Argonne National Laboratory 
 
SERIES TITLE Radiation Protection Records: Bioassay Subseries 
 
 
INCLUSIVE DATES ca. 1945 ca. 1987 
 
 
ARRANGEMENT Chronological (logbooks) 
            Alphabetical by name (cards) 
 
 
VOLUME 20 cubic feet 
 
DESCRIPTION 
These records consist of approximately 80 logbooks from the bioassay programs of 
the Metallurgical Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory plus record cards which 
summarize the data in the logbooks. These records give the type and amount of 
radioactivity in biological samples from the employees and other persons for which 
sample analyses were requested, as part of the radiation protection or assay programs 
of the Met Lab, Argonne, or the requesting institution. The logbook entries 
identify the sample type; the person submitting it; the type of radioactivity, 
radioisotope, or radioelement for which the radiochemical analysis is being carried out; and 
raw data on the results of measurements made. There may be some brief explanatory 
information on the reason for the analysis, and codes were generally used to 
distinguish routine, special request, repeat samples, etc., from one another. Notebook 
Number 1, also marked as Metallurgical Laboratory Notebook 596C, contains the data 
for the plutonium ingestion experiment that was initiated May 13, 1946, at the 
Metallurgical Laboratory. The notebooks also contain information on exposures to 
employees that occurred through routine and accidental operations. It is unknown whether 
the notebooks provide analyses for samples, other than those already noted, that are 
from subjects in human experiments. The summary record cards provide duplicate 
information on the May 13, 1946, experiment and other samples. 
 
 
RESTRICTIONS This series contains privacy material.  
 
 
LOCATION OF RECORDS 
Argonne National Laboratory 
Records Holding Center, Building 4 
Argonne, IL 60439