Environmental radioactivity in southern Serbia at locations where depleted uranium was used

Abstract

In the 1999 bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, NATO forces used ammunition containing depleted uranium. The cleaning of depleted uranium that followed was performed in southern Serbia by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences between 2002 and 2007 at the locations of Pljačkovica, Borovac, Bratoselce, and Reljan. This paper presents detailed results of radioactivity monitoring four years after cleaning (2011), which included the determination of gamma emitters in soil, water, and plant samples, as well as gross alpha and beta activities in water samples. The gamma spectrometry results showed the presence of natural radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th, 40K, 235U, 238U, and the produced radionuclide 137Cs (from the Chernobyl accident). In order to evaluate the radiological hazard from soil, the radium equivalent activity, the gamma dose rate, the external hazard index, and the annual effective dose were calculated. Considering that a significant number of people inhabit the studied locations, the periodical monitoring of radionuclide content is vital.

Drug utilization in treatment of thyroid disorders during pregnancy in Serbia

“…The analysis of 50 soil samples taken from the region of Vojvodina after the conflict showed slight increases in the activity of 137Cs, which has a negative impact on the environment, from 6.6 in 1989 to 8.2 Bq/kg in 2001 in the region of Novi Sad and from 23 to 31Bq/kg in the region of Vršac [26]. Most of 137Cs originates from Chernobyl disaster [27]. However, while the values in Novi Sad and Vršac slightly increased after 1999, in Subotica region which had not been bombed, with time the activity of 137Cs had the tendency to decline from 9Bq/kg in 1999 to 4,6Bq/kg in 2001 year.…”

A review: Natural and artificial radionuclides and radiation hazard parameters in the soil of mountain regions in Serbia

“…It is also worth noting that many studies have been conducted to determine the uranium content in various environmental samples from locations where depleted uranium ammunition was used during the NATO bombing in 1999 (Miljević et al, 2001;Esposito et al, 2002;Popović et al, 2008Popović et al, , 2010Sarap et al, 2014). These locations are now included as an integral part of the monitoring program at the territory of the Republic of Serbia (Official Gazette RS, 2010).…”

Breast cancer in the Pirot district in the period from 1988 to 2017

“…U naučnoj i stručnoj javnosti postoje brojne debate koje se odnose na dramatičan porast svih vodećih oboljenja (karcinomi svih vrsta, kardiovaskularne i hipertenzivne bolesti, mentalna oboljenja idr) nakon 1999god, kada je tokom 78 dana bombardovanja na SRJ bačeno 15000 tona osiromašenog urana, nepoznata količina plutonijuma i oko 25000tona baruta 22,23 .…”

“…Čovek se osiromašenim uranom može kontaminirati: inhalacijom (preko organa za disanje), ingestijom (preko hrane i vode, tj. preko organa za varenje) i preko kože kako zdrave tako i oštećene 22,23,24 .…”

“…Iako su karcinogena, radiotoksična svojstva ositomašenog urana dobro poznata 22,23,25,26,28,33 , a izloženost jonizujućem zračenju potvrđen faktor rizika za rak dojke (9,10,11,32) ipak je etiopatogeneza značajnog porasta obolelih od karcinoma dojke posle 7-10 godina od NATO bombardovanja Srbije kompleksna i zahteva dalja istraživanja, monitoring i praćenje stanovništva u kontaminiranom regionu, Zaključak U pirotskom okrugu je u periodu od 1998-2017 god.operisano 558 (97.38%) žena i 15muškaraca (2.62%) obolelih od karcinoma dojke. Prosečna starost bolesnica sa karcinomom dojke u vreme dijagnoze je 62 god, dok je prosečna starost obolelih muškaraca 64 godina.…”