Biophysicist Robert E. Rowland, Ph.D.

¹Metallurgical Laboratory established at the University of Chicago during World War II to develop methods needed for separating plutonium and uranium from fission products after reactor irradiation, as part of the Manhattan Project

²Stagg Field, the university's football field, underneath which were laboratories that became the site of the first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction achieved by a team led by Dr. Enrico Fermi on December 2, 1942

³The museum is located about two miles from the campus. It is not affiliated with the university.

⁴the rising or expanding mushroom-shaped cloud that would form from an atomic explosion

⁵a radioactive, luminous white, metallic element that occurs in very small quantities in combination with minerals. Radium emits alpha particles and gamma rays to form radon gas. Radium has been used in luminous surface materials, such as the numbers on watch faces, and used in treating cancer.

⁶a radioactive substance that emits helium nuclei during radioactive decay

⁷a psychotic disorder manifested by loss of contact with surroundings, personality disintegration, and deteriorated ability to function in daily life

⁸For a description of the Elgin radiation treatments and a list of related references, see ANL-1, "Radium as an Experimental Therapy for Treating Mental Disorders at Elgin State Hospital in Elgin, Illinois," in Human Radiation Experiments Associated with the U.S. Department of Energy and Its Predecessors (210+ pages), DOE/EH-0491, July 1995.

⁹Rn-222, a heavy, radioactive gaseous element formed by the disintegration of radium

¹⁰Rowland, Robert E. (1995). Radium in Humans, a Review of U.S. Studies. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, DC.

¹¹a measure of radioactivity equal to one millionth of a curie

¹²a radioactive substance that emits helium nuclei during decay, possibly causing tissue damage if ingested or inhaled

¹³the time required for half of the atoms of a radioactive substance to decay; the half-life of radium-226 is 1,600 years.

¹⁴a fissionable transuranium (synthetic) element. Pure plutonium is a silvery metal that is heavier than lead and is used as a critical component in nuclear weapons. The first atomic bomb, detonated at Alamogordo, New Mexico, July 16, 1945, and the atomic bomb detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945, were plutonium weapons. Because plutonium is highly toxic, concern developed early in the Manhattan Project about its potential health effects on workers involved in machining and handling the material.

¹⁵Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

¹⁶postdoctoral—someone who studies or undertakes professional work after receiving a doctorate

¹⁷a light detector that amplifies a photon's signal by using a photocathode and a series of electrodes to create a cascade of electrons

¹⁸a small, movable, graduated scale running parallel to the fixed graduated scale of an instrument and used to measure a fractional part of one of the divisions of the fixed scale

¹⁹malignant tumors of the bone

²⁰a small, yellowish amino-acid- and peptide-secreting tumor composed of epithelial tissue

²¹malignant tumors composed of epithelial tissue—the tissue layer covering body surfaces or lining the internal surfaces of body cavities, tubes, and hollow organs

²²pertaining to the mastoid process, a large, bony prominence on the base of the skull behind the ear containing air spaces that connect with the middle ear cavity

²³a degenerative inflammatory disease characterized by impaired mobility of the spinal column, in some cases leading to fusion of joints

²⁴relating to epidemiology, the branch of medicine dealing with the incidence and prevalence of disease in large populations and with detection of the source and cause of epidemics; also: the factors contributing to the presence or absence of a disease

²⁵measurement of radiations emitted from inside the body using external detector systems

²⁶use of photographic film placed over thinly sliced tissue to record, in image form, the radiation tracks from the tissue that pass through the film's emulsion

²⁷derived from or made up of bone-forming tissue

²⁸any of various malignant tumors composed of neoplastic cells resembling embryonic connective tissue

²⁹International Commission on Radiological Protection, Publication 20, Alkaline Earth Metabolism in Adult Man, Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1973.

³⁰In May 1946, six male employees of the Metallurgical Laboratory of the Manhattan Engineer District in Chicago drank a water solution containing about 0.18 nanocurie of plutonium-239. The purpose of this study was to investigate the gastrointestinal absorption and fecal excretion rate of ingested plutonium. Researchers also hoped to use the results to improve the interpretation of previously collected data on persons occupationally exposed to plutonium. Participation in this experiment was voluntary, and the amounts of plutonium ingested were sufficiently low to be barely detectable in urine and feces with instrumentation available in 1946. At least two of the subjects were still alive in 1994.

³¹Russell, E.R. Monthly Summary for Biochemical Survey Section. U.S. Department of Energy: Chicago Operations Office, Center for Human Radiobiology, Plutonium Documents, June 20, 1946.

³²to determine the quantity of, especially with precision

³³small tubes; minute tubular structures

³⁴branching cells of the bone matrix

³⁵[U.S.] Energy Research and Development Administration, predecessor agency to the Department of Energy

³⁶the total genetic constitution of the human chromosomes

³⁷National Council on Radiation Protection. Although the words "and Measurements" were later appended to the name, the council's initials remain NCRP.

³⁸Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico

³⁹United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Harwell Laboratory, Didcot, Oxfordshire

⁴⁰Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education at Oak Ridge, Tennessee

⁴¹In 1967 the AEC contracted with the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation (HEHF) in Richland, Washington for a National Plutonium Registry. In 1970, the name was changed to U.S. Transuranium Registry (USTR). USTR's function is to study postmortem tissues from exposed workers to determine the pattern of distribution, concentration, and retention of transuranic elements. The USTR currently is operated by Washington State University.

⁴²pertaining to the esophagus, a muscular tube for the passage of food from the pharynx to the stomach

⁴³an injury or trauma

⁴⁴a test that uses the quantity chi-square for testing the mathematical fit of a frequency curve to a statistical curve

⁴⁵the soft, fatty vascular tissue in the cavities of bones: a major site of blood-cell production

⁴⁶cells that upon dividing replace their own numbers and also give rise to cells that differentiate further into one or more species

⁴⁷any of several cancers of the bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of white blood cells in the tissues, resulting in anemia, increased susceptibility to infection, and impaired blood clotting

⁴⁸marked by an absence or deficiency or leukocytes in the blood

⁴⁹become coated with mineral scale

⁵⁰a 40-percent solution of formaldehyde, used as an antiseptic and disinfectant in dilute solution and as a fixing agent for histological specimens

⁵¹the long upper bone of the hindleg, extending from the pelvis to the knee; thighbone

⁵²Form 189, used by the national laboratories for preparation of short-form scientific proposals to the Atomic Energy Commission, and later the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and the Department of Energy (DOE)

⁵³For the transcript of the interview with Durbin, see DOE/EH-0458, Human Radiation Studies: Remembering the Early Years; Oral History of Dr. Patricia Wallace Durbin, Ph.D. (June 1995).

⁵⁴couldn't find a trace of plutonium

⁵⁵the Division of Biology and Environmental Research