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Atomic Bomb Injuries among Survivors in Hiroshima Author(s): Mardelle L. Reynolds and Francis X. Lynch Source: Public Health Reports (1896-1970), Vol. 70, No. 3 (Mar., 1955), pp. 261-270 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4589041 Accessed: 07-10-2018 01:29 UTC

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Important implications for civil defense lie in this study of 6,343 case histories of radiation injuries, flash burns, lacerations, and con- tusions-received outdoors 07o indoors within a 2.3-mile radius of ground center.

Atomie Bomb Injuries Among Survivors

in iroshima

By MARDELLE L. REYNOLDS, A.B., and FRANCIS X. LYNCH

T HlE PRIMARY PURPOSE of this paper

is to present the results of a study of atomic

bomb injuries in relation to the type of pro-

tection of survivors who were at varying dis-

tances from the ground- center of the explosiotn in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. An

analysis has been made of the clinical histories

of 5,136 injured persons and interviews witlh 1,207 uninjured persons exposed to the bomb. These histories and records of interviews were collected by physicians of the Joint Army-

Navy Commission which investigated the medi-

cal effects of the bomb within a few months after

the explosion (1).

Limitations of the Data

It is recognized that no statistical study of the types of injury incurred as a result of the

atomic bombing in Hiroshima can be fully rep-

resentative of those actually sustained in that

city. Authorities agree that no accurate count

of the exact number of dead and injured will ever be possible and that causes of death in the areas of greatest destruction can only be esti-

mated. Since the individuals in our study in- clude only those who survived the disaster and were able to escape from the damaged areas of

the city alone or with assistance of others, the distribution and severity of injuries in this

grroup may be expected to differ from estimated

causes of immediate death.

The total population of Hiroshima at the

time the bomb was dropped and the number of injured survivors have been variously esti- mated. One suich estimate (2) places the pop- ulation figure at 245,000 with equal numbers- 70,000 to 80,000 each injured and killed, or missing and presumed to be dead. If these fig- ures may be regarded as reasonably accurate,

our study comprises a maximum 7.3 percent

sample of injured survivors and 1.1 percent of

the uninjured a figure of 98,265 exposed in- dividuals residing in Hiroshima in 1950 was obtained from the Atomic Bomb Casualty Com-

mission's survivor questionnaire, circulated witl the Japanese national census of October 1, 1950 (3).

Some bias may exist in our sample, because of the fact that many survivors, both injured

Mrs. Reynolds is chief of the Statistics Branch,

Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, with which

she has been associated since 1946. Earlier she was

with the Selective Service System, part of the time

as adviser to the director. Also with the Institute,

Mr. Lynch is chief of the Atomic Unit, Radiation

Injury Pathology Section. He was with the Foreign

Liquidation Branch, Department of State, from

1946 to 1947.

Vol. 70, No. 3, March 1955 261

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and uniinjured, left the city soon after the bomb- ilng, and the fact that an unknown number of the injured may have died elsewhere. How- ever, an indication that many of those who fled the city had returned by the time of the inter- views is afforded by the fact that the popula- tion of Hiroshima had reached 137,000 by No- vember 1, 1945.

A long-range followup of the effects of the detonations on survivors and their descendants mlay alter some of the data as to actual distance of survivors from the ground center of the ex- plosion. It is possible that the earlier inter- viewers' estimates of distances at specified loca- tions reported by those interviewed were ealculated hurriedly or without the aid of de- tailed maps which were available to later investigators.

On the other hand, persons interviewed im- mediately or within a short time after may have given a more nearly accurate description of their positions at the time of the bombing than at subsequent interviews when accounts given by other exposed individuals might have come to be identified as their own experiences. For this reason and also because no similar data based on the interviews by the Joint Army- Navy Commission appear to have been pub- lished, it was considered desirable to study the types of injuries in relation to the distances and the type of shelter or lack of shelter afforded

the survivors.

