In

soil from Rongelap Atoll 37

VII. Radio-strontlu and radio-ceriumIn

biological samples from Rongelap Atoll 38

VIII. Decay raten of Rongelap samples expressed

as the slope of the log-log relationship
of activity to time after March 1, 1954 47

Tables (Appendix)
DOE ARCHIVl=
I. Radioactivityof fish from Rongelap Atoll,
1954-55 50

Scientificnames of fishes 53

11. Radioactivityof invertebratesother than

corals collectedat Rongelap Atoll,
1954-55 54

III. Radioactivityof coral from Rongelap Atoll,

1954-55 56
●

IV. Radioaotlvityof coconuts from Rongelap

Atoll, 1954-55 5’7
 .’

Tables (centtiued)

Table Ho. EMS

v. Radloaotlvltyof edible plants other than coco-
.
nuts from Rongelap Atolls 1954-55 58

VI. Radioactivityof plants other than those

commonly eaten from Rongelap Atoll, 1954-55 59

VII. Radioactlvit of marine algae from Rongelap

Atoll, 195i’55 60

VIII. Radioactlvit of birds collectedat Rongelap

Atoll, 195i‘!55 61

xx. Radloactivit of tern eggs from Rongelap

Atoll, 195i’55 62
\
x. ,Radioactivityof plankton, soil-eand,and water
samples from Rongelap Atoll, 1954-55 63

XI. Data for computingpercent activity of fission

products and calcium in Rongelap soil samples
based on 1 milliliterreplicates 64

XII. Physioal decay rates of Rongelap samples

r= t-x; to March 1, 1954 65

.
 F@urea

FiEure Ifo.

. 1. Colleot~ areas at Rongelap Atoll

2. Ra~&: decline of radioaotlvityof Rongelap
0.
3* Average amounts of radioactivityin mloro-
curies per kilogram in floh tissues from
Kabelle Island 19’4-1955 12
4. Average amount8 of radioactivityin micro-
curies per kilogram in liver, bone and
muscle of earni?orousand omnivorousfishes
from Kabelle Islmd 1954-1955 15
5. RadioactivityIn microcurlesper kilogram In ,
fish tissues collected in the vlclnlty of
Rongelap Atoll, December 1954 @ J=~w
1955 16
6. Radloaotlvityfn sea cucumber (Holothuria
atra) tissues from Kabelle Is~ 54-1955 19
7. Radioactlvit & giant ohm tissues: HiPDOPUS
on Maroh 2t , 1954 at Kabelle; Tz?ldama on
July 16, 1954 at -belle, on JMUarY 2~, 1955
at Labaredj and on JanUIWY 30t 3955 at @jen 20

8. RadioactivityIn tissues of the land hermit

crab, Coenoblta on Xaroh 26 at Labaredj,
on July 19~$ at Kabelle, and on
January 26: 1955 at Rowelap 21
9. Rate of decllne in land plants, algae and
soil samples at Kabelle 1954-1955 24
108 ● Deollne of radl-ctivlty in muscle, liver,
and kidney samples from north Rongelap
expressedas a ratio to the J@=h 26) 195*
collection (birds) 28
10b. Deoline of P8d108CtiVityin bone and ileum
samples from north Rongela expressedas a
ratio to the -oh 26$ 19$ collection
(birds) 28
POE ARCHIVES
.“

Figures (continued)

?Imre lfo. BE
11 Semi-1og plots of decay curves of gastric mill
of crab, (?rapsusgrapsus, and musole of sea
cuoumber,Eolothurlaatra, collected
woh 26, 1954 at m b= 43
12 ● Log-log plots of Rongelap decay samples of
March 26, 1954: pltiton from u~~j;
muscle and mantle of giant clam, liimopus,
from KabeUe; and soil on whluh decay
correctionfactors were based 44
13. Log-log plots of radioactivedecay rate of
cooonut milk, (Cocos) collectedDecember 8,
1954 at Kabelle, and of liver and muscle of
surgeonfish(Acanthuruselonuatus) oollected \
July 16, 1954 45

DOE ARCHIV~

●
 A RADICYLU31CAL
S’I’THYY
OF RUWBLAP ATOLL, MARSNALL
ISLANDS DURINQ 1954-1955

Introductlop

The program of study of the Applied FlsherlesLaboratory,

Universityof Washington, (Program19.1 of operationCastle) was
outlined in the Labor8tory~sreport UWFL-36. Thle program involved
detailed studieo of radtologloalcontaminationof the fauna and

flora of Enlwetok Atoll, with exploratorytrips to Biklnl Atoll on

a quarterlybasis to ascertain the levels of radiationremaining
during the year followlngthe test program.
The unexpectedpattern and magnitude of the fallout\of
radioactivematerials from t~ ~rch 1$ 1954 @xXrl~nt ~ntr~uce~
the need for new areas of study over and above the planned pro-
gram. One such area was Rongelap Atoll where the fallout resulted
in the evacuationof the native people.
on March 21, 1954, the Ubora*orv recieved a r@west from
Dr. Paul B. Pearson, AM Dlvislon of Biology and Medicine, to
make a survey of the islands at Rongelap Atoll to determine the
extent of radiologicalcontaminationof the native foods.
The expedition to Rongelap, in response to tMs request,
was organizedby Task Ck?oup7.1, with transportationand support
provided by the USS Nicholas (D D B 449). Members of Program
19.1 were Lauren R. Donaldson,Charles M. Barnes, IMuard E. Neldt
Ralph F. Palumbo and Paul R. Olson. Thomas ShlPn~ ~ms No
White, P. R. Schivone and W. W. Robbins acc~xnied t~ exWdl-
tion to aid the natives In capturing some of their animals on
DOE ARCHIV=
Rongelap Island and to make radiationreadings on some of the
s’

LABAREDJ B
MELLU—
/’
4{

0
(\- RONGELAP

5
ATOLL

- RONGELAP
N

NAUTICAL MILES
POE ARCHIW,

FIG. I COLLECTING AREAS AT RONGELAP ATOLL

.

-2-

islands in the southernpart of the atoll.

Collectionsof plants and animals, soil samples and radia-
tion readings were nmde at Iabaredj Island on March 26, 1954.
Radiation readings were obtainedwith a June (ABC model SXC-17C,
serial Ho. 89) under a variety of conditions. The shield Of
the instrumentwas closed for the first reading and open for the
second for each of the locations listed below.

Radiation Levels Labaredj Island

March 26, 1954 - mr/h
Looatlon Helmt 31 Eei~ht 1”
Intertidalzone 26 \
31
High tide line 215 300
395 1000

OP:: ~:a 250 370

330 900
Open grass area 240 280 6n
on island 500 700 H6“
In Pisonia woods 270 600
700 1500
Beach rock slabs 37 29
100 400
Beach above high 18o 220
tide line north 300 600
side of island
East aide of island 200 220
above high tide 350 700
line DOE ARCHIV~

A second series of collectionswere made on the same day

at ~belle Island in the extreme northeasternpart of the lagoon.
Radiation readings were also taken at this island as follows$
i

“3-

Radiation Levels Kabelle Island

March 26, 1954 - nm/hr
Loaation Height 3~ Height 1“
Beach rook inter- 48 30
tidal zone 90 300
Beach sand at 190 150
high tldeline 260 350
Edge of brush line 280 370
on island lagoon 500 1400
side
Open area in vege- 300 410
tation-covered 600 1700
portion of island ●

Coconut grove on 250 480 \

lagoon side of 370 1500
island
Edge of trees (shield open) 2000
n
Lee side of trees rl 1500
Windward aide of trees 2800

The second expeditionto Rongelap Atoll 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,was
ueed to transportthe group to the atoll. Program 19.1 members
making the trip were Lauren R. Donaldson Fmnk Lo~~ Arthur
Welander and Lt. Cmdr. Clarence F. Pautzke.
Collectionswere again made at Kabelle Island and radiation
readings taken in the same general areas as those recorded on
Maroh 26, 1954●
DOE ARCHI_
 -4-

RadiationLevels Kabelle Island

JUly 16, 1954 - ~k

lesssQQ HeiRht 3$ Hel~ht 1”

Low water line 9 15
Htgh tLde mark 20 70
on beaoh
50~ inshore from 29 100
high tide line
1001 inshore from 28 100
high tide llne
On Scaevolabrush “ 28 100
30 100

Lee edge of cooo- 20 80 \

nut grove
Middle of island 25 90
in dead brush
Open clearing in 27 45
middle of Island
Middle of coconut 20 60
grove

Dwtig the month Of Deoember 1954 t~ee collectionsof

samples were made at Rongelap Atoll. For the first trip on Decem-
ber 8, the U.S. Naval Station,Kvajaleln,provtded a PBJY
(Ho. 2471) with a fine orew. LandlngIYwere made at both Kabelle
and Rongelap Islands. Dr. Walter D. Claus, AEC Dlvlslon of Biol-
ogy and Medicine, ●ccompaniedEdward Held, Paul Olson, Robert
Taylor and William Blakeman on this expedition. Film strips were
placed at a number of locationsby Claus, Taylor and Blakeman to
poE iyicHIvEs
record radiation over an interval of time.
.
On December 18, the Mavy again furnisheda PIN for the trip
to Rongelap to pick up the film strips and to collect addltlo-1
 -5-
,
blologioal samples. A suoaessfullandlng was made at Rongelap
Island where the objoctivevas accomplished. An aocident to the
anohorlngmeohanism of the plane, homvor, prevented oompletlon
of the sampllng at lShbelleIsland. Robert Rinehart and Paul \

Zigman of U.S.S.R.D.L. accompaniedIauren R. Donaldson,Jared

Davis, Edward Held and Paul ois~ on this trip.
The moct extensivesurvey and biologicalcollectingtrip
was eonduetedat Rongelap Atoll from January 25 to January 30j

1955* This mrvey waD made in conjunctionwith U.S.R.R.D.L.,

with the U.S. Havy furnishingthe 00 vessel “Rio Qrande” for
transportationand support fao~llties. Allyn H. Seymour and
?rank Lowman, Program 19.1, shared the responsibilityfor khe
biological sampling. Readings were again made with the survey
motor on almost all of the islandsvisited. The readingswere
taken at a height of three feet unless otherwisenoted.

Radiation Leve3s Rongelap Atoll

January 25-30, 1955 - mr/hr
Rongelap Island 0.5
EMaetok Island 2.0
Busuh Xaland 1.5
Labaredj Island :.:
Xab:lle IsY#uMI
5:0 at ground level
Lomuilal Island 8.0
Gejen Ioland 7.0
Lukuen Island 4*O
DOE ARCHIW

The eolleotionsat Rongelap Atoll durtng this period of

study provided material foF 1499 s~lea Whioh ~ve been proo-
eased, the radioaotlveoontent determinedand the results tabu-
lated and evaluated.
 -6-

Sample ProcessingProceduresand Techniques

The technlqueaand proceduresused in collec?thg, storing,

preparing,and counting the Rongelap sampleswere similar to
those 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 University of Washington, the dried samples were
ashed at temperaturesup to 540°C, cooled, slurrled,dried, and
then counted in an internalgas-flow counting chamber. counts
per plate were converted to disintegrationsper minute per gram
of’wet tissue as of the date of collectionby correcting’for
sample weight, geometry,backscatter,self-absorption?Coinci-
dence, and deoay.
For the summary tables as used in this report, the radio-
activity expressed in disintegrationsper minute per gram (d/m/g)
was converted to mlcrocuriesper kilogramby

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

Radioactivityand Its Rate of Decline in Food Items

A general survey of the radioactivityof foods is given in

Table I, with the rate of decline** of these items uhown in Figure
2. It should be noted that the differencesdue to species and
DOE ARCHIV=
* RadiobiologloalStudies at Enlwetok Before and After Mike Shot,
Hovember 1952, Lauren R. Donaldson, Applied Fisheries Laboratory,
Universityof Washington,9eattle,Washington.
● * The pa~ of decl~e is a p&aBe ao~ed to express the combined
physical decay and the biologicaluptake and decay rates.
 .

Table 1. Radioactivityof Foods from

RongelapAtoll, 1954-55
Values expressedin mlorocuriesper kilogram of wet tissue
Clams
Date and Coconuts Fish
MI*C Jj Muscle
● Muscle- Crabs Birds
1sland Milk Meat Liver ?4antle Musole Muscle Liver
3/26/54
Kabelle, Labaredj 1.03 1.16 11.3 2.74 204. 43.5 70.0 5.38 25.4
7/16/54
Kabelle .049 .123 .423 24.0 2.14 2.39 .576 3.23
a
12/8 OP 18/54
Kabelle,Rongelap .019 .040 .021 ● 066 2.05 .040 .213
1/26-30/55
y .041 .036 .049 .100 3.52 1.03 .498 .129 .418
~/ edible portions of squash,papaya,arrowroot,pandanus, spinach -+

~/ Rongelap,Enlaetok,Labaredj,Kabelle,(3ejen,Lomullal,Lukuen

li
Table II. Coefficientof Variation In Per Cent-
for Values In Thble I
Cooonuts Fish Clams Bird~
Date Milk Meat Ulso. Muscle Liver Musole- ~~~e Muoole Liver
Mantle
3/26/54 42(4)V --(1) --(1) 65(12) 119(12) 36(4) 79(3) 41(5) 38(5)
7/16/54 lo(2) 13(3) 73(20) 65(20) 54(2) 35(5) 75(7) 48(7)
:12/8 Or ~8/54 37(5) 57(5) 23(8) 48(3) 30(3) 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 samples
4
 300

200

100

10

lJCt
KG \
WET

0.1

0.0
DAYS AFTER MARCH I ,1954
DOE ARCHIV~
FIG. 2 RATE OF DECLINE OF RADIOACTIVITY OF RONGELAP FOODS
 “9-

area, which are oonstderableand which are evident In the tables

of the appendix where all the individualsample counts are tabu-
lated, are not apparent h this generalisation. The significance
of these differences,however, 18 discussed on pages 11 to 34.
.
From Table I and Figure 2 the past, present, and future gross

radioactivityin the prlnolpal food items of Rongelap Atoll can

be approximated.
The method seleated to indicate the error in estimatingthe
values in Table I is the “coefficientof vartation”whioh 10
the ratio of the standarddeviation to the me-. These values,
C, expressed in peroent, are given in Table II (~ge 7 ). The
\
r-e in values from 10 percent to 178 peroent Indicatesa high
degree of variability.
These data are closest to being points on a straight line
when plotted on a log-log scale ‘usingthe time of the blast,
Marah 1, 1954, as tZme of origin.
From this data it appears that tied fission products
are the prinotpal source of radioactivityin the food stuffs.
Exceptionsare bird thyroids, in which the radioactivitywas
practicallyall 1131, and the gastrio mill in a cooonut c-b,
for which the deuay ourve was nearly a straight llne on a semi- ‘
log plot. For the purpose of making an approxl=tlon of the
average rate of decltne, the slope of a least-squaresllne
through the averages of the points In Figure 2 was determined
and found to be -1.75. POE ~CH1W!3

The variation in radtoaotivityass”oclated

with area, in
most instances,Is related to fallout. Rongelap Atoll was on
the southernedge of the fallout from the March 1, 1954 Bikini
experimentand as a consequencethere was considerablymore
radioactivityin the northern part of that area. The biological
samples show the same pattern except for the bird collections
and the algae and sand samples from deep waters of the lagoon,
taken during January 1955.

