Chapter IV. Radiation Protection after the Chernobyl Catastrophe

Abstract

More than 50% of Chernobyl's radionuclides were dispersed outside of Belarus, Ukraine, and European Russia and caused fallout as far away as North America. In 1986 nearly 400 million people lived in areas radioactively contaminated at a level higher than 4 kBq/m(2) and nearly 5 million individuals are still being exposed to dangerous contamination. The increase in morbidity, premature aging, and mutations is seen in all the contaminated territories that have been studied. The increase in the rates of total mortality for the first 17 years in European Russia was up to 3.75% and in Ukraine it was up to 4.0%. Levels of internal irradiation are increasing owing to plants absorbing and recycling Cs-137, Sr-90, Pu, and Am. During recent years, where internal levels of Cs-137 have exceeded 1 mSv/year, which is considered "safe," it must be lowered to 50 Bq/kg in children and to 75 Bq/kg in adults. Useful practices to accomplish this include applying mineral fertilizers on agricultural lands, K and organosoluble lignin on forestlands, and regular individual consumption of natural pectin enterosorbents. Extensive international help is needed to provide radiation protection for children, especially in Belarus, where over the next 25 to 30 years radionuclides will continue to contaminate plants through the root layers in the soil. Irradiated populations of plants and animals exhibit a variety of morphological deformities and have significantly higher levels of mutations that were rare prior to 1986. The Chernobyl zone is a "black hole": some species may persist there only via immigration from uncontaminated areas.

Late Effects of Total-Body Gamma Irradiation on Cardiac Structure and Function in Male Rhesus Macaques

“…Excess risk was observed even at relatively low doses of radiation (0.5–2 Gy), suggesting the threshold for increased risk to the heart ( 7 ) is much lower than previously thought. More recently, a dose-dependent increase in RIHD has been observed in residents of contaminated areas after the Chernobyl accident, ( 8 ), supporting previous findings of increased CVD nationwide in Belarus compared to the pre-Chernobyl disaster era ( 9 ).…”

Therapies from Fucoidan; Multifunctional Marine Polymers

“…Whole seaweed and seaweed extracts, particularly alginate, have been ingested as moderators of radiation damage [78]. The decontaminating effects of alginate syrups and additions to breads and milks have been known about for many years [79].…”

Potential uses of natural zeolites for the development of new materials: short review

“…Cation exchange properties are very important applications, for example in environment protection to trap radioactive cations. It is well known that after Chernobyl catastrophe "permeable reactive barriers" made from natural zeolites, especially from clinoptilolites [25] were applied to prevent diffusion of the radionuclides [26,27].…”