A recent semiannual report of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (4) states that "1,009 individuals surviving under 1,000 meters

and 9,191 between 999 and 1,499 meters were

located during the Japanese national census in 1950." The Joint Army-Navy Commission

sample includes 816 persons who were recorded

as being within 1,000 meters from ground center

of the explosion, 306 of whom died after admis-

sion to hospitals. At the distance of 1,001 through 1,500 meters, the sample shows 1,134

persons, 1,081 of whom were living several weeks to months after the bombing.

General Characteristics of the Sample

The total case records included in this study

number 6,343. These include 5,136 injured per-

sons, 384 of whom died in hospitals where their

histories were obtained, and 1,207 who were un- injured. All these persons reported that they were within a radius of 13,120 feet from the

ground center of the explosion. Not included in the study are a small number of uninjured

persons within this distance who were in tunnels or air raid shelters and 229 who were at dis- tances ranging from 13,121 to 16,400 feet from ground center.

The distance, in feet, of the injured and unin-

jured persons from the ground center of the ex- plosion is shown in table 1. The percentages of uninjured persons increased with increasing distance from ground center as would be ex- pected. The 5,136 injured persons comprise 81 percent of the total.

Four types of protection, or lack of protection, were coded by the original investigating groups

and tabulated in relation to the 6,343 persons

Table 1. Injured and uninjured persons in Hiroshima sample study in relation to distance from

ground center of explosion

Injured _____ Uninjured

Distance Total Alive Dead (in f eet)__ _ _ _ _

Numhber Percent Number Percent Number Percent

3,280 or less -816 500 61 306 38 10 1 3,281-6,560 2 844 2,465 86 74 3 305 11 6,561-9,840 2 122 1, 564 74 1 4 (2) 554 26 9,841-13 120 561 223 40 - - - -338 60

Total-- 6 343 4, 752 75 1 384 6 1 1, 207 19

1 Includes 1 dead, no injury recorded. 2 Less than 0.5 percent.

262 Public Health Reports

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S.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A

-~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ s 4

Armed Forces Institute of Pathology photograph : _Ct . '< /."'' .9; C' "~~~~:

-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-

Government Prefectural Office before and after the explosion.occurring August 6, 1945 (2,952 feet).

....... SE ................................ .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.:j...... .

Armed Fo vrce nttt fPtoo htgah

,l

Government Prefectural Office before and after the explosion occurring August 6, 1945 (2,952 feet).

Communications building (4,592 feet). General view looking away from the center.

WNi

An example of destruction of wooden buildings by the A-bomb explosion at a point 13,120 feet from the center of the explosion. Photograph was taken at 8:00 a. m. August 10, 1945.

Vol. 70, No. 3, March 1955 263

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for whom these data were obtained. These categories are: (a) outdoors and unshielded, (b) outdoors, shielded, (c) indoors in buildin-gs of light construction, defined for convenience as

Japanese-type buildings, and (d) indoors in heavy buildings of reinforced concrete, some of which were earthquake resistant, and steel

frame industrial buildings.

A total of 2,690 persons, 42 percent of those in our series, were recorded as being out of doors at the time of explosion. More than three- fourths of these, 2,040 persons, were presumably not protected by any type of shelter; the re- mainder were shielded chiefly by buildings.

Of the 3,653 persons (58 percent of those in this series) who were indoors, approximately 89 percent, 3,249 persons, were in buildings of light (Japanese-type) construction, and the remain- ing 11 percent were in heavy buildings.

This low percentage of survivors who were in heavy buildings may have been due both to

the fact that comparatively few heavy buildings were in the area of greatest destruction and to

the crushing or pinning of persons in such build- ings by heavy beams or falling plaster, with

death by fire following almost immediately.

The United States Strategic Bombing Survey

reported that (2), "the entire heart, the main

administrative and commercial as well as resi-

dential section, was gone. In this area only

about fifty buildings, all of reinforced concrete, remained standing. All of these suffered blast damage and all save about a dozen were almost completely gutted by fire; only five could be used without major repairs."