●
 -11-

Evaluation of RadiomtivltY In the BiologicalSamples

Fish
Almost all of the fish spec?lmens,
as in former years, were
colleotedby poisoningwith derris root In shallow waters on or
near the reefs. Some specimenswere oaught In the deeper
waters of the lagoon with hook and Ilne. ‘hO flying fish
vere obtained outside the atoll when they landed aboard ship
during the night.
The species seleeted for analysis are those commonly found
on the atolls and used for food. They includedamselflsh,
groupers, parrot fish, squirrelfish,surgeonfish,goatfish,
wrasse, snappers,mullet and tuna. The scientificrimes of the
species are given in the appendti.
The tissues used for analysis of radioactivitywere skin,
muscle, bone, liver and other viscera. The latter Includedpart
of the stomach contents as well as the alimentaryoanal, In most
●

cases.
In an attempt to compare similar species horn the same
locality,analysis was llmlted to the samples from Kabelle
Island. Collectionsof’fish were made in waters adjacent to
this islmd on -ch 26, 1954$ July 16, 1954~ m Jmuary 29$
1955. The collectingarea lles near the north end of the
island and consists of a ooral-filledchannel open to the sea
at high tide. The radioaotlvityof the tissuesfrom the fish
.
DOE ARCHIVES
colleotedat Kabelle Is summarizedIn Figure 3. The data ape
listed In Table III.
 I

5oo-

IOOL

T “.
0..
“-b...
t ..
I ‘..
..

lo.og = ,
+ \

WET

1.0. .
T

GALL FOOD ITEMS

0.1 --

JULY 16 JAN.29
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I 1 1 I I I 1 1 1 1 I
0.05 500
25 50 100
DAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954 POE ARCHIVES

FIG. 3 AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MICROCURIES PER KILOGRAM IN

FISH TISSUES FROM KABELLE ISLAND 1954 – 1955
 *

.“

Table III. Radioactivityof Fish Caught

at Kabelle Island,RongelapAtoll
Values expressedIn microcurlesper kilogram of wet tissue

Date Number of Skin Muscle

Specimens Bone Liver Viscera
All fish 3/26/54 20.8 2.74 12.8 204.0 514.0
7/16/54 2.46 0.50 2.92 N 22.4 35*7
l/29/55 .359 .083 .491 3.18 3.59
Omnivores 3/26/54 34.5 4.54 24.7 439.0 1,3:2.:
7/16/54 2.95 ;::; 2.9 22.2
1/29/55 .330 .4z6 2.55 4:10
Carnivores 3/26/54 8 14.8 2.01 7*95 103.0 110.0
7/16/54 17 2.03 .370 2.90 22.7 13.9
11~9/55 9 .414 .085 .500 4.42 2.56
Damsel fish 3/26/54 2 21.4 3.45 9.45 6;;.; 1,700.0
7/16/54 2 2.74 .256 2.30 38.4
l/29/55 4 .545 .085 .426 4:24 3.18
Grouper 3/26/54 3 7.54 1.42 3.37 ::.~ 101.0
7/16/54 6 1.47 .309 1.50 11.7
~/29/55 5 .303 ●051 .288 5:23 1.43
.

-14-

These data substantiatethe general hypothesis,mentioned

earlier In this report, that the radioactivityin the tlssuea
appears to be due principallyto mixed fission products. Devi-
ations from a straightllne In the curves might be due to
selectiveuptake, either by the tissues themselvesor because
there was selectiveuptake in the animals used 88 food by the
fishes. In general the slope of the curves compares favorably
with the average deuline curve used for all food items discussed
at the beginning of this report.
Differences between the omnivorousand carnivorousfishes
as to amounts of radioactivityIn comparable tissueswere great-
eat on March 26, 1954 ● These differencesdecreasedwith pass-
age of time and by January 29$ 1955, were negliglble in some
tissues (Figure 4, Table III). These same data when analyzed
by definite species of~omnivorousfish (damselflsh)and car-
nivorous fish (grouper)show the same trends (Table III).
Variation in radioactivity,associatedwith area and re-
.
lated to fallout and current movementswtthin and around the
atoll, indicatesan increase In the contaminationof the atoll
from south to north (Figure5, Table IV), The lagoon fish
taken in the northern part of the lagoon, off Xabelle or Nellu
Island, are comparable in levels of radioactivityto reef fishes
taken in this regton. The two flying fish taken outside the atoll
are remarkablyalike in tissue radioactivity. POE ARCHIV~J
 100a

500

100
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
-\\
\
\

\
10

‘b
\
~C/KC *
\ ‘CARNIVORE LIVER
WET

LIVER

‘\
\
\
1.0 \
\
\
\
\ BONE
\ BONE

‘\
CARNIVORE MUSCL>\ OMNIVORE MUSCLE
\
\
\

0.1
F’
L
JULY 16 JAN. 29
I
1 1 1 I i I 1 I 1 1 1 1 J
0.05 *
25 50 100 500 1000
DAYS AFTER MARCH I ,1954
DOE ARCHN=
FIG. 4 AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MtCROCURIES PER KILOGRAM IN
LIVER , BONE AND MUSCLE TISSUE OF CARNIVOROUS AND OMNIVOROUS FISHES
FROM KABELLE ISLAND 1954- 1955
 Table ~. RadioactivityIn Fish
Caught at RongelapAtoll, other than Kabclle l@land
Values expressedin mlcrocuriesper kilogram of wet tissue
Date and l!umberof Skin Muscle Bone viscera
Area Spealmens Liver
l/30/55
Between
Rongelap and
RongerikAtolls Flying fish 1 ● 050 .017 .031 ● 094 .052
2/1/55
Between
Rongelap and
AillnginaeAtolls Flying fish 1 .152 .014 .035 .110 ,i45
Omnivores 10 .124 022 .184 1.02 2.07 I
1/25/55 ●

Rongelap Island Carnivores 12 : n; ●045 ,390 2.74 1.20 $

All fish 22 .034 .296 1.95 1.60
@8/55 Omnivores 577
● .159 .682 5.36 17.00
Labaredj Island Carnlvorea .741 “ .153 .782 3.31 5.36
All fish .632 .157 .718 4.64 12.90

1/30/55 Omnivores 1.56 ●159 1.09 12.4 17.1

C3ejenIsland Carnivores :’77: .125 .804 6.18 2.75
All fish .129 .836 6.86 4.34
December, 1954 and
January, 1955
U lagoon Fish
~ Combined Carnivores 10 1.11 .081 .278 2.06 1.20
 .

-18-

Invertebrates
Rongelap Invertebratesshowed levels 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 almost

ubiquitousblack sea cucumber,~olothurlaatra, serves best to
exemplify the trend (Figure6). Eext best as indicatorswere
giant clams, IJiPDoDusand Trldaenaj 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,the
musole. Actual values for the samples are tabulated in the
appendix. The kidney of the gimt cl~ (FiWe 7) is of sPecial
interestbecause of its high level of activity and slow rate of
decline. A graph of activity of the tissues of land hermit
@abs collectedat the more radioactivenorthern islands in
Marah and July 1954,and from a less radioactivesouthern island
ti January 1955, shows the effect of geographicaldifferencesIn
radioactivityupon the trend of decllne, accentuatingthe slope
fn the later period (Figure 8). The spider snail was similar
to the hermit c!rabin the level of aotlvity of its tissues,
while the corals were about an order of magnitude lower.

Land Plants and Al~ae

Land plant and algae collectionswere made at Labaredj,
DOE ARCHIVES
Kabelle, Lomuilal,Uejen, W RmgeMp Isl~* Most of’t~
●

edible plants were collected in December 2954 - J~uarx 1955

at Rongelap Island. These were coconut, squash, papaya, arrow-
 >“
.

Iooc

10(

1(

JJC/KG
WET

MAR.26 JULY 16 DEC.? ~AN.29

I 1 1 I 1 1 I
1 i I 1 1 1
0.1
) 100 400
DAYS AFTER MARCH 1, 1954
POE ARCHIV=
.

FIG. 6 RADIOACTIVITY IN SEA CUCUMBER (HOLOTHURIA A~A) TISSUES FROM

KA6ELLE ISIAND 1964- 1955
\ ,

1000

100

10

JJC/ KG
WET

MAR26 JULY 16 JqN.

I 1 1 1 1 I 1 1
I I
0.1 I 1 1 1

20 100 400
DAYS AFTER MARCI+ I , 1954
POE ARCHIV~

FIG.
7 RADIOACTIVITY IN GIANT CLAM TISSUES : HIPPOPUS ON MARCH 26,
1SS4 AT KABELLE ; TRIDACNA ON JULY 16, 1954 AT KABELLE , ON JANUARY
28, 1955 AT LABAREDJ ANO ON JANUARY 30, 1955 AT GEJEN
. *

5000

1000

100

jJC/KG
WET

,
10

l)i \

\
I b
*
&
-

-
,, \
JULY 16 JAN.
R.26
0.3
;Y I 1 1 1 1 1 I Q.
20 100 400
OAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954
DOE ARCHWE5

FIG. 8 RADIOACTIVITY IN TISSUES OF THE LAND HERMIT CRAB , ~ , ON

MARCH 26 AT LABAREDJ , ON JULY 16, 1954 AT KA8ELLE , AND ON JANUARY
26, 1955 AT RONGELAP
 -22-

root$ pandanus, spinach,and BIorinda. The algae were collected

both In the shallowwater near shore and in the deeper water of’

the lagoon, usually in the vloinity of the fish-collecting

8tatlonu.
Sample values are given in AppendixTables IV, V, VI and VII.
From these tables It can be seen that the activity varies widely
even within samples of 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 second papaya specimenhad an activity
of 1.3 x 10‘7 uc/g (wet). \

In both edible and non-edibleplants the specificactivity

was higher In the leaves than in the fruit, the difference gen-
erally being two to eightfold. Much of the aotlvlty in the
March 1954 plant samples was probably due to surface contamina-
tion. High uounts in the internalportions of stems, however,
Indicatedrapid uptake of fission products by absorption through
the root systems. Later collectionsalso Indfcateuptake of
fission product material within the leaf tissue. For example,
●

leaf buds formed after the initial fallout contain as much

activity as do older leaves, and washing removes very ltttle of
the activity,
In the earltest collectionsthe bark of shrubs and trees
and the epidermis of edible plant parts containedfrom 14 to 40
times more aotivfty than the Internalparts. In the later col-
lections,however, this ratio was always less than two. It is
POE ARCHIVES
not definitelyknown, however, whether differentialuptake or
 .23.

residual surface oontamlnationaccounts for the higher activity

of the external plant parts.
Levels of activity in successivecollectionsthrough and
fncludlngDeeember 1954 dPOP ti acoo~ance with the expectation
rOr mixed fission products. The JamarY 1955 land Pl~t oo1-
lectlonb, however, show a trend toward Inoreasln.g
actlvity
levels (Figure 9) ● This could be due to a samplingerror, but
might also be a reflection of greater availabilityof the fission
products to the plants associatedwith more rainfall during
late Deciemberto January.
The values for arrowroot colleoted on Rongelap Island in
January 1955 fell within the range of values for arronoot from
the northern islands. The same is true of algae colleotedat
depths of 10 to 25 fathoms in the vicinity of Kabelle and Ronge-
lap Islands. However, the =imum activity levels found In
Halimeda Q. and Caulem a ~. from Rongelap are higher by a
fautor of about two than the mxlmum levels found In the same
species oollectedat -belle. It smears likely then that al-
thou~h maximum fallout occurredat the north end of the atoll,
the radloaotivematerial is helm redistributedthrowhout the
atoll. at’least in the deeper waters.
Decay rates of five individualsamples of algae and land
plants oollected in July and Decetier 199 ~lcate Mlf-lives
rangIng from 16o - 210 days during the period from Deceniber 1954

to April 1955. A sample of coconut milk collectedat Kabelle

Island In December 1954, however, shows a half-life of approxl-
DOE ARCHIVES
mately three years. The slopes of’the deoay curves of land and
 I0000
r

I{
$

1000

I 0

100 ~ \

I
~C/KG ~
WET

10:

1
I

I I \
‘\
MARi 26
0.51 r I 1
10 100 1000
DAYS AFTER MARCH 1,1954
POE ARCHIVES
FIG. 9 RATE OF DECLINE OF LAND PLANTS , ALGAE AND SOIL SAMPLES AT
KABELLE 1954 — 1955 ●
 .
-25-

marine plants, other than the ooconuts,differ only slightly

from one another and from the slopes of the soil decay curves,
the average slope bem -1.25 (-1.o5 to -1.36). This ~ioates
that In these plants little or no differentialuptake of fission
.
-productmaterial has been taking place. In cooonuts,however,
fi8810n products mixtures with longer h81f-liveshave been ab-
sorbed into the meat and milk fraotions, Decay ourve slopes
Or -.96 and -.54 for the coconut meat and -.24 from the coco-
nut milk Indicatea different isotope mixture from that found in

soil oollected In the same area.

\
Birds
Birds were collectedat f’ourislands of the atoll. Speci-
mens from the northern islands of (3ejen,Kabelle and Labaredj
were cons~deredto be from the same area and were oollected on
all four dates, while those from the southern island of Ronge-
lap were taken only on January 26, 1955.
The birds are of two types as based on feedfng habits and
migratory characteristics. These aret (1) the nodcly,crested
and fairy terns, whioh tend to stay in the vicinity of a few
Islands within the atoll and feed principallyon small fish, and
(2) the ?nlgratoryshore birds, which are transientsand feed
ma~y on crustaceansalong the beaches. The latter group in-
oludes the plovers, ourlews, turnstones,ti tattlers.
The terns, because of their llmited tendenoy for migration,
POE ARCHIVES
.
are more representativethan are the shore birds with regard to
chronic uptake of radioactivematerial.
 -26-

The shore birds containedgreater amounts of radioactive

materials in the different orgus and tissues shortly after the
fallout at Rongelap than did the terns. A similar tendency Waa
noted in 1952 at Eniwetok followingMike shot (see WT-616
(WL-33)).* However, the average levels of activity in the
organs of the shore birds decreasedmore rapidly with increasing
time after fallout than did those of the terns. These differ-
ences may be aocounted for, in part at least, by the differences
in feeding habits and migrationalcharacteristics.
The average speoificactivities of the organs and tissues
of Rongelap terns are given h Table V. With the exception Of
muscle, which is consistentlylow comparedwith the other
tissues, there is no distinct pattern of relative activities
between different organs.
The deoline of radioactivitylevels in the organs and
tissues of terns may be divided into three types (Figuresloa
and b) z (1) organs in which the decline is semilogarithmic,

half-life 40 days-- therieinclude the muscle, liver, and

kidney; (2) organs in which the deoline is logarithmic--these
are the bone (r _ t-2.35) ~ ilem (r - t-2.85
); and (3) organs
in which the variabilityis extremelygreat--the skin and lung
represent this group.
The shapes of the radioactivitydeoline curves for the
different organs are determked by a combinationof (1) avall-
ability of the isotopes, (2) total uptake and degree of selec-
tive uptake of different isotopes, (3) radioactivehalf-life,
and (4) biologicalhalf-life. Slnoe the relative effects and

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

TtileVo Rdh@tltity Of ROng.hpBirdsandBbd Eggs

Values expmosedin micmoourles
perkilogram
ofuettissue
Dated Numberof
bland
Organi mn
Specinns Skin Msole he ThyroidIang Liver Kidney Ileum
3/26/%
LsbaredJ and
Kabelle 4 167. 4.82 41*O 76.4 7.64 22.7 18*4 179.
3/26/54
Kabelle Curlm 1 2,260. 7073 161. 6.82 1608 35.9 132. 30.0
7/16/54 noddy, Mry, and
Icabelle cyested tens 6 1.31 .641 .754 6.86 U*3 3e&l 2.68 1.72
7/i6/54
KAbelle ohrleu 1 .’7Y4 d83 1.69 6.68 .795 1.03 1.50 9.91
12/8/% noddyandfairy
Kabolle temm 4 .454 .0395 .0973 .169 .212 e172 .0586
1/26/55
Ralgelap fairy tezns 5 .586 .256 .654 1.10 ,814 .877 .486 &
l/26/55 thmstme and I
Rongolap @lover 2 .173 .0445 ●l@ .124 .226 .240 ●425
l/28-30/55 ●

Labared~,
Kabelle, and neddy andftiry
Oejen terns 6 .741 .0495 .105 .285 .154 .183 ●0791 ‘-

m EggB
Datead Numb.rof Ug
IBland Speoimenel Shell Yolk mite lhlbryo

7/16/54
~belle 5 ,650 .932 .0255 .335
wa15k
Kabelle 3 .295 .129 .00909
l/29/55
Kabelle 4 .I.40 .020

.
12
 o
BIRD TISSUES
0 Mtisck
● Liver
\ 0 Kkhey
*
0.1
\
RELATIVE
RADIOACTIVITY

.0 I \ %:
\

I
.001 I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I 1
March Moy July Sept. NW. Jan. March May July
054 1955

FIG. 10A DECLINE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MUSCLE , LIVER , ANO KIDNEY SAMPLES FROM
NORTH RONGELAP EXPRESSED AS A RATIO TO THE MARCH 26 , 1SS4 COLLECTION

