Behavior and Food Consumption Pattern of the French Polynesian Population in the 1960s –1970s

Abstract

Background. Reconstruction of radiation doses to the thyroid for a case-control study of thyroid cancer in French Polynesians exposed to radioactive fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests during childhood and adolescence faced a major limitation on very little availability of information on lifestyle of French Polynesians in the 1960s-1970s. Method: We use the focus group discussion and key informant interview methodology to collect historical, for the 1960s-1970s, data on behavior and food consumption for French Polynesia population exposed to radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons tests conducted between 1966 and 1974. Results. We obtained archipelago-specific data on food consumptions by children of different ages and by pregnant and lactating women during pregnancy and breastfeeding and behaviour, including time spent outdoors and type and construction materials of residences. Conclusions. This article presents the first detailed information on several key aspects of daily life on French Polynesian archipelagoes during the 1960s-1970s impacting radiation exposure. Important behavior and food consumptions data obtained in this study are being used to improve the radiation dose estimates and to update the risk analysis reported earlier by correcting biases from previous assumptions and by providing better estimates of the parameter values important to radiation dose assessment.

Radiological Impact of Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests at Mururoa and Fangataufa Atolls to Populations in Oceania, South America and Africa: Comparison with French Polynesia

“…A detailed description of the methods used to calculate thyroid doses for the populations of these islands can be found elsewhere (Drozdovitch et al, 2021). Behaviour and age-specific consumption rates of cow's milk by residents of Fiji and Samoa were assumed to be the same as those for population of Tahiti (Drozdovitch et al, 2019).…”

“…For Fiji (Suva), Samoa (Apia), Tonga (Tongatapu) and Cook Islands (Rarotonga) thyroid doses were estimated 1966 1967 1968 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 (AWTSC, 1971(AWTSC, -1974 and thyroid doses due to 131 I intake with cow's milk for 1-y old child from Australia (Gibbs et al, 1967(Gibbs et al, -1969AWTSC, 1971-1974), New Zealand (UNSCEAR, 1977, South America and Madagascar (RF, 1967(RF, -1975 with those from Tahiti (Drozdovitch et al, 2021). Thyroid doses due to 131 I intake with cow's milk, which were taken from AWTSC and RF reports, were calculated for daily consumption of cow's milk by 1-y old child of 0.7 L for Australia, South America and Madagascar; daily consumption of cow's milk for Tahiti was 0.37 L (Drozdovitch et al, 2019).…”

Thyroid Doses to French Polynesians Resulting from Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Tests: Estimates Based on Radiation Measurements and Population Lifestyle Data

“…To overcome these limitations, a special study was conducted in French Polynesia in 2016-2017 to collect historical behavior and dietary habits of the French Polynesia population in the 1960s-1970s using focus-group discussions and key-informant interviews. Detailed description and results of the focus-group study can be found elsewhere (Drozdovitch et al 2019a).…”

“…As mentioned above, the TD08 model was substantially improved with data on behavior and food consumption of the population in the 1960s-1970s, which was collected in all archipelagos of French Polynesia using focus-group discussions and key-informant interviews (Drozdovitch et al 2019a). The data collected during the focus-group study were used in TD19 in the following way:…”

“…Questions on consumption of leafy vegetables, such as fâfâ and watercress salad, which were some of the most important sources of 131 I intake with diet, were not included in the questionnaire of Phase I. Information on consumption of fâfâ and watercress salad at different ages in the 1960s-1970s was collected during the focus-group study (Drozdovitch et al 2019a). Therefore, the missing values of consumption rates of fâfâ and watercress salad by the study subjects included in Phase I were imputed with the mean age-specific consumption rates obtained in the focus-group study.…”