Radiation exposure to the population of Europe following the Chernobyl accident

Abstract

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident an attempt has been made to evaluate the impact of the Chernobyl accident on the global burden of human cancer in Europe. This required the estimation of radiation doses in each of the 40 European countries. Dose estimation was based on the analysis and compilation of data either published in the scientific literature or provided by local experts. Considerable variability has been observed in exposure levels among the European populations. The average individual doses to the thyroid from the intake of 131 I for children aged 1 y were found to vary from $0.01 mGy in Portugal up to 750 mGy in Gomel Oblast (Belarus). Thyroid doses to adults were consistently lower than the doses received by young children. The average individual effective doses from external exposure and ingestion of long-lived radiocaesium accrued in the period 1986-2005 varied from $0 in Portugal to $10 mSv in Gomel Oblast (Belarus) and Bryansk Oblast (Russia). The uncertainties in the dose estimates were subjectively estimated on the basis of the availability and reliability of the radiation data that were used for dose reconstruction in each country.

The human sex odds at birth after the atmospheric atomic bomb tests, after Chernobyl, and in the vicinity of nuclear facilities

“…Whereas there is practically no jump in 1987 in France (sex odds ratio of jump (SOR)=1.0003; p= 0.8489), there is after all a noticeable, however insignificant, jump in Germany (SOR=1.0019; p=0.2133) and an extremely significant jump in the Russian Federation (SOR=1.0088; p<1.0E−25). Because France was less exposed than Germany and Germany was less exposed than the Russian Federation (Drozdovitch et al 2007), we observe a qualitative doseresponse association between the fallout levels and the sex odds jump heights from 1987 onward. Together with the fact that the jumps in the sex odds trends follow the exposure in time, strong evidence of causality is obtained.…”

Non-thyroid cancer in Northern Ukraine in the post-Chernobyl period: Short report

“…Maps of Cs-37 deposition show that exposure levels throughout the study area are low, with little variation among the oblasts studied. Estimates of region-specific average whole-body doses accumulated over the period 1986–2005 were 1.7 mSv in Chernihiv oblast, 5.7 mSv in Zhytomyr, 3.9 mSv in Kyiv oblast and 1.3 mSv in Kyiv City(16). …”

Non-thyroid cancer incidence in Belarusian residents exposed to Chernobyl fallout in childhood and adolescence: Standardized Incidence Ratio analysis, 1997–2011

“…Because of the even distribution of 137 Cs throughout the body, resulting organ doses are relatively uniform. An estimation of effective whole-body dose due to 137 Cs exposure at the population-based level suggested low levels of exposure in general (Drozdovitch et al, 2007). For the study cohort participants the mean external dose for the period from 1986 through 2006 was estimated to be 10 mGy and the mean internal dose due to 137 Cs incorporation to be 3 mGy (Drozdovitch et al, 2013).…”

“…Radioactive iodine exposure is primarily to the thyroid gland, while radioactive cesium exposure can involve all body organs. In Belarus, the highest densities of 137 Cs ground deposition occurred in Gomel oblast (Figure), where the area residents could have received average effective whole-body doses of about 10 millisievert (mSv) accrued during the period of 1986 – 2005 (Drozdovitch et al, 2007). …”