BIRO

RELATIVE
RADIOACTIVITY-
.01 =

.001 ~

[ I I 1 I 1 I I I I I I I 1 I I I
.0001S
10 100
DAYS AFTER MARCH,I , 1S54 DOE &CHIVES
.
FIG. 10 B oECLINE oF RADIOACTIVITY IN BONE AND ILEUM SAMPLES FROM NORW
RONGELAP EXPRESSED AS A RATlO TO THE MARCH 26, 1954 COLLECTION
 -2+

degrees of titeraotlonof these variableaupon the decllne of

radioaotivltyvlth increasing time after contaminationare not
known, rigid interpretationsof the shapes of the curves should
not be attempted. However, the cmrves are usefil fn estimating
the levels of activity In the different organs on given dates
.
followlng the contaminationof the atoll.
Decay ourves were made for a limited number of samples. Of
these, only that of the thyroid evidenceda prepondemnee of a
single isotope, I131, ~hich aucounted for 99.9 peroent or more
of the total activity. In decay curves for bone, liver, and
kidney there was evidence of mixtures of tsotopes. Slopes\ of
,- t-1’zs for liver, r - t-1.65 for bone, and a curve for kidney,
which Is not a straight llne either logarithmicallyor 8emlloga-
rithmioally,indicate that these organs do not contain almllar

ratios of radioactiveisotopds. The deoay curve slope for tern

liver is slmllar to that of Rongelap soil.
Chemical separationfor strontiumwas done on two bird
samples oollectedMarch 26~ 1954s at ~belle. SkIns from two
different terns contained2.9 pereent U 3.5 percent Of the
total actirity as radioactivestrontium. In samples of total
89-90
muscle plus total bone from the same birds, Sr aompr18ed
3.9 Pemmt - 11.3 percent Of t~ to-l activity {Table VII) ●