The destruction of buildings in the urban area was officially announced by Japanese au- thorities as 62,000 of a total of 90,000, or 69 percent, with another 6,000, or 6.6 percent, severely damaged (5). The area of severe dam- age by fire was about 4.4 square miles (6).

Only 47 of the 1,207 uninjured persons inter- viewed were in heavy buildings at the time the bomb exploded (table 2). Forty-nine of the 404 survivors, or 12 percent, who escaped from heavy buildings died after being hospitalized, as compared with 335, or 6 percent, of the per- sons in other locations.

Types of Injury Indoors and Outdoors

Only three types of injury were encountered in the survivors interviewed:

Mlore than one-half of 5,136 injured persons

had mechanical injuries. These injuries consisted of lacerations and

contusions caused by flying glass and debris, falling walls, plaster, and other materials. No fractures were reported. This absence of frac-

tures is explained in a report of Liebow, War-

Table 2. Type of protection in relation to physical status of persons exposed to the atomic bomb in Hiroshima

Injured

Total _ Uninjured

Type of protection Alive Dead

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Outdoors:1 Unshielded-- - - - 2, 040 76 1, 754 79 74 80 212 55 Shielded - -650 24 460 21 18 20 172 45

Total-- - - - 2, 690 100 2, 214 100 92 100 384 100

Indoors: 2 Japanese-type building------ 3, 249 89 2, 230 88 243 83 776 94 Heavy building - -404 11 308 1 12 49 17 47 6

Total - -------------- 3, 653 100 2, 538 100 292 100 823 100

Grand total ----- 6, 343 4, 752 384 1, 207

1 Percent outdoors, 42. 2 Percent indoors, 58.

264 Public Health Reports

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Figure 1. Percentage of injured persons with radiation, mechanical injury, and burns

100 LI Outdoors, unshielded

90 ? k Outdoors, shielded

80 Japanese-type building Heavy building

70-

60-

u 50-

40-

30 X

20

10

0 3,280 ft. 3,28 t 6,561

or less -6,560 ft. -13,120 ft.

Distance from ground center

Figure 2. Percentage of persons with mechani-

cal injuries whose injuries were severe

too _

90 - Radiation Mechanical injury Burns

90

70-

60

u50

40

30

20

10

0 outdoors indoors outdoors indoors outdoors indoors

3,280 ft. or less 3,281-6-,560 Ft. _~ 6,561-13,120 ft.

rein, and DeCoursey (7), which states that among survivors seen in Hiroshima 2 months

after the bombing, the incidence of fractures

was less than 4.5 percent not because such in-

juries were few but rather that almost none who had lost the capacity to move escaped the flames.

Forty-five percent of the injured persons had burns.

All except 3 of these were the result of ther-

mal radiation, although 8 persons with flash

burns also had flame burns from clothing which ignited. Investigation indicated that the major- ity of the flash burns, as well as all the flame

burns, were of second or third degree, and

usually were confined to the extremities. Sup- port of this observation concerning survivors is

found in the report of the Tokyo Army Medical

College (8), which states:

"The degree of burn might be expected to be

relative to the distance and presumably those near bombing center should be of greater de-

gree. But it was a fact that survivors near the

center of bombing had either no burns or burns of small areas. Investigation of the survivors failed to reveal any relation between the degree of burns and the distance from the center."

Table 3. Incidence of injuries of 5,136 persons injured by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima in relation to location at time of bombing

Outdoors Indoors

Type of injury Total ___ _

Number Percent 1 Number Percent 1

Total injured -5,436 2,306 45 2, 830 55

Mechanical injury, alone or with other injuries -2, 977 643 28 2, 334 82 Radiation, alone or with other injuries-_. -1, 732 633 27 1, 099 39 Burns, alone or with other injuries - 2, 322 1, 846 80 476 17

'Percentages in this table add to more than 100 since many persons had more than 1 type of injury.

