The radioactivity of both samples was carefully measured, and
it was found that the radioactivity in the top layer of the 1959
sample was more than 100 times greater than that in the 1950
sample, while below two inches the two samples showed about
the same radioactivity. At the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
similar dramatic evidence is available. A radiation detector large
enough to enclose a man has been in use there for some time to
measure gamma radiation from the body. The records on visitors
tested with this instrument show that in the years since the test-
ing of hydrogen bombs began there has been a gradual increase
in people's accumulation of cesium 137, a radioelement formed
by the nuclear bombs. Still further evidence has been accumu-
lated over the last few years at the Lamont Geophysical Labora-
tory in Palisades, New York, where human bones collected from
various parts of the world have been analyzed for radioactivity.
The unmistakable evidence from these analyses is that there is
radioactive material in our bones and that this contamination
is increasing.

In milk, in wheat, in tea, in lettuce, in rice--in every foodstuff
exposed to sun and rain, we find a growing concentration of
radioactive material.

That the air also is loaded with radioactive material was con-
clusively demonstrated in the spring of 1959 when the coveralls
of five mechanics who had worked on a Pan American World
Airways jetliner were found to be radioactive. Subsequent in-
vestigation showed that the plane had picked up radioactive
debris in easily detectable amounts on its oily surfaces during
its flight through the stratosphere.

In these facts there is no basis for controversy. The evidence
of a growing radioactive contamination has been obtained from
simple measurement and analysis. Nor is there any question as
to the source of this contamination. The materials responsible
for the increased radioactivity in our surroundings, and in our-
selves, can be clearly identified as fission products. The main
radioactive elements in our bodies are cesium 137 and strontium
90. The air and soil activity comes from radioactive varieties of

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