137Cs Concentration Among Children in Areas Contaminated With Radioactive Fallout from the Chernobyl Accident

Abstract

The level of radiation exposure in children in Belarus caused by the Chernobyl accident was investigated on the basis of whole body 137Cs count. The subjects were 10,062 children (4,762 boys and 5,300 girls) in Mogilev and Gomel, Belarus, who received Chernobyl Sasakawa Health and Medical Cooperation Project health examinations from May 1991 to December 1992 and who were 5-16 y old at the time of examination. The median whole body 137Cs count per body weight varied from 21-48 Bq kg-1 and from 28-126 Bq kg-1 in Mogilev oblast and Gomel oblast, respectively. (The "oblast" is the largest administrative district constituting the country. Belarus consists of 6 oblasts). Corresponding annual effective dose equivalents were all less than the public dose limit of 1 mSv y-1, but the observed levels in the children were considerably higher than the average level of 2.3 Bq kg-1 reported in the past for the former Soviet Union.

Histopathological characteristics of childhood thyroid cancer in Gomel, Belarus

“…Mean soil-contamination value of 5.17 Ci/km2 in patients' residences is also far higher than the background 137Cs level of 0.094 Ci/km2 in Nagasaki in 1990 (Shimazaki et al, 1992). The median level of whole-body count showed a significant correlation with the median level of soil 137Cs contamination (Hoshi et al, 1994), and soil 137Cs level might reflect the soil-contamination level of short-lived radioisotopes just after the accident. But the annual effective dose equivalent was less than the public dose limit of 1 mSv/y recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection in 1990 (Hoshi et al, 1994).…”

“…The median level of whole-body count showed a significant correlation with the median level of soil 137Cs contamination (Hoshi et al, 1994), and soil 137Cs level might reflect the soil-contamination level of short-lived radioisotopes just after the accident. But the annual effective dose equivalent was less than the public dose limit of 1 mSv/y recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection in 1990 (Hoshi et al, 1994). Although no significant dose-response relationship was confirmed, our study showed that most pediatric cancer cases occurred in the background of low-level radio-contamination.…”

“…At the time of screening, the level of radiation exposure in children was measured on the basis of whole-body 137Cs count with an Aloka WBClOl whole-body counter (Aloka, Tokyo) as described (Hoshi et al, 1994). Details on soil 137Cs-contamination level in the respective settlements are included in Table I. The 137Cs-contamination level in the place of residence was available for 5,688 of the 14,396 screened subjects.…”

“…Up to December 1994, 19 thyroid-cancer cases were found and operated among 14,396 screened children in our project, which has three major components: (i) detection of thyroid abnormalities; (ii) detection of hematological abnormalities; (iii) measurement of whole-body 13'Cs (Hoshi et al, 1994). The purpose of the study is to evaluate the pathological features of these cancers in comparison with cases reported in the literature and to discuss the possible role of radiation exposure in carcinogenesis among these children.…”

Retrospective and emergency dosimetry in response to radiological incidents and nuclear mass-casualty events: A review

“…Although some exploratory retrospective work commenced within areas heavily contaminated by fallout from the Chernobyl reactor within five years after the accident (Bailiff, 1997), the work to obtain closer integration of luminescence techniques with the established approaches of dose reconstruction only commenced several years later. In an initiative that formed part of the Chernobyl Sasakawa Health and Medical Foundation Project (Hoshi et al, 1994) a joint JapaneseBelarusian team undertook fieldwork to sample buildings in 14 contaminated settlements Belarus (Sato et al, 2002). Working independently from the effort underway in Belarus, a collaborative group of institutes from the EU states, the Ukraine and Russia undertook fieldwork in three settlements in the Ukraine and Russia (Bailiff et al, 2004a andBailiff et al, 2005).…”