Vol. 70, No. 3, March 1955 265

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Table 4. Location and type of protection and distance from ground center of explosion in relation to incidence of injuries 1

Percent of injured with-

Location and Total _ - protection i-Me- jured Radia- chan- Burns

tion icalI injury

3,280 feet or less

Outdoors: IJnshielded -128 82 28 76 Shielded -62 88 55 43

Indoors: Japanese-type building- 471 92 70 15

Heavy building - 145 77 80 22

3,281-6,560 feet

Outdoors: IUnshielded - 922 27 20 91 Shielded -290 39 59 47

Indoors: Japanese-type building 1, 139 34 84 19

Heavy building-i 188 24 87 19

6,561-13,120 feet

Outdoors: Unshielded -778 12 19 90 Shielded -126 17 59 43

Indoors: Japanese-type building- 863 13 87 14

Heavy building- 24 17 88 13

Percentages add to more than 100 since many persons had more than 1 type of injury.

Effects of radiation were encountered in 34

percent of the injyured persons. As wvould be expected among individuals who

survived for several weeks or months, the radi-

ation was more often described as moderate

than as severe. We have previously reported that 18 survivors who were reported as outdoors

and unshielded within 3,280 feet of ground cen-

ter had symptoms indicating only moderate

radiation sickness (9).

No blast injuries were noted in the persons seen by the Joint Commission physicians, nor,

according to the Tokyo Army Medical College

(8), were there many survivors with internal

injuries and blood vessel injuries. The possi- bility of death from central nervous system in- jury resulting in pulmonary edema and hemor- rhage among persons in close proximity to walls or the ground in cases where the blast would strike the surface square on is suggested by Cas-

sen, Kistler, and Mankiewicz (10), on the basis of experimental data.

The breakdown of injuries by location (table

3) shows that mechanical injuries occurred in 82 percent of the injured survivors who were in-

side buildings as compared to 28 percent of those who were outdoors. In contrast, flash burns were reported for 17 percent of the sur-

vivors indoors and 80 percent of those outdoors.

Radiation effects were noted chiefly among sur-

vivors near the ground center, where gamma

rays penetrated buildings and where instan-

taneous deaths from massive radiation may

have occurred among persons unprotected by buildings. This may account for the higher percentage of radiation injury among survivors indoors than among those who were outdoors.

The incidence of injuries among injured sur- vivors at different distances from ground center

is considered with respect to type of protectionl

Table 5. Types of single and multiple injuries of 5,136 injured persons

Distance from ground center

(feet) Type of injury Total

3,280 3, 281- 6, 561- or less 6,560 13, 120

Total injured - 5, 136 806 2, 539 1, 791

Percent of total

Mechanical: Alone -- 33 8 33 43 With radiation -14 42 13 4 With burns 7 2 8 8 With both- 4 11 4 1

Total -58 63 58 56

Burns: Alone -- 27 3 27 36 With radiation 7 12 9 3

Total -34 15 36 39

Radiation alone 1 8 22 6 5

266 Public Health Reports

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Table 6. Location, type of shelter, and distance from ground center of explosion in relation to type of injury

Percent in group

Total Mechanical injury Radiation Location and shelter (100 per- _ B

With With With burns With alone

Alone burns radia- and radia- Alone s brs tion tionbun

3,280 feet or less

Outdoors: Unshielded -128 1 4 9 14 14 45 13 Shielded -62 7 29 19 21 19 5

Indoors: Japanese-type building -471 6 2 53 9 26 4 (1) Heavy building. -145 19 3 43 15 16 3 1

3,281-6,560 feet

Outdoors: Unshielded -922 5 9 2 4 2 19 59 Shielded -290 29 9 15 6 9 9 23

Indoors: Japanese-type building- 1, 139 53 7 21 3 7 3 5 Heavy building-188 61 9 14 3 6 1 6

6,561-13,120 feet

Outdoors: Unshielded -778 7 9 1 2 3 6 72 Shielded -126 41 10 8 - 8 1 32

Indoors: Japanese-type building . 863 75 6 6 1 5 1 6 Heavy building.- 24 71 8 8-- 8 5

' Less than 0.5 percent.

or lack of protection in table 4 and for the percentages outdoors and indoors in figure 1.

