Packaged Wastes 
Packaged liquids and sludges in containers which can 
rupture and thus liberate their contents to the sea, and solid 
materials of density greater than sea water may also be 
safely disposed of in coastal waters if proper precautions 
are observed. The amount of activity which is dissolved in 
the sea water, or taken up by organisms, from such mate- 
rials is subject to the same limitations as for bulk liquid 
wastes. 
Precautions must be taken to guard against recovery 
by fishing or salvage operations, or transport to areas 
where the material could constitute a hazard. Disposal 
areas for such wastes should be in designated locations, and 
all disposal should be adequately recorded and controlled. 
THE PRESENT PROBLEM 
The basis for judgment. 
The request from the Atomic Energy Commission asks essentially 
for a differentiation between safe and unsafe procedures related to the 
dumping of radioactivity into coastal waters. 
The determination of where safe procedures end and unsafe pro- 
cedures begin involves an evaluation of information in two very different 
fields of science. The first is radiation biology, a field that can supply 
information concerning tolerance limits for the quantities of radioactive 
materials that man can have either in his immediate environment or 
within himself, without regard for how it gets there. The second science 
field is oceanography, which can supply a description of the processes 
that can bring radioactive substances from a marine disposal area back 
to man. 
We emphasize here that the very nature of the primary information 
upon which our evaluation is based makes the division between safe and 
unsafe disposal procedures a rather broad region rather than a sharp 
dividing line. Because of this we have, with purpose, adopted a conser- 
vative attitude in our integration of the many pieces of information that 
make up our conclusions, 
Radioactive substances are a potential hazard to man, (1) because 
of radiation received from the immediate environment (external emit- 
ters), and (2) because of radiation received by substances taken into the 
body by ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through the skin (internal 
emitters). In both cases the potential hazards may do damage to the 
individual so as to reduce the life span, impair the functioning of parts 
of the body, etc., i.e. pathological damage, or to increase the mutation 
rate which will alter the inherited characteristics in future generations, 
i.e. genetic damage. 
11 
