OT-14. Testicular Irradiation of Washington State Prison Inmates

From 1963 to 1973, the University of Washington, Seattle conducted studies on the effects of radiation on human testicular function using inmates at the Washington State Prison in Walla Walla, as subjects. Initially, 232 healthy volunteers were accepted into the study program. Sixty were subsequently irradiated with acute doses of x-rays, ranging from 7.5 to 400 rads to the testes. Four other participants went through an identical procedure, but received no radiation. Forty-three were released from the program for a variety of reasons. The remaining 125 inmates served as control subjects in the study. Each inmate selected for the study had expressed a desire to undergo a vasectomy at the conclusion of the study. Fifty-three subjects received post-study vasectomies. The other 11 subjects either declined the procedure or did not receive vasectomies. Tissue samples were analyzed at the Biology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These studies showed that doses of 7.5 rads had no adverse effect on testicular function, that doses of 27 rads inhibited generation of sperm cells, that doses of 75 rads destroyed existing sperm cells, and that doses of 100 to 400 rads produced temporary sterility. All subjects of the study eventually recovered to their normal preirradiation condition prior to vasectomy. Study results showed that adult males are very radiosensitive to temporary sterility, but also radioresistant to complete sterility. This work was supported by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. (This experiment was referenced in the Markey report and included in The DOE Roadmap of February 1995.)

References

Paulsen, C.A. The Study of Irradiation Effects on the Human Testis: Including Histologic, Chromosomal and Hormonal Aspects. Seattle: University of Washington School of Medicine, January 31, 1973. Terminal Report, AEC Contract #AT(45-1)-2225.

Thorslund, T.W., and C.A. Paulsen. Effects of X-Ray Irradiation on Human Spermatogenesis. In Proceedings of the National Symposium on Natural and Man-Made Radiation in Space, edited by E.A. Warman, 1972, pp. 229 232. NASA Document TM X-2440.

From Human Radiation Experiments Associated with the U.S. Department of Energy and Its Predecessors Department of Energy

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