Radiation injury was found generally unrelated to type of protection, and there was rapid fall- off from the first distance zone outward.

Mechanical injuries were definitely related to the amount of protection afforded. Whereas no

more than 28 percent of the survivors who were

outdoors and unshielded in any distance zone had such injuries, the percentages with mechan-

ical injuries who were indoors in heavy build- ings ranged from 80 to 88 percent. Of interest also are the statistically significant higher per- centages of mechanical injuries among persons injured outdoors in each zone who were presmrn- ably "shielded" than among those outdoors and unshielded.

The highest incidence of burns occurred in

the second distance zone and beyond. Forty-

eight percent of all the injured survivors at 3,281-6,560 feet and from this zone outward

had burns, as compared with 28 percent of those nearest ground center. (Burns occurred in only 17 percent of the victims at the 9,841 to 13,120

feet distance.) However, 76 to 91 percent of the injured survivors outdoors and unshielded in each distance zone incurred flash burns. Any

form of protection decreased the percentages with burns.

A breakdown of the injuries into single auid

multiple types revealed that while two-thirds

of the injured survivors had only 1 form of

injury, this was not true of those within 3,280 feet of ground center, where 67 percent had multiple injuries. The types of injuries, alone and in combination, are presented in table 5. Here, by addition of the percentages, it is evi- dent that 87 percent who were within the first

Vol. 70, No. 3, March 1955 267

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3,280 feet had radiation, but it was the sole

injury for only 22 percent. The m--ost frequent

combin-ation at this distance was radiation with

mechlanical injury-in 42 percent. Many such

patients who received therapy were treated for

their mechanical injuries only, since the effects

of radiation were not immediately manifest.

The influence of various kinds of protection or

the lack of protection upon the types of injuries

sustained is demonstrated in table 6.

Physicians of the Joint Army-Navy Commis-

sion assigned ratings of "severe" or "moderate"

to the types of injuries described by the sur-

vivors whom they actually interviewed. Sim-

ilar ratings were not made for the seriously

injured persons who died in hospitals. The

relative severity of the nonf atal injuries within

the first 3,280 feet froim ground center, which is of particular interest, is shown in table 7.

Symptoms indicating severe radiation occurred in 57 percent of the 510 survivors not fatally

injured in this zone, and in 66 percent of those

who were outdoois and presumably shielded by

walls or other objects. Severe radiation among

such survivors in Japanese-type buildings was

approximately the same as for those outdoors

and shielded, 64 and 66 percent, respectively.

Thirty-eight percent of those in heavy buildings

also had severe radiation injury.

Mechanical injuries which were considered

severe occurred with approximately equal rela-

tive frequency in Japanese-type and in heavy

buildings in this first zone.

Mechanical injuries were considered as the

most severe type of injury sustained by 1,396

of the 2,826 persons who had this type of injury.

As shown in table 8, the severe mechanical in-

juries in each distance zone increased with in-

creasing protection and were incurred in ap-

proximately one-half to two-thirds of the in-

jured persons who were indoors in buildings of

either light or heavy construction.