The only collectionsat Rongelap Atoll contatilngbirds

from both the northern and southern Islandswere made January
26-30, 1955. In view of the fact that the general levels of
contamlnattonvere higher on the northern islands, it was
~~~ ARCHIVES
peuteclthat the northern birch would contain more radloactlvlty
 ●

-30-

than the southernbirds. This was not the case except for the
skin. The ratios, south to north, of aotlvity for the different
organs and tissues are as follows:

skin muscle bone lung liver kidney ileum

.79 5.2 6.2 3.9 5.3 4.8 6.1

The presence of more than aix times as much aotivity in the in-
testinal tract of the southern island terns as that found in the
same organ of the northern island terns suggests that the southern
birds have aocess to a supply of food fish oontalninggreater
amounts of radioactivematerial. The higher level of activity in
the southern bird intestinaltracts 1s reflected in the greater
concentrationsof radioactivematerial in the other titernal
organs of the same animals. In view of these observationsit
probabl~ would be advisable to &tafn samples from Allnginae
Atoll, located seven and one-halfnautical mllesmuthwest of
Rongelap Atoll, since the Rongelap natives collect birds at
Alinginae as part of their food supply.
Tern eggs were collectedat Kabelle July 16, December 8,
1954, and January 29, 1955* The levels of radioactivityin the
various parts of the eggs were low, with that of the shellapproxi-
mating the levels found In the bones of terns collected the same
day. Radioactivityin ~he egg yolks varied from Ii to 3 times
that found In the muscles of birds in the same collections. The
whites of the eggs containedthe lovest amounts of radloaotive
Isotopes of all bird samples examined. These kvels were from
DOE ARCHIVES
l/2s to 1/2 those found in bird muscle collected the same day.
 -31-

The unhatxhedembryos aontalned levels of radioactivityqproxi-

mately one-half that found in b~ muscle (AppendixTable VIII).

Plankton
.
The Rongelap plankton colleotlonconsisted of 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 Sars
type net, ~-meter in diameter and with either No. 6 or Ho. 20
silk mesh was used. Tows were takm at tha surfaae during day-
light hours.
Radioactivityof the Rongelap plankton samples was more
\
than one hundred times greater than that of plankton samples
collected from the open ooean waters of the Western Pacific
with the U9COC ‘Taneynduring OperatfonTroll. On the cruise
of the “Taney” dm~ March and April, 1955, 85 pkdctm
samples were taken along the route from ltwajaleinto the
Philippinesto Japan. The average activity of these samples
was .015 x 10-3 uo/g of wet sample, the highest values being
.050 x 10-3 uc/g. For the eigh~ January 1955 Rongelap plukton
samples the average value was 2.0 x 10-3 uo/g, the lowest value
being 0.41 x 10-3 uc/g.
Other ooncluslonswhioh may be drawn from analysis of the
Rongelap plankton samples are (1) that the radioactivityper
unit weight is greater than for most other biological samples,
(2) the decay rate is similar to that for the soil sample, and
l)OEARCHIVE
. (3) there Is considerablevariation in the radloactIvity of sam-
ples from paired tows.
 -32-

Soil
The soil and sand samples includedthose from the islands
proper, from the beaoh, and from the lagoon bottom. The radio-
activity of a sample taken from the top inch of soil on
Labaredj Islti Na.rch26j 19542 was 6s8 microc~fes Per cam)
whloh Is equivalent to one curie per 32s pounds of top soil.
The activity of this sample ten months later, January 29, 1955,
was one thlrtleth its origl.nalvalue~ l.e,~ It had passed
through nearly five half-lives. The decay rate for this period
-1.31
is expressedby the formula, r = t , with Mazwh 1, 1954,
as the date of origin (Figure 12). This rate approximatesthe
mixed fission product decay rate and in general approximates
the decay rate for many of the biological samples. For these
reasons the decay factor for correctingcounts bac?kto the day
of collectionwas based on the decay curve of a similar soil
sample ●

The decllne In radioactivityof the SO1l samples can be

observed from the figures in AppendtiTable X. Considerable
variation In the activity of soil samplea from the same area on
the same day can be expected beoause of the nature of the fall-
out pattern and should be kept in mind when interpretingresults.
If considerationis given to the Eabelle samples only, the rate
of decllne is greater than-thedecay rate from March to July
1954, but 10SS from JUIY 1954 to JanurY 1955 ● men the samPle
counts from all islandsare averaged, the relative dec
pti?wlv=
activity of the March 1954 =mles and the January 1955 sa@es
la the same as the decline In activity of the decay sample.
 .,

-33”

. Profile samples of the lagoon bottom were obtained off

Kabelle Island at depths of 60 feet and 40 feet and off Lomuilal
Island at 55 feet. The samples were obtainedby an aquahng-
equlpped diver driving a foot long, 1~’’-alumtium
tube into the
.
bottom sand. The Gore was removed i%om the tube and samples
. were taken at various levels. From the counts of these samples
it was observed that the radioactivesand on the lagoon bottom
was several Inches thick with the level of activity rather con-
stant for the first five or six inches. The radloaatlvltyper
unit weight was less thm that of the soil from the island
proper but off Xabelle it was greater than that of the sand In
the intertidalzone.

Water
The water collectionincluded eight salt-watersamples
from the lagoon and eight fresh-watersamples from the Islands
\
proper. A 5-millilitersample was used for the radioactivity
determinationexcept for the December 18th collection (cistern
water, filteredwell water), for which 25-millilitersamples
were used. Becau8e the radioactivityof water samples Is often
stated In terms of the radioactivityper liter, which would
mean extrapolationconsiderablybeyond the observed values, it
IS especially necessary to state the counting error. For these
data the 0.95 counttng error,* vhl~h is equivalent to two
standarddeviations,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.
 ,
.34.

Table X the values for the water samples expressed in d/m/ml t

0.95 counting error are given.
‘hole waterm samples were used for counting, I.e., none
of the natural-oocurringradioisotopeswere chemicallyremoved,
.
so the values in the above table are those for total radio-
.
activity. For ocean waters, the atomic disintegrations per

minute per kilogram for potassium-40are 560 and for all other
natural-occurringisotopesabout 10.* This means that the con-
tribution of natural-ocourringisotopes to the values in Appen-
dix Table X for lagoon water samplesranged from 0.6 to 1.2
d/m/ml.
Beeause of the relativelygreat counting error of the lagoon
water samples neither the rate of decline nor the decay rate was
estimated. A conservativeapproximationof the radioactivity
of the lagoon water, based upon the average differencebetween
the observed value and the positive 0.95 counting error for
the January 26-30, 1955 samples, is 2400 d/m/l (.0011 uu/1).
For the fresh-watersamples the countingdata are more
reliable (AppendixTable X). The samples include cistern water,
filtered well water, standingwater and ground water. The stand-
ing vater was taken from an open oan on Eniaetok Island and the
ground water from a two-foothole that was dug on Xabelle Island.
The ground water was most radioactive,48,000 d/m/l (.022 uc per
liter) and may have containedradioisotopesthat had leaohed
‘1.35 for the period
from the soil. However, the decay rate r = t
.
from March 23 - July 30, 1955, was similar to for mixed
that

DOE ARCHIVES
o Schubert,J., “RadioactivePoisons,”Scientific American,
~01 193, ~Oo 2, pp. 34°39, August 1955.
●
 ‘3s’

fission products. For filteredveil water the decay rate for

-1.39: Another observation
the sa~ period was similar,r = t.
was that the rtiioaettvityof the fresh-watersamples increased
from south to north with the autivtty of the Rongelap Island
sample bolng 1/4, lfi, and l/10 of the activity of the fresh-
water samples from Eniaetok, Labaredj,and Kabelle Islands,
respectively.

DOE ARCHIV=
 -36-

EvaluatiOn Of the Chemioal Analyses of the Biolo~lcal samples

?ission product and caldlum analyses were made of three SOI1

samples, strontiumanalyses of selected foods, and 1131 analyses
● s Of plants. Additional samples collectedDecember 8 were sent

. to Dr. Walter Claus, Division of Biology and Medlclne, for

chemleal analyses.
Samples were taken from the top Inch of soil on March 26,
1954, from both Labaredj and ICabelle. Portions were ashed =d then
dissolved In dilute nitric acid. There vas only a very small
amount of insolubleresidue containingless than 0.1 percent of
the radioactivityof the solute. Aliquots of this solutionwere
used to determine total activity and to provide samples for
ehemlcal separation.
Standard methods of separatingfission products and calcium
were followed. Counts obtained from the analyses for cerlum,
zirconium,niobium, strontium,ruthenium,and barium were oor-
rected for chemical or spike yield. The chemical yield Is the
ratio of the veight of recovered carrier to added carrier. A
yield for calcium was not determinedbecause of’the large amount
of oalcium carbonate in the sample. The radloactlvltyof seven
fission products and caloium corrected for yield and adjusted
to 100 percent recovery and expressedas a percentageof the
total radioactivity1s given In Table VI. The chemicalyields
and the observed counts from which these values were computed
are tabulated In Appendi%Table XI. POE ARCHW=
The results of radlostrontiumanalyses of biological samples
from Rongelap Atoll are given in Table VII. Radiostrontiu Was
,.

-37-

Table VX. Fission Products and Radio-Calcium

in Soil from Rongelap Atollu
2/
Per Cent Activity–
Sample lfumber
Element
75014/ 7502 ‘~

cerium 32. 30.

trivalent
rare earths 24. 22. 24.

zirconium 16. 25. 24.

nloblum 5*9 7.2 7.0

ruthenium 6.9 6.7 5.9

strontium 4.4 ●2.4 2.5

barium 5*5 4.1 6.2

talcIUIU <.3 < .6 .4

total 100. 100. 100.

samples collectedMarch 26, 1954 and amlyzed

May 11, 1954, activity as of counting date
per cent activity correctedfor yield and ad-
justed to 10@ recovery
Labaredj Island 100 feet above high tide line
Iabaredj Island, 150 feet above high tide line
Kabelle Island, 150 feet above high tide line

.~OE ARCHIVES
 ,

,.

Table VII. Radio-strontiumand Radio-t)erium

In BiologicalSamples from Rongelap Atoll
Values expressedin micro-mlcrocurlesper gram, wet

Date and
Oroup Tissue Area of Collection
Bir# Carcass 3/26/54 Lab~redj 11.3
II
Skin
Carcass 1? Kab:lle
$::
5.1
2.9
1! II 3*9
Skin 27. 3.5
Squash Frl#t 1/26/55 Ron~elap 2*2 2.1 1.5 1.1 1.4
Papaya ?1 II
1.9 1.0 2.6
Pandanus “ !! 1!
2.3 2.3 2.6 0.70 1.38
Co~onut Meat II
0 0. 0.11 0.38 &
1? Ml+k 0 0.05 0.2JI ?
I! 1! lhi 5 Labaredj :.11 0.38 o 0
1! t! 1/29? 5 Kabelle 0 0
‘1/30?55 Oejen 0:03 0.02 0 0
Coconut Muscle 1/29/55 Kabelle 31, 27.9 597 5.5 1.0
crab
Tuna t! 12/27/ Menu o 0 0.8
!1 0.7
Mullet 1@6 ?55 Rongelap 0 0 2.4 4.4

u
g ~ ~ne3/~6/54 collection processedin December 1954; the January 1955 collectionin
- July 1955. Values as of date of analyses.
~yPr ocessed in July 1955. Values as of date of analyses.
 .
-4-

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
; LABORATORY/OF RADIATION BIOLOGY
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98105

US DOI?,iRCll!Yl;S
326U.S.ATOMIC ENERGY
Rc,
~+;kcii
co!!{’(’1:~:’l_.._
. ..-.--—.—
--- 1
1;os ._2--------
rJ$’y#l#A&’A=&’+&J’%.

:
REPORT NO. UWFL42

I
 UWPL-42

..

A RADIOIAX31CAL
STUDY OF ROHOELAP ATOLL, MARSXALL
ZSLAHDS,DURmo 1954-1955

Applied Pisher;ee Laboratory

Universityof Washl.ngton
Seattle,Washington

huren R. Donaldson
Director

DOE ARCHIV~

Auguut 15, 1955

Operatedby the Universityof Washl.ngton under Contraot Ho.

AT(45-1)540with the United States Atomic Energy Commission.
 AB9TRACT

The detonationof shot one at Bikini Atoll on Maroh 1,

1954, produced a fallout of radioactiveash upon Rongelap Atoll,
*
Marshall Islands. The distributionof the radioactiveash on
the islandsand in the plants and anlu!alsof the area hag been
studied and evaluatedby the Applied ?isherlesLaboratory,
University of Washington.
During the first expedition to Rongelap Atoll on Namh 26,
1954, biological samples were collectedand measurementsmade of
the radiationcontamination. On three additionalexpeditions
extensive collectionsof =terlal were tie for this study, the
last on Janwry 25-30, 19550
The decllne in radioactivity=S meas~ed ~ 1499 ~Ples
of fish, invertebrates,land plants, algae, birds~ p18nktons
soil and water from the Rongelap area.
During this study particularemphasiswas placed upon evalu-
ation of the radioactivityin food used by the natives. Coconut
milk oollected on Narch 260 1954> conti~d l~03 mlor~~~ef$ per
kilogram of wet tissue while the ooconut meat had 1.16 uo/kg. BY
Jmuary 25-30, 1955, the level ~ c~~ut m~k ~ decl~ed to
0.041 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~ deolfne
to January 25-30 was 0.10 UCA for the ~sele ~ 3052 uc/@ for
the liver of fioh. Somewhat stmilar deolineswere found for
clam muscle, crab musole, bird muscle and llmr$ and for squash,
POE A.RCHIVES
 -.

papaya, arrowrootand pandanus. .

The level of radioactivitywas highest in the northern
portion of the atoll, except for samples of algae and fish-
eathg birds, collectedduring J=wY 1955 from the southern
part of the atoll, whloh had higher levels of radioactivity
than samples collected from the northern islands on the same
date. This may indicatea trmslocation of radhactive
materials within the lagoon.

DOE ARCHIVES
 Contents

?!269

Introduction
.
*

Sample processingprocedureand techniques 6

Radhactivlty and its rate of decline in food 6

l.tems

Evaluation of radioactivityIn the biological ..

AA
samples
11
Fish
Invertebrates 18\

Land plants and algae 18

Birds 25

Plankton 31

soil 32

Water 33

Evaluation of the chemicalanalyses of the 36

biological samples

Study of the rate of physical decay of radiation 41

in the biological samples

Appendfx 49

POE l@CHIV~
 *

Tables (Text)

Table Ho. EsKs

,
I. Radioactivityof foods from Rongelap Atoll,
1954-55 ‘7
11. Coeffiolentof variation in percent for
values in Table I 7
III. Radloaotlvltyof fish caught at Kabelle
Island, Rongelap Atoll 13

m. Radl-ctlvity of fish caught at Rongelap

Atoll, other than at Kabelle Island 17

v. Radioactivityof Rongelap birds and bird

eggs \ 27

VI. Fiuslon products and radio-calcim In

soil from Rongelap Atoll 37

VII. Radio-strontlu and radio-ceriumIn

biological samples from Rongelap Atoll 38

VIII. Decay raten of Rongelap samples expressed

as the slope of the log-log relationship
of activity to time after March 1, 1954 47

Tables (Appendix)
DOE ARCHIV~
I. Radioactivityof fish from Rongelap Atoll,
1954-55 50

Scientificnames of fishes 53

11. Radioactivityof invertebratesother than

corals collectedat Rongelap Atoll,
1954-55 54

III. Radioactivityof coral from Rongelap Atoll,

1954-55 56
●

IV. Radioaotlvityof coconuts from Rongelap

Atoll, 1954-55 57
 .’

Tables (centtiued)

Table Ho. EMS

v. Radloaotlvltyof edible plants other than coco-
.
nuts from Rongelap Atolls 1954-55 58

VI. Radioactivityof plants other than those

commonly eaten from Rongelap Atoll, 1954-55 59

VII. Radioactlvit of marine algae from Rongelap

Atoll, 195i’55 60

VIII. Radioactlvit of birds collectedat Rongelap

Atoll, 195i‘!55 61

Ix. Radloactivit of tern eggs from Rongelap

Atoll, 195i’55 62
\
x. ,Radioactivityof plankton, soil-eand,and water
samples from Rongelap Atoll, 1954-55 63

XI. Data for computingpercent activity of fission

products and calcium in Rongelap soil samples
based on 1 milliliterreplicates 64

XII. Physioal decay rates of Rongelap samples

r- t-x; to March 1, 1954 65

.
 F@urea

FiEure Ifo.

. 1. Colleot~ areas at Rongelap Atoll

2. Ra~&~ decline of radioaotlvityof Rongelap
0.
3* Average amounts of radioactivityin mloro-
curies per kilogram in floh tissues from
Kabelle Island 19’4-1955 12
4. Average amounts of radioactivityin micro-
curies per kilogram in liver, bone and
muscle of earni?orousand omnivorousfishes
from Kabelle Islmd 1954-1955 15
5. RadioactivityIn microcurlesper kilogram In ,
fish tissues collected in the vlclnlty of
Rongelap Atoll, December 1954 @ Jm~ry
1955 16
6. Radloaotlvityfn sea cucumber (Holothuria
atra) tissues from Kabelle Is~ 54-1955 19
