ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT ON BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF RADIATION , JULY 1, 1961- JUNE 30, 1962

Technical Report · Wed Oct 31 04:00:00 EST 1962

OSTI ID:4818974

Onstead, C O; Blumenstock, J W; Oberhausen, E

A two pi liquid scintillation detector and an 8 x 5 in. NaI(Tl) crystal with a 256-channel gamma spectrometer located in Landstuhl, Germany, were used to study radioactivity in man and his environment. The Cs/sup 137/ content of 4000 volunteers was determined by whole-body counting. The majority of these people were residents of Germany but most other European countries were represented also. The concentrations of Cs/sup 137/ in people was decreasing at a rate equivalent to a half-life of approximately 12 to 13 mo when atmospheric nuclear weapons testing was resumed in Sept. 1961. The Cs/sup 137/ concertration was found to be influenced by age and sex, with relatively smaller concentrations found in children under 14 yrs of age. Potassium concentration was found to be greater in males than in females, and in both sexes a slow decrease was manifest with aging. Measurements were also made of I/sup 137/ concentrations in patients following therapeutic administration, K concentrations in patients with cirrhosis of the liver, and Ra and Th concentrations in persons with burdens of these radionuclides, and the radioactivity in samples of rainwater and milk collected from various locations in northern Europe during 1961 and part of 1962. (C.H.)

• Research Organization: Army Medical Research Unit No. 1, Landstuhl Army Medical Center, Germany
• NSA Number: NSA-16-025167
• OSTI ID: 4818974
• Report Number(s): NP-11884
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

AGE
BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
CESIUM 137
CRYSTALS
DISEASES
ENVIRONMENT
GAMMA SPECTROMETERS
GERMANY
HALF-LIFE
IODINE 131
LIQUIDS
LIVER
MAN
MEASURED VALUES
MILK
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
POPULATIONS
POTASSIUM
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIATION DETECTORS
RADIOACTIVITY
RADIUM
RAIN
SCINTILLATION COUNTERS
SEX
SODIUM IODIDES
THORIUM