Summary

Data pertaining to 6,343 survivors (5,136 in-

jured and 1,207 uninjured) of the atomic ex-

plosion in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, are

analyzed with respect to the incidence of me-

chanical and radiation injuries and flash burns,

in relation to distance from ground center anid

type of protection. The data were based on

Table 7. Percent of injured persons with moderate or severe nonfatal 1 injuries, 3,280 feet or less from ground center of explosion, Hiroshima

Type of protection

Percent Outdoors Indoors Type and severity of injury of total

injured 2

(510 persons) Unshielded Shielded Japanese- Heavy (84 persons) (47 persons) type building building

(84 ersns)(47 ersns,(276 persons) (103 persons)

Burns, flash -21 63 35 12 7 Moderate ------- 17 49 31 10 7 Severe -- 4 14 4 2

Burns, flame -. 2 --- . 4 Moderate -. 2 --- . 4 Severe - -

Burns, not specified as to type or severity- 7 18 11 5 2 Mechanical - 69 29 53 80 82 Moderate -27 22 28 28 32 Severe -- 42 7 25 52 50

Radiation -85 86 89 89 68 Moderate -------------- - 20 33 15 16 21 Severe --- 57 50 66 64 38 Questionable -8 3 8 9 9

1 Excludes 296 persons who died in hospitals shortly after the explosion. 2 Percentages in this table add to more than 100 since many persons had more than 1 type of injury.

268 Public Health Reports

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Table 8. Persons with mechanical injuries, by location and type of protection 1

Mechanical injuries

Location and type of protection Percent

Total Severe severe

3,280 feet or less

Outdoors: Unshielded -33 9 27 Shielded -30 17 46

Indoors: Japanese-type building- 308 187 61 Heavy building -110 68 55

3,281-6,560 feet

Outdoors: Unshielded -176 53 30 Shielded -168 69 41

Indoors: Japanese-type building 909 482 53 Heavy building -164 102 62

6,561-13,120 feet

Outdoors: Unshielded -143 38 27 Shielded -73 29 40

Indoors: Japanese-type building- 690 331 48 Heavy building- 22 11 50

1 This table omits the records of 85 autopsied persons. since the severity of injury was not recorded by the physicians.

histories and interviews obtained by physicians of the Joint Army-Navy Commission which in- vestigated the medical effects of the atomic bombs in Japan within a few months after the

explosions. Pertinenit observations are these: All the exposed persons were witlhin 13,120

feet from ground center of the explosion; 816 were within 3,280 feet; 2,844, from this distance

through 6,560 feet; 2,122, from 6,561-9,840 feet; and 561, from 9,841 through 13,120 feet. These were survivors who were able to escape from

the area of greatest damage either alone or with a minimum of assistance.

Forty-two percent of the exposed persons were reported as being out of doors at the time

of the explosion, and 2,040, or 76 percent, of

these were presumably not shielded and so were exposed to the full effects of the explosion.

The majority (3,249) of the 3,653 personis who were reportedly indoors were in buildillns of light or Japanese-type construction, and 404 were in buildings of heavy constructioil.

The percentages of persons who weere unin- jured increased with increasing distance from ground center. Only 47 of the 1,207 uninjured persons interviewed stated that they were in heavy buildings at the time of the explosion.

Mechanical injuries (lacerations and contu- sions) were by far the most common type of injury, occurring in 58 percent of the injured, 82 percent of those who were indoors, and 28 percent of those outdoors.

Burns (flash burns in 2,311 and/or flash and flame burns in 11 instances) occurred in 45 percent of the injured survivors; in 17 percent of those indoors as compared to 80 percent otutdoors.

Radiation injury, recorded for 34 percent of the injured survivors, occurred chiefly among those who were within 6,560 feet of grounid center. The overall percentages of those in- doors and outdoors with radiation effects were 39 and 27, respectively.

Although two-thirds of the injured survivors had only 1 type of injury, the same fraction of those within 3,280 feet of ground center had multiple injuries. Radiation was by far the most common injury in this first distance zone.

When the type of protection or lack of pro- tection was considered, it appeared that me- chanical injuries were noted more frequently among survivors in buildings than among those wlho were outdoors, and significantly more often in the relatively few survivors who had been in heavy buildings than among the large number who wvere in the Japanese-type structures. At a distance within 3,280 feet, 63 percent of the injured persons had mechanical injuries, in con- junction with radiation, burns, or a combina- tion of both in 55 percent. Beyond this dis-

tance, the majority of those with mechanical injuries had no other type of injury.