7. Radioactlvit & giant ohm tissues: MiPDOPUS
on 14aroh2 t , 1954 at Kabelle; Tz?ldama on
July 16, 1954 at -belle, on JmuarY 2~, 1955
at Labaredj and on JanumY 308 3955 at ~ejen 20
8. RadioactivityIn tissues of the land hermit
crab, Coenoblta on Xaroh 26 at Labaredj,
on July 19~$ at Kabelle, and on
January 26; 1955 at Ron8elap 21
9. Rate of decllne in land plants, algae and
soil samples at Xabelle 1954-1955 24
108 ● Deollne of radl-ctivlty in muscle, liver,
and kidney samples from north Rongelap
expressedas a ratio to the Nmch 26) 1954
collection (birds) 28
10b. Deoline of P8d108CtiVityin bone and ileum
samples from north Rongela expressedas a
ratio to the -oh 26$ 19$ collection
(birds) 28
POE ARCHIVES
.“

Figures (continued)

?Imre lfo. BE
11 Semi-1og plots of decay curves of gastric mill
of crab, (?rapsusgrapsus, and musole of sea
cuoumber,Eolothurlaatra, collected
koh 26, 1954 at = b= 43
12 ● Log-log plots of Rongelap decay samples of
March 26, 1954: plmkton from m~~t;
muscle and mantle of giant clam, liimopus,
from Kabelle; and soil on whluh decay
correctionfactors were based 44
13. Log-log plots of radioactivedecay rate of
cooonut milk, (Cocos) collectedDecember 8,
1954 at Kabelle, and of liver and muscle of
surgeonfish(Acanthuruselonuatus) oollected \
July 16, 1954 45

DOE ARCHIV~

●
 A RADICWX31CALS’I’THYY
OF RUWBLAP ATOLL, MARSNALL
ISLANDS DURINQ 1954-1955

Introduction

The program of study of the Applied FlsherlesLaboratory,

Universityof Washington, (Program19.1 of operationCastle) was
outlined in the Labor8tory~sreport UWFL-36. Thle program involved
detailed studieo of radtologloalcontaminationof the fauna and

flora of Enlwetok Atoll, with exploratorytrips to Biklnl Atoll on

a quarterlybasis to ascertain the levels of radiationremaining
during the year followlngthe test program.
The unexpectedpattern and magnitude of the fallout\of
radioactivematerials from t~ ~rch 1$ 1954 @JPrl~nt ~ntr~uce~
the need for new areas of study over and above the planned pro-
gram. One such area was Rongelap Atoll where the fallout resulted
in the evacuationof the native people.
on March 21, 1954, the mbora~ory recieved a r@quest from
Dr. Paul B. Pearson, AEC Dlvislon of Biology and Medicine, to
make a survey of the islands at Rongelap Atoll to determine the
extent of radiologicalcontaminationof the native foods.
The expedition to Rongelap, in response to t~s request,
was organizedby Task Ck?oup7.1, with transportationand support
provided by the USS Nicholas (D D B 449). Members of Program
19.1 were Lauren R. Donaldson,Charles M. Barnes, IMuard E. Neldt
Ralph F. Palumbo and Paul R. Olson. Thomas Shlxmwb ~-s NO
White, P. R. Schivone and W. W. RObbins acc~xnied t~ exWdl-
tion to aid the natives In capturing some of their animals on
DOE ARCHIV=
Rongelap Island and to make radiationreadings on some of the
s’

LABAREDJ B
MELLU—
/’
4{

0
(\- RONGELAP

5
ATOLL

- RONGELAP
N

NAUTICAL MILES
POE ARCHIW,

FIG. I COLLECTING AREAS AT RONGELAP ATOLL

.

-2-

islands in the southernpart of the atoll.

Collectionsof plants and animals, soil samples and radia-
tion readings were =de at Iabaredj Island on March 26, 1954.
Radiation readings were obtainedwith a June (ABC model SXC-17C,
serial MO. 89) under a variety of conditions. The shield Of
the instrumentwas closed for the first reading and open for the
second for each of the locations listed below.

Radiation Levels Labaredj Island

March 26, 1954 - mr/tW
Looatlon Hel@Yt 31 Eei~ht 1”
Intertidalzone 26 \
31
High tide line 215 300
395 1000
OP:: =:? 250 370
330 900
Open grass area 240 280 6n
on island 500 700 H6“
In Pisonia woods 270 600
700 1500
Beach rock slabs 37 29
100 400

Beach above high 18o 220

tide line north 300 600
side of island
East aide of island 200 220
above high tide 350 700
line DOE ARCHIV~

A second series of collectionswere made on the same day

at ~belle Island in the extreme northeasternpart of the lagoon.
Radiation readings were also taken at this island as follows$
i

“3-

Radiation Levels Kabelle Island

March 26, 1954 - nm/hr
Loaation Height 3~ Height 1“
Beach rook inter- 48 30
tidal zone 90 300
Beach sand at 190 150
high tldeline 260 350
Edge of brush line 280 370
on island lagoon 500 1400
side
Open area in vege- 300 410
tation-covered 600 1700
portion of island ●

Coconut grove on 250 480 \

lagoon side of 370 1500
island
Edge of trees (shield open) 2000
Lee side of trees n 1500
Windward aide of trees rl 2800

The second expeditionto Rongelap Atoll 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,was
ueed to transportthe group to the atoll. Program 19.1 members
making the trip were Lauren R. Donaldson! Fmnk Lo~~ Arthur
Welander and Lt. Cmdr. Clarence F. Pautzke.
Collectionswere again made at Kabelle Island and radiation
readings taken in the same general areas as those recorded on
Maroh 26, 1954●
DOE ARCH1_
 -4-

RadiationLevels Kabelle Island

JUly 16, 1954 - ~k

lesssQQ HeiRht 3$ Hel~ht 1”

Low water line 9 15
Htgh tLde mark 20 70
on beaoh
50~ inshore from 29 100
high tide line
1001 inshore from 28 100
high tide llne
On Scaevolabrush “ 28 100
30 100

Lee edge of cooo- 20 80 \

nut grove
Middle of island 25 90
in dead brush
Open clearing in 27 45
middle of Island
Middle of coconut 20 60
grove

Dwtig the month Of December 1954 t~ee collectionsOf

samples were made at Rongelap Atoll. For the first trip on Decem-
ber 8, the U.S. Naval Station,Kvajaleln,provtded a PBJY
(lJo.2471) with a fine orew. LandlngIYwere made at both Kabelle
and Rongelap Islands. Dr. Walter D. Claus, AEC Dlvlslon of Biol-
ogy and Medicine, ●ccompaniedEdward Held, Paul Olson, Robert
Taylor and William Blakeman on this expedition. Film strips were
placed at a number of locationsby Claus, Taylor and Blakeman to
poE iyicHIvEs
record radiation over an interval of time.
.
On December 18, the Mavy again furnisheda PBN for the trip
to Rongelap to pick up the film strips and to collect addltlo-1
 -5-
,
blologioal samples. A suoaessfullandlng was made at Rongelap
Island where the objoctivevas accomplished. An aocident to the
anohorlngmeohanism of the plane, howovor,prevented oompletlon
of the sampllngat lShbelleIsland. Robert Rinehart and Paul \

Zigman of U.S.S.R.D.L. accompaniedIauren R. Donaldson,Jared

Davis, Edward Held and Paul ois~ on this trip.
The moct extensivesurvey and biologicalcollectingtrip
was eonduetedat Rongelap Atoll from January 25 to January 30j
1955* This mrvey waB made in conjunctionwith U.S.R.R.D.L.,
with the U.S. Xavy furnishingthe 00 vessel ‘Rio Qrande” for
transportationand support fao~llties. Allyn H. Seymour and
?rank Lowman, Program 19.1, shared the responsibilityfor the
biological sampling. Readings were again made with the survey
motor on almost all of the islandsvisited. The readingswere
taken at a height of three feet unless otherwisenoted.

Radiation Leve3s Rongelap Atoll

January 25-30, 1955 - mr/hr
Rongelap Island 0.5
Eniaetok Island 2.0
Busuh Xaland 1.5
Labaredj Island ;.:
Xab:lle IsY#uMI
5:0 at ground level
Lomuilal Island 8.0
(3ejenXoland 7.0
Lukuen Island 4*O
l)OEARCHIW

The eolleotionsat Rongelap Atoll durtng this period of

study provided material foP 1499 s~les whioh ~ve been proo-
eased, the radioaotlveoontent determined and the results tabu-

lated and evaluated.

 -6-

Sample ProcessingProceduresand Techniques

The technlqueaand proceduresused in collec?thg,storing,

preparing,and counting the Rongelap sampleswere similar to
those 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 University of Washington, the dried samples were
ashed at temperaturesup to 540°C, cooled, slurrled,dried, and
then counted in an internalgas-flow counting chamber. counts
per plate were converted to disintegrationsper minute per gram
of’wet tissue as of the date of collectionby correcting’for
sample weight, geometry,backscatter,self-absorption?Coinci-
dence, and deoay.
For the summary tables as used in this report, the radio-
activity expressed in disintegrationsper minute per gram (d/m/g)
was converted to mlcrocuriesper kilogramby

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

Radioactivityand Its Rate of Decline in Food Items

A general survey of the radioactivityof foods is given in

Table I, with the rate of decline** of these items uhown in Figure
2. It should be noted that the differencesdue to species and
DOE ARCHIV=
* RadiobiologloalStudies at Enlwetok Before and After Mike Shot,
Rovember 1952, Lauren R. Donaldson, Applied Fisheries Laboratory,
Universityof Washington,9eattle,Washington.
● * The pa~ of decl~e is a p&aBe ao~ed to express the combined
physical decay and the biologicaluptake and decay rates.
 .

Table 1. Radioactivityof Foods from

RongelapAtoll, 1954-55
Values expressedin mlorocuriesper kilogram of wet tissue
Clams
Date and Coconuts Fish
MI*C Jj Muscle
● Muscle- Crabs Birds
1sland Milk Meat Liver ?4antle Musole Muscle Liver
3/26/54
Kabelle, Labaredj 1.03 1.16 11.3 2.74 204. 43.5 70.0 5.38 25.4
7/16/54
Kabelle .049 .123 .423 24.0 2.14 2.39 .576 3.23
a
12/8 OP 18/54
Kabelle,Rongelap .019 .040 .021 ● 066 2.05 .040 .213
1/26-30/55
y .041 .036 .049 .100 3.52 1.03 .498 .129 .418
~/ edible portions of squash,papaya,arrowroot,pandanus, spinach -+

~/ Rongelap,Enlaetok,Labaredj,Kabelle,(3ejen,Lomullal,Lukuen

li
Table II. Coefficientof Variation In Per Cent-
for Values In Thble I
Cooonuts Fish Clams Bird~
Date Milk Meat Ulso. Muscle Liver Musole- ~~~e Muoole Liver
Mantle
3/26/54 42(4)V --(1) --(1) 65(12) 119(12) 36(4) 79(3) 41(5) 38(5)
7/16/54 lo(2) 13(3) 73(20) 65(20) 54(2) 35(5) 75(7) 48(7)
~12/8 Or ~8/54 37(5) 57(5) 23(8) 48(3) 30(3) 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 samples
4
 300

200

100

10

lJC/ KG \
WET

0.1

0.0
DAYS AFTER MARCH I ,1954
DOE ARCHIV~
FIG. 2 RATE OF DECLINE OF RADIOACTIVITY OF RONGELAP FOODS
 “9-

area, which are oonstderableand which are evident In the tables

of the appendix where all the individualsample counts are tabu-
lated, are not apparent h this generalisation. The significance
of these differences,however, 18 discussed on pages 11 to 34.
.
From Table I and Figure 2 the past, present, and future gross

radioactivityin the prlnolpal food items of Rongelap Atoll can

be approximated.
The method seleated to indicate the error in estimatingthe
values in Table I is the “coefficientof vartation”whioh 10
the ratio of the standarddeviation to the me-. These values,
C, expressed in peroent, are given in Table II (~ge 7 ). The
\
r-e in values from 10 percent to 178 peroent Indicatesa high
degree of variability.
These data are closest to being points on a straight line
when plotted on a log-log scale ‘usingthe time of the blast,
Marah 1, 1954, as tZme of origin.
From this data it appears that tied fission products
are the prinotpal source of radioactivityin the food stuffs.
Exceptionsare bird thyroids, in which the radioactivitywas
practicallyall 1131, and the gastrio mill in a cooonut c-b,
for which the deoay ourve was nearly a straight llne on a semi- ‘
log plot. For the purpose of making an approxl=tlon of the
average rate of decltne, the slope of a least-squaresllne
through the averages of the points In Figure 2 was determined
and found to be -1.75. POE ~CHWES

The variation in radtoaotivityass”oclated

with area, in
most instances,Is related to fallout. Rongelap Atoll was on
the southernedge of the fallout from the March 1, 1954 Bikini
experimentand as a consequencethere was considerablymore
radioactivityin the northern part of that area. The biological
samples show the same pattern except for the bird collections
and the algae and sand samples from deep waters of the lagoon,
taken during January 1955.

●
 -11-

Evaluation of RadiomtivltY In the BiologicalSamples

Fish
Almost all of the fish spec?lmens,
as in former years, were
colleotedby poisoningwith derris root In shallow waters on or
near the reefs. Some specimenswere oaught In the deeper
waters of the lagoon with hook and Ilne. ‘hO flying fish
vere obtained outside the atoll when they landed aboard ship
during the night.
The species seleeted for analysis are those commonly found
on the atolls and used for food. They includedamselflsh,
groupers, parrot fish, squirrelfish,surgeonfish,goatfish,
wrasse, snappers,mullet and tuna. The scientificrimes of the
species are given in the appendti.
The tissues used for analysis of radioactivitywere skin,
muscle, bone, liver and other viscera. The latter Includedpart
of the stomach contents as well as the alimentaryoanal, In most
●

cases.
In an attempt to compare similar species horn the same
locality,analysis was llmlted to the samples from Kabelle
Island. Collectionsof’fish were made in waters adjacent to
this islmd on -ch 26, 1954$ July 16, 1954~ m J~uary 29$
1955. The collectingarea lies near the north end of the
island and consists of a ooral-filledchannel open to the sea
at high tide. The radioaotlvityof the tissues from the fish
.
DOE ARCHIVES
colleotedat Kabelle Is summarizedIn Figure 3. The data ape
listed In Table III.
 I

5oo-

IOOL

T “.
0..
“-b...
t ..
I ‘..
..

lo.og = ,
+ \

WET

1.0. .
T

GALL FOOD ITEMS

0.1 --

JULY 16 JAN.29
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I 1 1 I I I 1 1 1 1 I
0.05 500
25 50 100
DAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954 POE ARCHIVES

FIG. 3 AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MICROCURIES PER KILOGRAM IN

FISH TISSUES FROM KABELLE ISLAND 1954 – 1955
 *

.“

Table III. Radioactivityof Fish Caught

at Kabelle Island,RongelapAtoll
Values expressedIn microcurlesper kilogram of wet tissue

Date Number of Skin Muscle

Specimens Bone Liver Viscera
All fish 3/26/54 20.8 2.74 12.8 204.0 514.0
7/16/54 2.46 0.50 2.92 N 22.4 35*7
l/29/55 .359 .083 .491 3.18 3.59
Omnivores 3/26/54 34.5 4.54 24.7 439.0 1,3:2.:
7/16/54 2.95 ;::; 2.9 22.2
1/29/55 .330 .4z6 2.55 4:10
Carnivores 3/26/54 8 14.8 2.01 7*95 103.0 110.0
7/16/54 17 2.03 .370 2.90 22.7 13.9
11~9/55 9 .414 .085 .500 4.42 2.56
Damsel fish 3/26/54 2 21.4 3.45 9.45 6;;.; 1,700.0
7/16/54 2 2.74 .256 2.30 38.4
l/29/55 4 .545 .085 .426 4:24 3.18
Grouper 3/26/54 3 7.54 1.42 3.37 ::.~ 101.0
7/16/54 6 1.47 .309 1.50 11.7
~/29/55 5 .303 ●051 .288 5:23 1.43
.

-14-

These data substantiatethe general hypothesis,mentioned

earlier In this report, that the radioactivityin the tlssuea
appears to be due principallyto mixed fission products. Devi-
ations from a straightllne In the curves might be due to
selectiveuptake, either by the tissues themselvesor because
there was selectiveuptake in the animals used 88 food by the
fishes. In general the slope of the curves compares favorably
with the average deuline curve used for all food items discussed
at the beginning of this report.
Differences between the omnivorousand carnivorousfishes
as to amounts of radioactivityIn comparable tissueswere great-
eat on March 26, 1954 ● These differencesdecreasedwith pass-
age of time and by January 29$ 1955, were negliglble in some
tissues (Figure 4, Table III). These same data when analyzed
by definite species of~omnivorousfish (damselflsh)and car-
nivorous fish (grouper)show the same trends (Table III).
Variation in radioactivity,associatedwith area and re-
.
lated to fallout and current movementswtthin and around the
atoll, indicatesan increase In the contaminationof the atoll
from south to north (Figure5, Table IV), The lagoon fish
taken in the northern part of the lagoon, off Xabelle or Nellu
Island, are comparable in levels of radioactivityto reef fishes
taken in this regton. The two flying fish taken outside the atoll
are remarkablyalike in tissue radioactivity. POE ARCHIV~J
 100a

500

100
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
-\\
\
\

\
10

‘b
\
~C/KC *
\ ‘CARNIVORE LIVER
WET

LIVER

‘\
\
\
1.0 \
\
\
\
\ BONE
\ BONE

‘\
CARNIVORE MUSCL>\ OMNIVORE MUSCLE
\
\
\

0.1
F’
L
JULY 16 JAN. 29
I
1 1 1 I i I 1 I 1 1 1 1 J
0.05 *
25 50 100 500 1000
DAYS AFTER MARCH I ,1954
DOE ARCHIV=
FIG. 4 AVERAGE AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MtCROCURIES PER KILOGRAM IN
LIVER , BONE AND MUSCLE TISSUE OF CARNIVOROUS AND OMNIVOROUS FISHES
FROM KABELLE ISLAND 1954- 1955
 Table ~. RadioactivityIn Fish
Caught at RongelapAtoll, other than Kabclle l@land
Values expressedin mlcrocuriesper kilogram of wet tissue
Date and l!umberof Skin Muscle Bone viscera
Area Spealmens Liver
l/30/55
Between
Rongelap and
RongerikAtolls Flying fish 1 ● 050 .017 .031 ● 094 .052
2/1/55
Between
Rongelap and
AillnginaeAtolls Flying fish 1 .152 .014 .035 .110 ,i45
