Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-10-29

members of the Acc research
project at the University OF
Rochester Medical Center in
New York declared President
Eisenhower's defense of further
H-bomb tests was confused
and represented an "oversim-
Publication" of the facts of life
on the fallout.
Nineteen scientists, including
William F. Neuman. top re-
searcher of the Aces project
at the University Medical Cen
ter, specifically took issue with
the fallout references President
Eisenhower made last Tuesday
night in his defense of further
H-bomb tests.
The President said the Ma
| tional Academy Of Sciences
June radiation report declares
/. THAT the radiation expo
sure from all weapons tests to
date-and from continuing tests
at the same rate-is. and would
be, only a small fraction of the
exposure that individuals re-
ceive from natural sources and
from medical X-rays during
their lives"
Safety Questioned
Actually, the Rochester scien-
fists declared: THE Nationa
Academy of Sciences report does
not say that the levels likely tt
he reached, if bomb testing con-
tinues, are safe :. there is gooC
reason to fear they may not be
safe" The FAS Radiation Haz-
ard Committee report. issued If
Boston, declared: 1T may vel
he true that in certain areas Of
the world. the strontium- 81
hazard has already passed the
danger point, to say nothing Of
the additional production of this
material in further tests" The
report said strontium- which
seeps into the human bone. pro.
lduces blood changes and car
lead to cancer. has been steadily
descending upon the earth since
the H-bomb tests began. The
scientists said the strontium-9 81
concentration is greatest in the
soil where calcium is scarcesI
and the human system, lnsteac
of absorbing calcium into thu
bones, then absorbs the stron-
tium-90.
The FAS group cited Com
missioner Libby's own speech il
illustrating that certain area
in Wales have strontium-90 con
Icentrations 80 times greater
than the worldwide average. I
reasoned that Libby's maximum
permissible level'' of strontium
80 intake while still safe TO
people in other parts of tn,
world, might be exceedingly cri
tical for low calcium soil area
like Wales. The scientists alst
CRITICIZED DR.. Libby for basins
his standards for permissibl,
dosage on "occupational expo
sure" as in the case Of an X-ra!
Itechnician. rather than the pro.
longed exposure" which peopl,
suffer in having radiation in thu
soil all around them. The FAs
group further said that fallou
safety levels are being based OF
the limited" experience o
humans with radium poisonin,
and a comparison of this Will
the strontium-90 effects on ex
perimental animals. The scien
lists pointed to a report by tn
British Medical Council declar
ing children's growing tissue
are particularly radiosensitive
and so could not tolerate tn
same maximum permissible dos
level Libby has allotted to hu
mans in general.
Pathological Data Stressed
4 The FAS Committee also salt
recent administration reference
TO a National Academy OF Sci
ences report on radiation hav,
persistently referred to the ge
netics section of the report ant
CLOSED over the reports Patio
logical section. 1t is the Patio
logical section which warn
against the strontium- go hazart
caused by H-bomb tests.
And in Pasadena, A. H. Sturte
want. California Institute O
Technology geneticist and one o
the scientists who had signed tn,
National Academy of Sciences re
port on genetic effects from radi
alton. declared: THE DANCE,