Mechanical injuries classified as the most severe of the injuries sustained were noted more often for survivors in buildings and those out- doors who were shielded to some extent than for those who were entirely unprotected from the effects of the explosion.

Vol. 70, No. 3, March 1955 269

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REFERENCES

(1) Oughterson, A., LeRoy, V., Liebow, A., Hammond,

E., Barnett, H., Rosenbaum, J., and Schneider,

D.: Mledical report of the Joint Commission for

Investigation of the Effects of the Atomic Bomb

in Japan. Vols. I-VI. Unpublished.

(2) U. S. Strategic Bombing Survey: Reports. Pa-

cific War, 3. Washington, D. C., U. S. Govern-

ment Printing Office, 1946.

(3) Folley, J. H.: Incidence of leukemia in survivors

of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

Japan. Am. J. Med. 13: 311-321 (1952).

(4) Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission: Semiannual

report, July-December, 1952. Unpublished.

(5) Governor, Hiroshima Prefecture: Japanese

atomic report for the city of Hiroshima, Japan.

(Translation of Japanese docuiment.) August 21, 1945.

(() Hirschfelder, J. O., Kramish, A., Glasstone, S.,

Parker, D., and Smith, R.: The effects of atomic

weapons. Washington, D. C., U. S. Government

Printing Office, 1950.

(7) Liebow, A. A., Warren, S., and DeCoursey, E.: Pathology of atomic bomb casualties. Am. J.

Path. 25: 853-1021 (1949).

(8) Army Medical College, Tokyo: Medical report of

the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, 1946.

(9) Reynolds, M. L., and Lynch, F. X.: Clinical symp- toms of radiation sickness, time to onset and

duration of symptoms among Hiroshima sur-

vivors in the lethal and median lethal ranges

of radiation. Mil. Surgeon 111: 360-368 (1952).

(10) Cassen, B., Kistler, K., and Mankiewicz, W.: Some

effects of air blast on mechanically constrained mice. Report No. UCLA-166, Atomic Energy

Project. Berkeley, University of California

School of Medicine, 1951. 18 pp.

FDA Tolerances for Food Crop Pesticides

Procedural regulations issued by the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, under the new pesticide amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act went into effect March 6, 1955.

Under the new law, which becomes fully ef- fective July 22, 1955, one year following its enactment, unless extended, food shipments bearing residues of pesticide chemicals in ex- cess of established tolerances will be contra-

band and subject to seizure as adulterates.

Protection of the public under the law with

a minimum of legislation is the aim of the Food

and Drug Administration, hence, regulations

establishing procedures for determining safe tolerances for pesticide chemicals were pub- lished in the Federal Register, February 4,

1955, pp. 770-771. However, petitions from

chemical manufacturers have been processed

according to the terms of tentative regulations

published October 20, 1954, and the final reg-

ulations will not affect the petitions so proc-

essed. Any action taken in compliance with

the tentative regulations will be regarded as complying with the law.

The final form of the procedural regulations differs from the tentative regulations princi- pally in the following particulars:

1. A time limit of 15 days is established within which FDA must notify a petitioner of acceptance or nonacceptance of his petition.

2. Rewording makes it clear that a firm need submit a set of toxicity data to FDA only once.

3. An incomplete petition may be filed if the petitioner insists upon it.

4. A petition may be filed before a sample requested by FDA has been furnished.

5. Rewording provides a more definite time limit for consideration of a petition or request by an advisory committee.

6. The fee provisions of the regulation are changed to result in a more equitable assess- ment of the costs of the service. (The total cost of the service to the pesticide industry is now estimated to be slightly less than the original estimate.)

Regulations fixing tolerances for 28 pesti- cides that were in common use prior to the passage of the new law are still being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration.

270 Public Health Reports

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