Omnivores 10 .124 022 .184 1.02 2.07 I
1/25/55 ●

Rongelap Island Carnivores 12 : n; ●045 ,390 2.74 1.20 $

All fish 22 .034 .296 1.95 1.60
@8/55 Omnivores 577
● .159 .682 5.36 17.00
Labaredj Island Carnlvore8 .741 “ .153 .782 3.31 5.36
All fish .632 .157 .718 4.64 12.90

1/30/55 Omnivores 1.56 ●159 1.09 12.4 17.1

C3ejenIsland Carnivores :’77: .125 .804 6.18 2.’7s
All fish .129 .836 6.86 4.34

December, 1954 and

January, 1955
W lagoon Fish
~ Combined Carnivores 10 1.11 .081 .278 2.06 1.20
 .

-18-

Invertebrate
Rongelap Invertebratesshowed levels 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 almost

ubiquitousblack sea cucumber,~olothurlaatra, serves best to
exemplify the trend (Figure6). Eext best as indicatorswere
giant clams, I&RDoDus and 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,the
musole. Actual values for the samples are tabulated in the
appendix. The kidney of the gimt cl~ (FiWe 7) is of sPecial
interestbecause of its high level of activity and slow rate of
decline. A graph of activity of the tissues of land hermit
@abs collectedat the more radioactivenorthern islands in
Marah and July 1954,and from a less radioactivesouthern island
ti January 1955, shows the effect of geographicaldifferencesIn
radioactivityupon the trend of decllne, accentuatingthe slope
fn the later period (Figure 8). The spider snail was similar
to the hermit c!rabin the level of aotlvity of its tissues,
while the corals were about an order of magnitude lower.

Land Plants and Al~ae

Land plant and algae collectionswere made at Labaredj,
DOE ARCHIVES
Kabelle, Lomuilal,(3ejen,W RmgeMp Isl~s Most of’t~
●

edible plants were collected in December 2954 - J--x 1955

at Rongelap Island. These were coconut, squash, papaya, arrow-
 >“
.

Iooc

10(

1(

JJC/KG
WET

MAR.26 JULY 16 DEC.? ~AN.29

I 1 1 I 1 1 I
1 i I 1 1 1
0.1
) 100 400
DAYS AFTER MARCH 1, 1954
POE ARCH1=
.

FIG. 6 RADIOACTIVITY IN SEA CUCUMBER (HOLOTHURIA A~A) TISSUES FROM

KA6ELLE ISIAND 1964- 1955
\ ,

1000

100

10

JJC/ KG
WET

MAR26 JULY 16 JqN.

I 1 I 1 I I
0.1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

20 100 400
DAYS AFTER MARCI+ I , 1954
POE ARCHIV~

FIG.
7 RADIOACTIVITY IN GIANT CLAM TISSUES : HIPPOPUS ON MARCH 26,
1SS4 AT KABELLE ; TRIDACNA ON JULY 16, 1954 AT KABELLE , ON JANUARY
28, 1955 AT LABAREDJ ANO ON JANUARY 30, 1955 AT GEJEN
. *

5000

1000

100

jJC/KG
WET

,
10

l)i \

\
I b
*
&
-

-
,, \
JULY 16 JAN.
R.26
0.3
;Y I 1 1 1 1 1 I Q.
20 100 400
OAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954
DOE ARCHIV-.

FIG. 8 RADIOACTIVITY IN TISSUES OF THE LAND HERMIT CRAB , ~ , ON

MARCH 26 AT LABAREDJ , ON JULY 16, 1954 AT KA8ELLE , AND ON JANUARY
26, 1955 AT RONGELAP
 -22-

root$ pandanus, spinach,and BIorinda. The algae were collected

both In the shallowwater near shore and in the deeper water of’
the lagoon, usually in the vloinity of the fish-collecting
8tatlonu.
Sample values are given in AppendixTables IV, V, VI and VII.
From them tables It can be seen that the activity varies widely
even within samples of 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 second papaya specimenhad an activity
of 1.3 x 10‘7 uc/g (wet). \

In both edible and non-edibleplants the specificactivity

was higher In the leaves than in the fruit, the difference gen-
erally being two to eightfold. Much of the aotlvlty in the
March 1954 plant samples was probably due to surface contamina-
tion. High uounts in the internalportions of stems, however,
Indicatedrapid uptake of fission products by absorption through
the root systems. Later collectionsalso Indfcateuptake of
fission product material within the leaf tissue. For example,
●

leaf buds formed after the initial fallout contain as much

activity as do older leaves, and washing removes very ltttle of
the activity,
In the earltest collectionsthe bark of shrubs and trees
and the epidermis of edible plant parts containedfrom 14 to 40
times more aotivfty than the Internalparts. In the later col-
lections,however, this ratio was always less than two. It is
POE ARCHIVES
not definitelyknown, however, whether differentialuptake or
 .23.

residual surface oontamlnationaccounts for the higher activity

of the external plant parts.
Levels of activity in successivecollectionsthrough and
fncludlngDeeember 1954 dFOP ti acoo~ance ~~th the expectation
rOr mixed fission products. The JamarY 1955 land Pl~t oo1-
lectlonb, however, show a trend toward Inoreasln.g
actlvity
levels (Figure 9) ● This could be due to a samplingerror, but
might also be a reflection of greater availabilityof the fission
products to the plants associatedwith more rainfall during
late Deciemberto January.
The values for arrowroot colleoted on Rongelap Island in
January 1955 fell within the range of values for arronoot from
the northern islands. The same is true of algae colleotedat
depths of 10 to 25 fathoms in the vicinity of Kabelle and Ronge-
lap Islands. However, the mimum activity levels found In
Halimeda Q. and Caulem a ~. from Rongelap are higher by a
fautor of about two than the mxlmum levels found In the same
species oollectedat -belle. It smears likely then that al-
thou~h maximum fallout occurredat the north end of the atoll,
the radloaotivematerial is helm redistributedthrowhout the
atoll. at’least in the deeper waters.
Decay rates of five individualsamples of algae and land
plants oollected in July and Decetier 199 ~lcate ~lf-lives
rangIng from 16o - 210 days during the period from Deceniber 1954

to April 1955. A sample of coconut milk collectedat Kabelle

Island In December 1%4, however, shows a half-life of approxl-
lIOEARCHIVES
mately three years. The slopes of’the deoay curves of land and
 I 0000
r

I{
$

1000

I 0

100 ~ \

I
~C/KG ~
WET

10:

1
I

I I \
‘\
MARi 26
0.51 r I 1
10 100 1000
DAYS AFTER MARCH 1,1954
POE ARCHIVES
FIG. 9 RATE OF DECLINE OF LAND PLANTS , ALGAE AND SOIL SAMPLES AT
KABELLE 1954 — 1955 ●
 .
-25-

marine plants, other than the ooconuts,differ only slightly

from one another and from the slopes of the soil decay curves,
the average slope bem -1.25 (-1.o5 to -1.36). This ~ioates
that In these plants little or no differentialuptake of fission
.
-productmaterial has been taking place. In cooonuts,however,
fi8elon products mixtures with longer h81f-liveshave been ab-
sorbed into the meat and milk fraotions, Decay ourve slopes
Or -.96 and -.54 for the coconut meat and -.24 from the coco-
nut milk Indicatea different isotope mixture from that found in
soil oollected In the same area.

\
Birds
Birds were collectedat f’ourislands of the atoll. Speci-
mens from the northern islands of Gejen, Kabelle and Labaredj
were cons~deredto be from the same area and were oollected on
all four dates, while those from the southern island of Ronge-
lap were taken only on January 26, 1955.
The birds are of two types as based on feedfng habits and
migratory characteristics. These aret (1) the nodcly,crested
and fairy terns, whioh tend to stay in the vicinity of a few
Islands within the atoll and feed principallyon small fish, and
(2) the ?nlgratoryshore birds, which are transientsand feed
ma~y on crustaceansalong the beaches. The latter group in-
oludes the plovers, ourlews, turnstones,ti tattlers.
The terns, because of their llmited tendenoy for migration,
POE ARCHIVES
.
are more representativethan are the shore birds with regard to
chronic uptake of radioactivematerial.
 -26-

The shore birds containedgreater amounts of radioactive

materials in the different orgus and tissues shortly after the
fallout at Rongelap than did the terns. A similar tendency Waa
noted in 1952 at Eniwetok followingMike shot (see WT-616
(UWL-33)).* However, the average levels of activity in the
organs of the shore birds decreasedmore rapidly with increasing
time after fallout than did those of the terns. These differ-
ences may be aocounted for, in part at least, by the differences
in feeding habits and migrationalcharacteristics.
The average speoificactivities of the organs and tissues
of Rongelap terns are given h Table V. With the exception of’
muscle, which is consistentlylow comparedwith the other
tissues, there is no distinct pattern of relative activities
between different organs.
The deoline of’ radioactivitylevels in the organs and

tissues of terns may be divided into three types (Figuresloa

and b) z (1) organs in which the decline is semilogarithmic,

half-life 40 days-- therieinclude the muscle, liver, and

kidney; (2) organs in which the deoline is logarithmic--these
are the bone (r _ t-2.35) ~ ilem (r - t-2.85
); and (3) organs
in which the variabilityis extremelygreat--the skin and lung
represent this group.
The shapes of the radioactivitydeoline curves for the
different organs are determked by a combinationof (1) avall-
ability of the isotopes, (2) total uptake and degree of selec-
tive uptake of different isotopes, (3) radioactivehalf-life,
and (4) biologicalhalf-life. Slnoe the relative effects and

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

TtileVo Rdh@tltity Of ROng.hpBirdsandBbd Eggs

ValUeS exprwsed in micmoourles
perkilogram
ofuettissue
Dated Numberof
mn
Organi Specinns Skin Msole he ThyroidIang Liver Kidney Ileum
bland
3/26/%
LsbaredJand
Kabelle 4 167. 4.82 41*O 76.4 7.64 22.7 18*4 179.
3/26/54
Kabelle Curlm 1 2,260. 7073 161. 6.82 1608 35.9 132. 30.0
7/16/% noddy, Mry, and
Icabelle cyested
tens 6 1.31 .641 .754 6.86 U*3 3e&l 2.68 1.72
7A6154
KAbelle ohrleu 1 ●m d83 1.69 6.68 .795 1.03 1.50 9.91
12/8/% noddyandfairy
Kabslle temm 4 .454 .0395 .0973 .169 .212 .172 .0586
1/26/55
Ralgelap fairy tezns 5 .586 .256 .654 1.10 ,814 .877 .486 &
l/26/55 thmstme and I
Rongolap @lover 2 .173 .0445 ●l@ .124 .226 .240 ●425
l/28_30/55 ●

Labared~,
Kabelle,and n oddy andftiry
Oejen terns 6 .741 .0495 .105 .285 .154 .183 ●0791 ‘-

BirdEggB
Datead Numberof Ug
IBland Speoimenel Shell Yolk mite lhlbryo
7/16/54
~belle 5 ,650 .932 .0255 .335
wa15k
Kabelle 3 .295 .129 .00909
l/29/55
Kabelle 4 .I.40 .020

.
12
 o
BIRD TISSUES
0 Mwck
● Liver
\ 0 Kkhey
*
0.1
\
RELATIVE
RADIOACTIVITY

.0 I \ %:
\

I
.001 I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I 1
March Moy July Sept. NW. Jan. March May July
054 1955

FIG. 10A DECLINE OF RADIOACTIVITY IN MUSCLE , LIVER , ANO KIDNEY SAMPLES FROM
NORTH RONGELAP EXPRESSED AS A RATIO TO THE MARCH 26 , 1SS4 COLLECTION

BIRO

RELATIVE
RADIOACTIVITY-
.01 =

.001 ~

[ I I 1 I 1 I I I I I I I 1 I I I
.0001S
10 100
DAYS AFTER MARCH,I , 1S54 DOE &CHIVES
.
FIG. 10 B oECLINE oF RADIOACTIVITY IN BONE AND ILEUM SAMPLES FROM NORW
RONGELAP EXPRESSED AS A RATlO TO THE MARCH 26, 1954 COLLECTION
 -2+

degrees of titeraotlonof these variableaupon the decllne of

radioaotivltyvlth increasing time after contaminationare not
known, rigid interpretationsof the shapes of the curves should
not be attempted. However, the cmrves are usefil fn estimating
the levels of activity In the different organs on given dates
.
followlng the contaminationof the atoll.
Decay ourves were made for a limited number of samples. Of
these, only that of the thyroid evidenceda prepondemnee of a
single isotope, I131, ~hich aucounted for 99.9 peroent or more
of the total activity. In decay curves for bone, liver, and
kidney there was evidence of mixtures of tsotopes. Slopes \ of
,- t-1’zs for liver, r - t -1.65 for bone, and a curve for kidney,
which Is not a straight llne either logarithmicallyor 8emlloga-
rithmioally,indicate that these organs do not contain almllar
ratios of radioactiveisotopds. The deoay curve slope for tern
liver is slmllar to that of Rongelap soil.
Chemical separationfor strontiumwas done on two bird
samples oollectedMarch 26~ 1954s at ~belle. SkIns from two
different terns contained2.9 pereent U 3.5 percent of the
total actirity as radioactivestrontium. In samples of total
89-90
muscle plus total bone from the same birds, Sr aompr18ed
3.9 peroent - 11.3 percent Of t~ to-l activity (Table VII) ●

The only collectionsat Rongelap Atoll contatilngbirds

from both the northern and southern Islands were made January
26-30, 1955. In view of the fact that the general levels of
contamlnattonvere higher on the northern islands, it was
~fk ARCHIVES
peuteclthat the northern birch would contain more radloactlvlty
 ●

-30-

than the southernbirds. This was not the case except for the
skin. The ratios, south to north, of aotlvity for the different
organs and tissues are as follows:

skin muscle bone lung liver kidney ileum

.79 5.2 6.2 3.9 5.3 4.8 6.1

The presence of more than aix times as much aativity in the in-
testinal tract of the southern island terns as that found in the
same organ of the northern island terns suggests that the southern
birds have aocess to a supply of food fish oontalninggreater
amounts of radioactivematerial. The higher level of activity in
the southern bird intestinaltracts 1s reflected in the greater
concentrationsof radioactivematerial in the other titernal
organs of the same animals. In view of these observationsit
probabl~ would be advisable to &tafn samples from Allnginae
Atoll, located seven and one-halfnautical mllesmuthwest of
Rongelap Atoll, since the Rongelap natives collect birds at
Alinginae as part of their food supply.
Tern eggs were collectedat Kabelle July 16, December 8,
1954, and January 29, 1955* The levels of radioactivityin the
various parts of the eggs were low, with that of the shellapproxi-
mating the levels found In the bones of terns collected the same
day. Radioactivityin ~he egg yolks varied from li to 3 times
that found In the muscles of birds in the same collections. The
whites of the eggs containedthe lovest amounts of radloaotive
Isotopes of all bird samples examined. These kvels fromwere
DOE ARCHIVES
l/25 to 1/2 those found in bird muscle collected the same day.
 -31-

The unhatxhedembryos oontalned levels of radioactivityqproxi-

mately one-half that found in b~ muscle (AppendixTable VIII).

Plankton
.
The Rongelap plankton colleotlonconsisted of 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 Sars
type net, ~-meter in diameter and with either Ho. 6 or Ho. 20
silk mesh was used. Tows were takm at tha surfaae during day-
light hours.
Radioactivityof the I?ongelapplankton samples was more
\
than one hundred times greater than that of plankton samples
collected from the open ooean waters of the Western Pacific
with the U9COC ‘Taneynduring OperatfonTroll. On the cruise
of the “Taney” dm~ March and April, 1955, 85 platitm
samples were taken along the route from ltwajaleinto the
Philippinesto Japan. The average activity of these samples
was .015 x 10-3 uo/g of wet sample, the highest values being
.050 x 10-3 uc/g. For the eigh~ January 1955 Rongelap plukton
samples the average value was 2.0 x 10-3 uo/g, the lowest value
being 0.41 x 10-3 uc/g.
Other ooncluslonswhioh may be drawn from analysis of the
Rongelap plankton samples are (1) that the radioactivityper
unit weight is greater than for most other biological samples,
(2) the decay rate is similar to that for the soil sample, and
l)OEARCHIVE
. (3) there Is considerablevariation in the radloactIvity of sam-
ples from paired tows.
 -32-

Soil
The soil and sand samples includedthose from the islands
proper, from the beaoh, and from the lagoon bottom. The radio-
activity of a sample taken from the top inch of soil on
Labaredj 1s1- Na.rch26j 19542 was 6s8 microc~les per ~am)
whloh Is equivalent to one curie per 325 pounds of top soil.
The activity of this sample ten months later, January 29, 1955,
was one thlrtleth its origl.nalvalue~ l.e,~ It had passed
through nearly five half-lives. The decay rate for this period
-1.31
is expressedby the formula, r = t , with Mroh 1, 1954,
as the date of origin (Figure 12). This rate approximatesthe
mixed fission product decay rate and in general approximates
the decay rate for many of the biological samples. For these
reasons the decay factor for correctingcounts bac?kto the day
of collectionwas based on the decay curve of a similar soil
sample ●

The decllne In radioactivityof the SO1l samples can be

observed from the figures in AppendtiTable X. Considerable
variation In the activity of soil samplea from the same area on
the same day can be expected beoause of the nature of the fall-
out pattern and should be kept in mind when interpretingresults.
If considerationis given to the Eabelle samples only, the rate
of decllne is greater than-thedecay rate from March to July
1954, but 10BEIfrom JUIY 1954 to JanurY 1955 ● men the samPle
counts from all islandsare averaged, the relative dec
pti?wlv=
activity of the March 1954 S=ples and the January 1955 Samles
la the same as the decline In activity of the decay sample.
 .,

-33”

. Profile samples of the lagoon bottom were obtained off

Kabelle Island at depths of 60 feet and 40 feet and off Lomuilal
Island at 55 feet. The samples were obtainedby an aquahng-
equlpped diver driving a foot long, 1~’’-alumtium
tube into the
.
bottom sand. The Gore was removed i%om the tube and samples
. were taken at various levels. From the counts of these samples
it was observed that the radioactivesand on the lagoon bottom
was several Inches thick with the level of activity rather con-
stant for the first five or six inches. The radloaatlvltyper
unit weight was less thm that of the soil from the island
proper but off Xabelle it was greater than that of the sand In
the intertidalzone.

Water
The water collectionincluded eight salt-watersamples
from the lagoon and eight fresh-watersamples from the Islands
\
proper. A 5-millilitersample was used for the radioactivity
determinationexcept for the December 18th collection (cistern
water, filteredwell water), for which 25-millilitersamples
were used. Becau8e the radioactivityof water samples Is often
stated In terms of the radioactivityper liter, which would
mean extrapolationconsiderablybeyond the observed values, it
IS especially necessary to state the counting error. For these
data the 0.95 counttng error,* vhloh is equivalent to two
standarddeviations,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.
 ,
.34.

Table X the values for the water samples expressed in d/m/ml t

0.95 counting error are given.
‘hole waterm samples were used for counting, I.e., none
of the natural-oocurringradioisotopeswere chemicallyremoved,
.
so the values in the above table are those for total radio-
.
activity. For ocean waters, the atomic disintegrationsper
minute per kilogram for potassium-40are 560 and for all other
natural-occurringisotopesabout 10.* This means that the con-
tribution of natural-ocourringisotopes to the values in Appen-
dix Table X for lagoon water samplesranged from 0.6 to 1.2
d/m/ml.
Beeause of the relativelygreat counting error of the lagoon
water samples neither the rate of decline nor the decay rate was
estimated. A conservativeapproximationof the radioactivity
of the lagoon water, based upon the average differencebetween
the observed value and the positive 0.95 counting error for
the January 26-30, 1955 samples, is 2400 d/m/l (.0011 uu/1).
For the fresh-watersamples the countingdata are more
reliable (AppendixTable X). The samples include cistern water,
filtered well water, standingwater and ground water. The stand-
ing vater was taken from an open oan on Eniaetok Island and the
ground water from a two-foothole that was dug on Xabelle Island.
The ground water was most radioactive,48,000 d/m/l (.022 uc per
liter) and may have containedradioisotopesthat had leaohed
‘1.35 for the period
from the soil. However, the decay rate r = t
.
from March 23 - July 30, 1955, was similar to for mixed
that

DOE ARCHIVES
* Schubert,J., ‘RadioactivePoisons,nScientific American,
~01 193, ~Oo 2, pp. 34°39, August 1955.
●
 ‘3s’

fission products. For filteredveil water the decay rate for

-1.39: Another observation
the sa~ period was similar,r = t.
was that the rtiioaettvityof the fresh-watersamples increased
from south to north with the autivtty of the Rongelap Island
sample bolng 1/4, lfi, and l/10 of the activity of the fresh-
water samples from Eniaetok, Labaredj,and Kabelle Islands,
respectively.
 -36-

Evaluation Of the Chemioal Analyses of the Biolo~lcal samples

?ission product and caldlum analyses were made of three SOI1

samples, strontiumanalyses of selected foods, and 1131 analyses
● s Of plants. Additional samples collectedDecember 8 were sent

. to Dr. Walter Claus, Division of Biology and Medlclne, for

chemleal analyses.
Samples were taken from the top Inch of soil on March 26,
1954, from both Labaredj and ICabelle. Portions were ashed =d then
dissolved In dilute nitric acid. There vas only a very small
amount of insolubleresidue containingless than 0.1 percent of
the radioactivityof the solute. Aliquots of this solutionwere
used to determine total activity and to provide samples for
ehemlcal separation.
Standard methods of separatingfission products and calcium
were followed. Counts obtained from the analyses for cerlum,
zirconium,niobium, strontium,ruthenium,and barium were oor-
rected for chemical or spike yield. The chemical yield Is the
ratio of the veight of recovered carrier to added carrier. A
yield for calcium was not determinedbecause of’the large amount
of oalcium carbonate in the sample. The radloactlvltyof seven
fission products and caloium corrected for yield and adjusted
to 100 percent recovery and expressedas a percentageof the
total radioactivity1s given In Table VI. The chemicalyields
and the observed counts from which these values were computed
are tabulated In Appendi%Table XI. POE ARCHIV~
The results of radlostrontiumanalyses of biological samples
from Rongelap Atoll are given in Table VII. Radiostrontiu Was
,.

-37-

Table VX. Fission Products and Radio-Calcium

in Soil from Rongelap Atollu
2/
Per Cent Activity–
Sample lfumber
Element
75014/ 7502 ‘~

cerium 32. 30.

trivalent
rare earths 24. 22. 24.

zirconium 16. 25. 24.

nloblum 5*9 7.2 7.0

ruthenium 6.9 6.7 5.9

strontium 4.4 ●2.4 2.5

barium 5*5 4.1 6.2

talcIUIU <.3 < .6 .4

total 100. 100. 100.

samples collectedMarch 26, 1954 and amlyzed

May 11, 1954, activity as of counting date
per cent activity correctedfor yield and ad-
justed to 10@ recovery
Labaredj Island 190 feet above high tide line
UAaredj Island, 150 feet above high tide line
Kabelle Island, 150 feet above high tide line

.~OE ARCHIVES
 ,

,.

Table VII. Radio-strontiumand Radio-berium

In BiologicalSamples from Rongelap Atoll
Values expressedin micro-mlcrocurlesper gram, wet

Date and
Oroup Tissue Area of Collection
Bir# Carcass 3/26/54 Lab~redj 11.3
II
Skin
Carcass 1? Kab~lle
$::
5.1
2.9
1! II 3*9
Skin 27. 3.5
Squash Frl.#t 1/26/55 Ron~elap 2*2 2.1 1.5 1.1 1.4
Papaya ?1 II
1.9 1.0 2.6
Pandanus “ !! 1!
2.3 2.3 2.6 0.70 1.38
Co~onut Meat II
0 0. 0.11 0.38 &
1? Ml+k 0 0.05 0.24 ?
I! 1! lhi 5 Labaredj :.11 0.38 o 0
1! t! 1/29? 5 Kabelle 0 0
‘1/30?55 Oejen 0:03 0.02 0 0
Coconut Muscle 1/29/55 Kabelle 31, 27.8 597 5.5 1.0
crab
Tuna t! 12/27/ Menu o 0 0.8
!1 0.7
Mullet 1@6 ?55 Rongelap 0 0 2.4 4.4

u
~ ~ ~me3/~6/54 collectionprocessedin December 1954; the January 1955 collectionin
- July 1955. Values as of date of analyses.
~yPr ocessed in July 1955. Values as of date of analyses.
 ‘.

-39-

found in plants, birds, and crabs but not in fish muscle nor h
90 foti ~ ‘he
some of the coconuts. The greatest amount of Sr
-6
January 1955 sampleswas 27 x 10 uc/g wet weight of coconut
crab muscle.
&
.
Method for RadiostrontiumSeparation. The fuming nitric acid
\

preolpltatlonmethod vas uded, the sample being dissolved h

dilute nitric acid and strontiumcarrier then added. For the
bird tissues the strontiumwas precipitatedby increasingthe
acid concentrationto 72 percent by the ~dition of 90 percent
nitrtc acid and stirring for one-halfhour. The precipitated
strontium nitrate was dissolved in water, scavengedwith’ferric

hydroxide and precipitateda second time from 72 peroent

nltrlc acid, then counted for strontiumradioactivity. Three
spikes run concurrentlywith the bird samples gave a yield of
59.2-+ 0.9 percent. Separation 0? Y 90 from the strontium
indicatedthat one-third to one-half of the total strontiumwas
strontium-90as of the counting date, Wcember 1954.
Strontiumanalyses of samples of coconut meat and milk and
pandanus fruit from the January 1955 collectionwere we June 14)
1955. The procedurewas slmllar to t~t above except tmt 75
percent nitric acid was used and the scavengewith ferric hydrox-
ide was followedby a scavengewith mixed sulfides In acid and
in alkallne solutlon. Four spikes in non-radloaotivefish meal
ash mm concurrentlywith these samples gave a yield of
65.6 ~ 5.3 percent. Four blanks us@ the same fish meal and
run as a check on the radioauttvityb the meal, the reagents
DOE ARCHI-
and on the glassware gave counts of’0, 1, 0, and O. Yields from
 -w3-
●

spikes run concurrentlywith the Bquash, papaya, orab and fish

90
samples were 84 ~ 3-1 Percento I?romthe mount of 9x’ present
90
which was determinedby separation of Y90, daughter of Sr , it

Is evident that only a small amount of Sr89 could’be p~esent

.
(Table VII).
. The results of the Ce144 analyses are given in Table VII.
-6 uc in crab muscle, while
The maximum amount found was 5 x 10
none was found in some coconut samples. Cerlum analyses were

made of the filtrate horn strontium nitrate precipitationof

the coconut, pandanus fruit, squash, orab, and fish samples
listed in the above table. The rare earths were extractedwith
trlbutyl phosphate,and cerium was separated from the trivalent
rare earths by eerie lodate precipitation. Recovery from
“spiked”samples of non-radioactivefish meal ash run con-
currentlywere 73 percent for Cmonut ~ m~=~s ‘iuitJ and
>
75 percent for all the others.
Determinationswere made of the amount of radtolodine
present In three land plants and two algae oollectedat Rongelap
Atoll on Narch 26, 1954. These analyses made on April 24, 1954,
●
followed the proceduresas outlinedby (llendenin—.
et al.
The oounts as obtainedwere correctedback to Itarch26,
1954. 1131 was present in all five plant tlUSueS counted, vary-
ing from 0.47 percent to 0.029 percent of the total activity
found ● DOE ARCHIVES

●
et al&, “Interchangeof radioactiveiodine with
Qlendenin ——
carrier iodine. In Coryell, C. D. and Sugarman, M.,
@biochemical Studies! The Fission Pmduots, Book 3, p. 1629,
14cGraw-Hill,1951.
 .

-41-
.
-. Study of the Rate of PhysloalDecay of Radiation in the
Blologieal9amples

The Rongelap samples are now unique among our Marshall

Islands collectionsslnoe they were taken from an area --
.
Rongelap Atoll -- In which the radioactivityresulted primar-
. ily from a sln@e time source -- the March 1, 1954 Bikini ex-
periment; whereas the aotlvlty at Enivetok and Blkfnl derived
from several experl.ments
over a number of years.
Rongelap decay data were studied with three primary objec-
tives: (1) to evaluate suitabilityof the decay correction fac-
tor based on soil by a comparison of biologicaland other mater-
ials, (2) to aid in extrapolatingl.ntopast or future t&e byond
the period of the present survey, and (3) to compare decay rates
with decltie rates.
Eighty-four samples of fish, invertebrates,algae, land
plants, phnkton, birds, and SO1l were aounted an average of
11.5 (range,2-73) times for various intervalsduring the per-
iod from 38 to 500 days after the Bikini test of March 1, 1954.
When log of’count is plotted on the ordinateagainst log
of time after March 1, 1954, on the abscissa (here called a
log-log plot), a more nearly straight line is usually obtained
than when the absoissa is arithmetic [semi-logplot). A mixture
of fission produots is supposed (Coryelland Sugar=)+ to give
a straight line by log-log plot with a slope of about -1.25 for
the period of time involved in this study. The decay of a single
POE iillcHIJ?~

*
Coryell, C. D. and Sugar-, ~., 1 f$tudlea:
~
Fission products,Book 1~ PO 4568
 -42-

isotope is llnear on a semi-logplot, exemplifiedby bird

thyroid containingpredominantly1231, mentioned in the seotion
on birds.
Among the 28 plates counted most often (10 - 73 times) and
*
presumed to be oounted frequentlyenough to detect the existence

b
of a linear semi-logrelationship,only one other sample was
more nearly llnear by semi-log than by log-log plot. This was

the gastric mill of a cr~b, GrapsusRraDsus, taken March 26,

1954, at Kkbelle. The graph (Figure 11) was suffloientlycurved
to Indicate the presence of more t& one isotope. The early
portion 50 - 300 daya gave a half-life of 78 days, and the
portion 300 - 430 daya gave a half-life of 107 daya. A aectlon of
the curve of another sample, muscle of sea cucumber (Figure 11),
was typical of semi-log linearity. The radioaotlvltyof this
sample decayed over the period from 50 to nearly 200 days with
a half-life of about 75 days, but more slowly later.
Although a single isotopedisplays a downwardlyconcave
curvilinearplot by log-log presentation,a mixture of as few
as two Isotopeswith half-livesof similar orders of magnitude,

such as Ce141 and Ce144 of 30- and 280- day half-lives,may

appear almost ltiear on a log-log plot over the period of
70 to 500 days.

Most deoays were best sufted to log-log plotting as seen

in the seven examplea tn Figures 12 and 13. Although some appear
slightly curved, straightllnes were fitted and slopes were
scaled graphically. DOE ARCHIVES

Definition of the curves requires evaluationnot only of

 -.

Ioc

RADIOACTIVITY

10

\\
‘b \
\ Ae
\bo
1 I I # J
50 100 200 300 400 500
DAYS AFTER MARCH I , 1954 POE ARCHIVES

. FIG. II SEMI-LOG PLOTS OF DECAY CURVES OF GASTRIC MILL OF CRAB ,

(iB&w Qww , AND MUSCLE OF SEA CUCUMBER ,~HURIA ~

COLLECTED MARCH 26 , 1954 AT KABELLE

 100

RADIOACTWIT Y
\
.

10

“\
\ \
‘o\ \ b
\
\
\

\ \
.
%
\
o
\
I SPILLED,
\ 1 RESLURRIED

1 ,
11 1 4 I I 1 1 1 1 4

30 600
DAW ?!!TER MARCH I, 1954 bOE ARCHIV~,
FIG. 12 LOG- LOG PLOTS OF RONGELAP DECAY SAMPLES OF MARCH 26, 1954 ‘
PLANKTON FROM LABAREOJ ; MUSCLE AND MANTLE OF GIANT CLAM , ~ ,
FROM KABELLE ; ANO SOIL ON WHICH DECAY CORRECTION FACTORS WERE BASED
 RADIOACTIVITY

11 I
1 I
“o
150 200 1
600
DAYS AFTER MARCH 1. IH
DOE AllCHIVE
FIG.
13 LOG- LOG PLOTS OF RADIOACTIVE OECAY RATE OF COCONUT MILK ,
($OCOS) COLLECTED DECEMBER 8 ,
1954 AT KA8ELLE , AND OF LIVER AND
MUSCLE OF SURGEON FISH (ACA
NTHURU~ ~$) COLLECTED JULY 16,1954
 “46-

the degree of variance or scatter about the line, but also by

the nature of the deviation from linearityamong the smooth, cur-
villnear plots. Those curves which were aoncave upvard were
fish tissues,none of whicshhad been counted more than seven
P
tLme8.

The average slope of 83 decays on log-log plots was

-1.43. Table VIII shows a brealoiowninto groups by types of

organisms and by tissues,and all samples grouped by collecting

dates are recorded in Appendix Table XII.
Dlfferenoes In decay rates of tissues of the animals
b
are not great, although the liver rate of decay is steepeet to
a degree that 1s of borderline significance. Comparison of rate
of decllne of food items, -1.75, with rate of deca~ of all
samples, -1.43, shows that food Items, with the exception of
such plants as the coconut, decline more rapidly in their radio-
active oontent than can be accounted for solely on the basis
of their physical decay. However, the steep trend of decltie
may result from the inadequaciesof sampllng. The January 1955

collectionmay reflect variability in the effects of mrrents

or season. ~ture aamplln.g
will show whether the indicated
decline is truly unusually steep, or a vagary of sampllng.
From a study of the decay curves it 1s seen that most
btologtcal samples follow the soil trend suffloientlywell to
justify use of the soil decay rate In oorreotingsample uounts
back to the time of collectionover short periods. However,
DOE ARCHIVE$
some samples diverge widely. Of greatest concern is the aoco-
nut, In the milk of which the radioactivitymay decay very
 .47-

!EableVIII

Decay Rates of Rongelap Samples Expressedas the Slope

of the Log-1og Relationshipof Actlvlty to Time after Harch 1, 1954

Fish, invertebrate,and bird tissues

Skin & Gut or
lhntle Muscle Bone Liver Viscera (3111

11 12 10 12 11 1
-1.34 -1.39 -1.40 -1.68 -1.45 -I.28
0.16 0.11 0.11 0.16 0.30 0

Miscellaneous
Other
lCtdney land
of bird Plankton Algae Coconut plants soil
<god >90d
2 2 3 3 3 2 7
-1.25 -1.71 -1.35 -1.20 -0.60 -1.30 -1.31
0.08 0.12 0.05 0.12 0.56 0.01 0.04

DOE ARCHIVE$

n - nmber of relationships
x o mean slope
8 = standarddeviation
s/X = coefficientof variation of slope
 Slwly (r - t-‘24). At the other extreme are occasionalsamples
of fish gut, the radioactivityof whloh decays fast (r = t-2.4).

&

DOE ARCH1~
#
●

APPENDIX

DOE ARCH1_
 -50-

Table I. Radioactivityof Fish from

Rongelap Atoll, 1954-55
Values expressed in thousandsof d/m/g of vet tissue
Date and Common Skin Muscle Bone Liver Viscera Entire
Island Eame4/
. 3/26/54 dagael ~ 41.5 4.85 14.8 889. 3,590.
Kabelle 52.5 ~~.; 26.8 l,~;~. 3,;;:.
pa;rot 1 102 ● 79*9 ●
n 106. 13:3 %.0 780. 4,020:
.
squ;rrel~ 74.0 8.44 21.5 680. 645. .
35.6 $.~~ 12.5 399* 331.
12.4 9.53 98.2 180.
20.9 4:22 7.50 141. 417.
n
i 16.5 1.75 5.19 15.3 6g.8
shark 28.7 2.95 17.3 71.2 21.1
w 23.1 2.90 7.73 27.’7 5.68
n 70.3
36.5 2.52 19.5 15.1

7/16154 mullet 13.6 3.15 9.59 59.3 328.

Kabelle surgeon 1 3.09 .903 5.35 23.7 89.1 \
butt:rfly ~ 4.04 .974 8.82 60.2 16.3
4.78 1*12 4.31 23.2 13.8
n m 28.1 12.2
2=55 .335 3.80
4.27 .796 5.31 70.1 23.9
10.9
7.42
6.03 .564 5.07 97.8 84.4
7.64 ~
21.1
22.4
a n 18.4
w w 15.0
her~lng 17.6
12.5
hal~eak 4.81 .540 2.86 24.7 13.8
4.8o .353 ;.:; 36.6 14.5
n 5.41 1.09 45.6 18.9
n 3.62 .970 2:80 21.2 11.7
goa~fish 2 9.78 :.;. :;.; 152. 59.4
●
11.7 91.2 101
39:* POE ARCH1~
6.96 1:08 15:2 58.3 .
6.o5 .933 6.83 83.8 2$).2
10.0
9*75
4.67
\ 6.24
4.67
gro:per ~ 1.41 .246 .473 14.8 6.39
3.55 .767 3.86 39.1 29.6
m n 6.48
&/ see page 33 for sclentifio name
 -51-

(~ble I cont.)
Date and common
Island lfame Skin Muscle Bone Liver Viscera

7/16/54 squ~rrel : .596 ●399 .850 10.5 48.2

Kabelle 1.s2 .454 5*95 54.2 17.7
(cent’d) “ “ 1.37 .467 4.25 61.1 12.1
●

5.73 .079 .770 5.76 1.28

3.86 .139 .251 3.09 .972
.
12/8/54
Iagoon snapper .960 .218 .724 4.70 1.14

1/25/55 sur eon 2 .209 .061 1.81 :.;: 1.02

Rongelap 6“ .196 .068 .214 1.04
:C& .026 .073 :545 2.77
.038 .195 1.13 3.36
u 9.34
la
.062 ●031 .140 .998
da~sel 1 .561 .040 .304 2.80 5.91
n .347 .061 .449 2.92 5.37
n n .418 .052 ::?: 3:15 6.27
m 11 .668 ;O& 5.54 :.$
●399 .907 3.89
.298 .085 .352 1.59 1:01
a m
;;:? ●103 .981 2.99 2.50
n
N
.091 .734 p)! 3.91
squ;rrel 1 .487 .106 1.44 1.59
n .447 .082 1.32 9:63 2.87
a m
.685 .084 .378 11.0 3.64
.473 .138 .682 9.23 2.21
.721 .144 1.11 8.02 5.09
.752 .093 .879 3.30 .986
.216 .052 ●395 3.48 .766
1/26-29/55 gro:per .072 3.84
Lagoon .089 1.91
4 1.25 ●191 .671 10.6 1.86
sna per ~ 1.52 .375 .694 3.98 4.53
; 2.20 ‘.386 .682 5.07 1.30
n n 1.62 .165 .490 2.75 7.32
m 2 .074 3.63
2.08 .728 3.o8 21.6 8.85
.374 2.62 POE ARCHIV=
.436
n 7.00 10.9
1 .721 .133 1.16
n n
2.05 .251 1.65 1.73 12.8
s~geon 1 2.10 .145 2.10 18.0 27.1
a 1.90 .149 1.21 1.41 9.45
w 2 .932 .115 .815 7.26 3.20
pa:rot 1 ●977 .201 1.06 7.88 45.7
n 1.68 .147 1.59 25.8 29.1
w n
.725 .184 .8i8 3*79 38.5
 ,
-52-

(Table I cent.)
●

Date and Common

Island Rame Skin Muscle Bone Liver Viscera
1/28/55 mu+let 1.05 2.49 1.91 8.22 286.
Labared .564 .265 .637 4.35 6.86
(cent’d~ “
m 1.35 .513 1.97 5.50 47.0
:p? .496 1.09 28.3 54.3
~;g: .758 4.81 19.5
1.65 1.29 1o.1 ;;.;
.614 306 ● 1.41 8.74
.’782 .408 1.50 14.8 25:1
●577 .278 ~.a4 14.4 43.8
.269
vrasse 2 1.63 .348 1.43 3.97 18.2
n n 1.47 .401 1.76 4.05 14.8
gro~per 1.08 .175 1.50 2.75 4.68
.828 .447 1.05 15.1 3.25 .
goatflsh 2.34 353 ● :.:; 17.5 26.4
1l~ard :.:; .300 6.51 1.52
.386 1:13 14.5 4.51
m
1:92 .252 2.08 3.81 1.,93
1/29/55 mu~let 1.19 .181 .952 5.74 9.35
Kabelle .382 .166 .612 3.45 16.9
n .587 .184 .926 4.80 11.2
sur eon 2 .641 .125 .944 4.05 2.30
6“ .649 .139 .906 3.63 3.76
dagsel 1 1.46 .246 1.’?0 10.2 15.8
5 1.11 .168 .683 9.02 4.06
blgnny 1 .509 .167 1.02 3.35 11.6
2 .525 .253 1.92 6.54 11.2
goa:flsh ; 1.36 .299 2.23 8.00 14.4
1.78 ;;;: 2.97 1.34 10.3
m
t!
1.05 1.36 18.1 9.85
shark .687 .125 .191 2.67 .490
gro~per 4 .433 .110 .504 6.94 2.77
n
.826 .117 .726 12.2 6.24
u n
.622 .108 ●606 13.0 .249

1/30/55 damsel 1 3.44 .350 2.40 27.4 37.6

(3ejen wrasse 1 1.37 .215 1.42 15.3 8.62
gro~per # 1.34 .279 1.79 21.9 5.02
1.39 .273 1.15 38.1 6.65
a W .591 .118 .368 2.32 1*21
n .861 .268 1.13 4.38 2.36
n i 1.20 .396 1.42 4.77 1.78
goatfish 1 2.54 .405 4.95 18.0 17.5
flatfish 3.18 .248 1.96 3.70 5.30

POE ARCHIV=
 ●

-53-
Scientiflc IVamesof Fishes

bl:xmy 1 Istib~enniusedentulus
2 *
butterfly 1 Chaetodon collaris
2 lunula

dagsel 1
2
a 3
w 4
N 5
flatfish Bothus =ncus
——
goa~fish 1 Mulloidichthys aurifla-
2 samoen=ls

gro~per 1 Epi.riephalus
elonRatus
2 fario
u m hexagonatus
u 3 n
4 merra
a 5
n
spilotocerm
u 6. Variola loutl

halfbeak Hyporhamphus laticeps

herring Spratelloides delicatulus

jack Caranx melampygus

lizard Synodus variegates

mullet lVeomyxuschaptalli
pa;rot 1 Scarus purpureus
2 ~ 9p.

shark Carcharhinus melanopterus

sna per 1 Lethrinus sp.

82 Lutianus 8P.

squirrel 1 Holocentrus sammara

2 Mvriprlstls ~diatus
3 Sp.
. Acan~hurus elongatus
2 triostegus WE ARCHl_>
tuna Gymnosarda nuda

wrasse 1 Gomphosus varius

!f 2 Hallchoeres trimaculatus
 f * . *

Table II” Radioactivity of kmtebrates OtherThan

COALS Colleoted at Wwehp Atoll, 1954F55
ValuesexpremedIn thouaaads
of d/B/gof wet tissue

Datead A/ Muscle
Organiila Gut Integu- Gill Mantle Gonad IAver Kidney Him .
Islead ment

3/w54
Kabelle eea cucumber 251 227 877
592 3,170 ~ &16
166 8,700 l,M
;% 8,500 537 1,140
5,900 635
112 950 291 510
590 9U 1,080 1,300
l,W 65o
530 ?2 500 3,~
giant dam 350 190
ti
k7 72 w u6 780 7202
1,050 w 98 740 l,wo~ *
spidermail w 3,~ w 13,000 7,500
Omb 182 2,800 1,600 3,000 5,400
hemit crab 260 2,500 1,m l,W 9,400
cooonutcrab 21. 6,300 990 1,300 790
3,7m

eaacucumber u. *U 8A
giantOlam 2.9 62 25 6.5 320
henmitcrab 5.6 112 122 22 65
,
;:: 240 190 99
1.19 90 30 1%!
coernutcrab 2.6 58 g 22 51
4.3 m 36 33

sea cucuaber 3.4 21 1.9 . 7.8

7*1 20 9.6 4.6
1.2 6.3 ~ 10.5
spidersnail llb. 66;% 50
9.8 58; 62 U 250
24. 150;92 88 320
 , # 1

(Table11cent.
)
Dateand Organia2/ Mu801e Gut xnteg- Glll Mantle Gonad Liver
umnt
V26-W155
Rongolap aA8il
ghoticrab ●081 2.o 1.6 1,6
redeyoer8b Jb7 .W .13 1.7 1:?
.79 1.7 .21. 1.6 071
mck O- .25 .4> y .85 .61
.23 ● 55 .79 ●59
hermitorab .76 1.4 5.8 .93 .95
oooonutcrab
:E
Labamlq giantclam .l+9 5.4 1.8 1.6 27 2.4?/

Kabell* eeaoucumber k.8 7.4 1.2 ?.6

oooonutcrab .39 45. 9.2 3.0 4.7
1.0 15* 12. 4.9 5.0 J-I
orange●pongo y
eeaUrohin
GOJOS4 ght clam 19 ● 6.1 6.1
octopus 1:? 12. 2.2 26.
oooonutorab 6.9 5.1 ,90 3.2 3*3
spinylobster 1.2 2.0 .s3 2.1$ J+ek
Sniaetok y8110uspowe
●a ououmber, Xolothuria ●traj giant clam -1, ~DUSj gianto18m-2,Tr&i40na
—— orooo8;
w~r -D ~ =~ *M graDw; homit crab,Ceaobitaj cmonut crab,
=! ~Q, JIeri ~ ghmt orab, W oeratoM&alma
; re=ti, tij Oea
IllAothr
k; 00t0puo~
~ spinylobster,
@mMruo.
dadl
edt parh ,
egg
entire
spines
 .
&

-56-

Table III. Radioactivity of Coral

from Rongelap Atoll, 1954-55
Values expressed in thousands of d/m/g of wet tissue

Date and Acro- Fur@a Hello- Lept- Mllli- Pocillo- Porites

Island pora pora astrea pora pora
.
3/26/54
lIabelle g60. 140. 240. 39 ●

.
7/16/54 8.4 ;.; 33 ● 9.7
Kabelle 14. . 49. 7.8
1/29/55 .70 .22
Kabelle .50 3.2
3.5
4.1
.44
l/28/55 3.1 .88 1.3 1.9 a.6
Iabaredj 2.1

DOEARCHIW

.
 t’ ‘

Table IV. Radioactivityof Coconuts from

RongelapAtoll, 1954-55
Values expressedin thousandsof d/m/g Of wet tissue
Date and Milk Meat Skin Husk Shell Mlsc .
I~land
3/26/54 1.42 2.!55 87.8 14.7 3.13 ;;;* primary leaf
Kabelle 3.14 3.77 53. 1.73 o+d 1:8!’,external
1.48 34;4 , internal
3.02 393● secondary r:ot
110. primary
7/16/54 ●101 .251 1.96 .’279 .281 en;ire fr~it
Kabelle .116 .249 11*3 .306 *201
.310 .688 “ flower
.466 pedi.oel
12/8/54 .030 .070 .155 .094 .095 .163 entire flower
Kabelle .066 .174 “1.76 .253 .137 .156 pedlcel
.051 .166 2.43 .285 d-l
12/18/54 .032 .064 .063
Rongelap .033 .051 .043
1/26/55 .035 .031
RongelaP .032 ●031
.025 ●043
.066 .058
.034 ●051
l/29/55 .172 .082 .434 primary leaf
Kabelle ●120 .109
.111 .151
.131 ●099
.029 .056
Labaredj .062 .046
.038 .031
.035 ●057
.054 ●048
~ 1/30/55 .125 .263
Qf9jen .230
x
b“
.154
Lukuen 107● ● 120
iii
 4 ,
, b

Table V. Radioactivityof Edible Plants other than

Coconuts from RongelapAtoll, 1954-55
Values expressedin thousandsof d/m/g of wet tissue
Date and Hame Edible Portion Seeds Skin Le8VeS Mlsc ●

Island
3/26/54
Labaredj Horlnda 24.8 1,070

12/18/54 squash ●034 168

● .070 .066 pulp
Rongelap PqpYa ●044 174
● .088
.033 .123 .105
. arrovroot ~ .052; .042; .052 .048 .187?
Morlnda .062 .093 .071
XE&iiize .059 .048 ●103 Jl
$0
1/29/55 arrowroot .066
Kabelle Pandanus .124 ,133
Labaredj arro~root .015
●
Lomullal .362
Pandanua ●175 175
● .189
(3ejen arrowroot .110 .211
Rongelap .029 141 *
PpYa ●

.190 .129
arro~oot .117; .061; .135
.018; m?
Pandanus
squash .223; .012 .029
sp~aoh ,033
.040
.
 , ,

TableVI. Radioaotivlty
of PlantsOtherThanThoseCOmonly
Eaten fromRongelapAtoll,1954-55
Valuesexpressed
in thousands
of d#g of wet tissue
Fruit evea Steme J&ota
%
Flower A@oal-llud & Mixed Rltire DebarkedBark
3/26/% trw 1 l,g
Idxredjtire.
2 62.7 2,(Y7O 1,63o 41.9
shrub1 800. I.&o 440
herb1 3,260J ::% 1,2.40
3/26/% herb1 874
Ibbdlo herb2
~ws 1
469.~i 153;12,zoo 129J :fi
3,990 336
7/16/54 W 1 1.42 1.71 32e4 72.3
hue $rQo2 10~J 2.04 1s25 7.71 0968 12*3
sbmb 1 1s55J10% 1.48 31A5 ●554 6e36
nhrub2 v
25.3j 19.4y1260 J 4087/ 0365 17e8
-b 1 3053J 3.66 2.35; 2e78
hrb 2 5e92J2*9 $
7025J 1.41
@anu 1 U-l J Md Y ,
12/8/54 tro*1 ●l .943 1.08 -634 0435 .830
&belle. tree2 3*W 1085 .760 2e53
shmb 1 d64; ●325Y .43 496 e172 o164 S6
herb1 2*&l 1025
~rb 2 *887 *944 .917 4*59
herb3 2.#’ 1.71 2.92 .990 ●494 l*60
gmiue1 4.77 14.8313.2
1/29/55 troo1 4973 1.33 2.07
J!hbdh troo2 .338 ●318
mhmb 1 .ln ●336 ●525 .48
herb1 1*48
herb2 .499 1*42
lmrb3 1.74 4020 2*6O
~uJ8 1 10.3 X2.1
.
 4-

.’

Table VII. Radloaotivityof’Marine Algae

from RongelapAtoll, 1954-55
Values expressed In thousandsof d/m/g of wet sample
Date and Udotea Micro- Halimeda Caulerpa u$z!2- Gracllaria
18land indlca diotyon spp. Spp. app. sphaerla SQ
●

caverno~a
3/26/54 1,480 5,100 75 1,360
Kabelle 450
7/16/54 43.4; 41.7 8.02; 10.7- 53.4; 15.3
Xabelle 38.4; 48.6 19.5; 10.0 8.~2; ~3.7
61.5; 113. 15.0 7.10; 6.08

22/8/54 3.75; 3.52 2.31; 2.96

ICabelle 4.90 7.66

1/27-30/55 5.22 3.42 ;.40

Enlaetok 1.58
lagoon off 4.18 11.1
Rongelap, 150’ 7.53
lagoon off 7.99 11.7; 9.69 .695; 1.52 .350; .840 4.23 9.57
Kabelle, 60’ 2.26; 2.12 1.53; 4.77ti
.454; 1.49 .5372~5.76ti
(3ejen 3.78 .849 2.48
9.09 1.63 5.58
8.61 ,854 3.63
u
 Table VIII. Radioactivityof Birds Collectedat Rongelap Atoll, 1954-55 ,’
Values expressedIn thOu8andsOf d/m/g of wet tissue
Date Island Namd Skin Muscle Bone Thyroid Lung Liver Kidney Ileum
3/2$fi4 Labared#no~dy te~n 482. 9.16 121. 23.4 72.0 53.0 65.0
51.0 17.0 68.7 14.0 59.0 65.0 643.
II Kabelle
}1 fa$ry te;n 5 5. 6* 1 61.4 3 .0 13.8 27.0 12.8 793.
It t? 30.
? 9.L0 110. 29? . 15.8 42*O 31.0
II It curlew 4,9700 17.0 354. 15.0 37.0 79.0 291. Z2:;
1.58 .693 1.29 9.00 4.38 6.58” :;; 1.9
!1 II
fa+ry te;n
1.29 1.22
1.20 1.02
1. 3
20.0 11.0
?23 14.0
6.77 2
6.10
2.0il
1.18
N 11 .621 .573 1:57 3.70 !?:% M; .7 1,25
1?

11
n
1?
cr~sted tern
11
6/:
●
3.15
1.81
2.39 20.0 150.
11 *2
13.5
8.05
i18
.6
5,52
10.3
5. 3
n It
curlew i.57 .403 1.75 2.26 3*29 21.?
.789 .060 .118 .255 .314 . 91 .14 ~
1.88 .074 .140 .3 1 .508 :p;;
t .12J ,
11
M
fairy te;n .951 .102 .330 i
.47 .698 .132
11 M
.384 .111 .266 .435 .349 .394 .112
●

1/2$/55 ROn~elap fa+,ryte~n 1.21 .591 1.09 2.0’7 2.52 2.98 .995
1.31 .912 3.16 4.11 2.54 2.53 1.10
f! 11 II II
1.16 ;;~: .357 1.58 1.51 1.63 1.21
!1 II
tt II
.556 ;.:: 2.05 .585 ,585 .652
11 M 1!
11
2.19 .623 1.79 1.91 1.46
N !1
turnstone .430 .107 :248 .558 ;::: .800
1! plover . 31 .0 0 .5 2 .157 .437 1.07
l/2~/55 Lab~red$n~,dy tefn i29 o?
.5 ●3i5 .430 .21 .295 .085
:776 ;{~; 1.74 ●932 1.04 .395
.279 .258 .243 .182 .154
6.92 .049 .125 .394 .217 .258 .069
lf3Q/55 @J:n nodclytern .150 .054 .042 .196
fairy tern .851 .108 ●070 .317 .223 .240 .167

h
g- 1/ Noddy tern, Anous stolidus;fairy tern, (lygisalba; curlew, Numenius s .; crested tern,
<— Sterna bergl~mnstone, ArenarlaI.nterpres mfiella; plover, P1Uris+ is domlnica.
 -62-

Table IX. Radioactivity of Tern Eggs

from Rongelap Atoll, 1954-55
Values expressed in thousands of d/m/g of vet sample
Date and
Island Eggshell Yolk ●White Embryo
7/16/54 1.14 .804 .508
Kabelle 2.15 2.03 .795
1.42 2.08 ●905
1.48 4.92 .056
.956 .409
12/8/54 ●575 .421 .018
Kabelle .581 .147 .023
.789 .

1/29/55 .376 .065

Kabelle .272 .030
.280 .045 \
.035
DOE A.RCHIVES
 ,., -63-
w 8
, ~ble X Radloactivltyof Plankton,Soil-sand,and
Wter Samples fran Rongelap, 1954-55
plankton - Values expressed In thousands of d/m/g of wet sample
3/26/54 7/i6/54 12/8/54 12fi8/54 1/26-30/55
O{f Lukuen 3.39; 9.61
Wbelle 4.73; 5.84 13.7; ~2v8 ~1 o ~ ~ ;“%: ~2~;
“ Labaredj 306. ●
.
>=
“ Rongelap 1:18; 2:10 “

Soil-Sand - Values expressed in thousandsof dfi/g

[
Island Soil Beach Sand
! 3fi6/54 7/16~ 12/8/54 ~/25-30/55 12/8/54 ~/25-3~/55
Loanlilal 166 35*9
Qejen 830 6.16
Khb:lle 2,000 12 315 106 Z;.g 13.7
221 596 3.04 ●

Lab~redj 17,000
13,000
Rongelap 2.34 1.16

Lagoon bottom, 1/29-30/55 .

o-&” h- %“ %-l%” I%-i*” {~-2W’ Zy+.$’
Lomuilal, 55 ‘ 22.9 2’7.2 17.8 16.3 17.9 14.5
0-1“ 1-2” 2-3” 3-4” 4-5 f’ 5-6” 6-7‘I
Ka~,lle, 60’ 19.2 16.9 16.9 16.2 20.0 7.47
40!” 20.3 16.9 21.4 21.8 10.3 3.35 3.29
Labared~, 150’ 16.2

Water - Values expressed in d- ~ 0.95 countingerror

Lagoon Water Fresh Water
7~6/54 1/26-30/55 12/18/5JJ1/26-30/55
Lomullal 5.6~3.o
Kab:lle 3.3 ~ 3.1 3.3 ● 2.7
2.3 $ 3.0
N 4.1 - 3.2
n
4.8 ~ 3.4
Laberedj 6.8 ~ 3.0
Xniaetok
Ttonqelap 5.6 ~ 3.0

DOE ARCHIVES
at high tide line
cistern water
filteredwell water
standing water
ground
 tt -
.-

Table XI. Data for ComputingPer Cent Activity of Fission

Productsand Calcium In RongelapSOil *mples Based on 1 NlllillterReplicates
Sample Number: 7500 7501 7502
b=%
& = c/m ohemlcal +&xlo4 = * a b &xlo4 a b &xlo4
yield “-

cerium 21,005 44. 10,014 62 35. 16,71 83 30 ●

27,154 9,909 58 17,94(? 83

trivalent 26,297 28. 8,562 75 Y 24. 13,507 75U 25.
rare earths 25,535 8,992 75 12,353 75
zirconium 19,099 19.0 73 27. 13,439 75 26.
18,809 72 13,200 72
niobium 7,584 6.9 93 7.8 4,857 100 797
7,192 95 4,488 79
ruthenium 10,289 8.2 3,019 87~1 7.2 5,247 100~ 6.6 ,
9.518 3,321 97 3,664 97 ~
strontium 1,574 5.2 253 3.4 551 29 2.8
1,440 612
barium 6,192 6.2 ;,;% 4.4 3,019 ;? 6.9
4,971 3,494
calcium 527 0.4 278 0.5 356 ~i .6
538 221 487
total 118. 109. 111.

c = c/m,non ;::};:! 47,992

48,282
68,?58
69,692
oeparated
allquot 124;561 m EUQ!L
W average ‘224,008 47,882 68,585
o
m ~/.from previous experiments; yields for these analyses greater than 10@
b
%
g? spike yi$ld~; ahemical yields @eater than 1OC$
g
~/ no yield was determined
.G
T “k
-65-

Table XII. Physical Decay Rates of Rongelap Samples

r = t-x; to = March 1. 19!54
Xfo. of x,
Date and Substance or Tissue Times Decay
Plate ?lo. Island Organlsm Counted Rate
4032 3i26j54 da;gel f~sh skin 2 1.49
Kabelle muscle 3 1.42
4033 If tl 1.33
d 4034 bone 2
a n liver 2 1.64
4035 11 n 2 1.11
W:~a’ gut
squirrel fish skin 3 1.62
w n muscle 4 1.59
4045 m n 1.53
4046 bone 2
#t m
liver 3 :.:
4047 It II 2
4048 gut
n II gill 2 1:28
4049 H II 2 1.30
4050 sk$n
muscle 4 1.63
4051 2 1.45
4052 bone
liver 3 1.71
4053 2 1.58 \
4054 gut-
payot f~sh glll 2 1.47
4055 2 1.30
4056 skin
muscle 4 1.77
4057 2 1.95
4058 bone
4059 liver &
gut 2.96
gl:nt c+am mantle 3; 1.28
5000 28 1.27
5006 muscle
n II
5o08a visceral
mass 18 1.14
spider s~ll mantle 13 1.15
5016 mu~cle 13 1.24
5017 14 1.38
5023 sea cucumber
5057a shore crab gastric
mill 46
5078 coconut crab gastric
mill 15 1.13
Messerschidla debarked
6009 stem 34 1.31
Boerhaavia leaves 33 1.29
6018 bone 17 1.60
7002 Labaredj sOc#y tgrn 13 ~.28 “
7003 Kabelle li~er
fairy tern 13 1.31
7021 m 13 1.36
90gty t~rn
kidnpy 31 1.17,<90 days
1.59, >90 ~~Ys
II 15 1.83, >90 daYS
curlew
 ‘“ (~ble XII Cent.) -66-
Xo . of x,
Date and Substance or Times Decay
Plate Eo. Island organism Tissue Counted Rate
,,
7500a 3/26/54 ao+l t~p in~h 40 1.35
7501 Labaredj 38 1.34
(glass)
... 7501a m u n 1.33
,. w w m 73
.. 7502a Kabelle 40 1.28
8203 Iabaredj pl+ton 8 1.28
8240 Kabelle 8 1.41
1 6844 7/16/54 Hallmeda entnlre 8 1.05
6859 lCabelle 4-1.nchcoconut 6 0.9
.-. 12151 &a:flsh skin 7 0.99
12152 musale 7 1.12
., 12153 bone 1.14
12154 liver ; 1.75
121s5 ‘viscera 7 1.12
12186 herring entIre 7 1.30
12201 but:erfly fish skin 5 ;.::
12202 muscle 8
m u
12203 bone 5 1:39
w H
4 1.74
12204 Ifver
m n
12205 viscera 5 2.14
12231 skin 5 1.49
12232 muscle 7 1.’22
n u
6 1.26
12233 bone
w m
12234 liver 5 1.54
n m
12235 viscera 5 1.25
12236 skin 5 1.21
12237 muscle 7 1.44
12238
t! tt
bone 5 1.63
tl n liver 6 2.06
12239 n n
12240 viscera 5 1.25
12241 mul}et skin 5 1.31
12242 muscle 7 :.g~
w bone 5
12243 n
12244 liver 5 1:79
w viscera 1.25
12245
12251 skin z 1.26
\ 12252 muscle 6 1.41
a 6 1.36
12253 bone
n 6 2.09
12254 liver
n 6 2.40
12255 riscera
71 tern eggshell 40 1.76
9947 12j8~54 So+l mid-iS16Uld 10 1.36
9949 lWbelle intertidal 11 1.23
10700 coc:nut meat 12 0.96
10706 milk 11 0224
10745 Hal Imeda entire 11 1.22
10748 Cnulerm entire 11 1.33
9 19006 plankton 10 1.36

DOE ARCHIVES