[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Chelyabinsk
All,
Note that the UNSCEAR 2000 Report Section on Manmade Radiation is at:
http://www.unscear.org/pdffiles/annexc.pdf
Go to page 22 (of the pdf file) for Chelyabinsk.
Regards, Jim Muckerheide
> Following the excellent recommendations by:
>
>> From: Yarmoshenko IV <ivylist@ECKO.URAN.RU>
>> Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 10:14:33 +0600
>> Subject: Re: Chelyabinsk
>
> Note that the principal source of the collected data is UNSCEAR 2000.
>
> A recent paper (2000), including Dr. Degteva, is:
> Radiation and Environmental Biophysics, Volume 39 Issue 4 (2000) pp 219-225
>
> Mortality in the offspring of individuals living along the radioactively
> contaminated Techa River: a descriptive analysis
>
> M. M. Kossenko (1), Y. Ostroumova (1), A. Akleyev (1), N. Startsev (1), M.
> Degteva (1), F. Granath (2), P. Hall (2)
>
> Received: 18 August 2000 / Accepted: 22 September 2000
>
> Abstract: From 1949 onwards, radioactive waste was released into the Techa
> River in the southern Urals and the population living along the river was
> exposed to ionising radiation. Relocation of these people did not start
> until several years later, causing many individuals to be exposed to
> substantial doses from internal and external radiation. The identification
> and follow-up of the exposed individuals started more than 40 years ago and
> is still continuing. The Techa River offspring cohort (TROC) that has
> recently been established, comprises 10,459 children born to at least one
> parent living along the Techa River during the period 1950-1992. Of these
> children, 3,897 were born during the period of highest release, i.e. between
> 1950 and 1956 and might thus have been exposed in utero. A total of 1,103
> individuals have since died mainly due to infectious and respiratory
> diseases, injury and poisoning. Only 25 cases were identified as having died
> of a malignant condition. The radioactive contamination of the Techa River
> in the southern Urals gives a unique possibility to study the adverse
> effects of protracted exposure to ionising radiation in a large
> well-described cohort. The Techa River offspring cohort will make it
> possible to study the effects on those exposed in utero or early in life and
> the follow-up of the cohort in the future is, therefore, of great
> importance. Comparisons with other cohorts of humans exposed early in life,
> will increase our knowledge in this field of research.
>
> Refs on the doses/effects to the region are:
>
> 24. Krestinina LY, Kossenko MM, Kostyuchenko VA (1991)
> Lethal developmental defects in descendents of a population
> residing in the area of a radioactive trace. Med Radiol 36:
> 3032
> 25. Kossenko MM, Izhevsky PV, Degteva MO, Akleev AV,
> Vyushkova OV (1994) Pregnancy outcome and early health
> status of children born to the Techa river population. Sci Total
> Environ 142: 91100
> 26. Kossenko MM, Gudkova NV (1996) Leukemia in the progeny
> of the exposed parents. (in Russian) Med Radiol Radiat Safety
> 41: 2328
> 27. Akleyev AV, Lyubchansky ER (1994) Environmental and
> medical effects of nuclear weapon production on the Southern
> Urals. Sci Total Environ 142: 18
> 28. Degteva MO, Vorobiova MI, Kozheurov VP, Tolstykh EI,
> Anspaugh IR, Napier BA (2000) Dose reconstruction system
> for the exposed population living along the Techa River.
> Health Phys 78: 542554
>
> A summary of previous studies from the paper is:
>
> "Fatal congenital malformations have previously been
> studied in 33,500 children of parents exposed as a result
> of the so-called Kyshtym accident [24]. The average gonadal
> dose was 5 mSv and the non-exposed comparison
> group included 21,357 individuals. No increase in severe
> developmental defects relating to ionising radiation was
> seen.
> Liquid radioactive waste was discharged into the
> Techa River from the Mayak radiochemical facility in
> the period 19491956. Pregnancy outcome and health
> status of the children born to parents living along the
> Techa River has previously been studied [25] and no effect
> of ionising radiation could be seen on birth rates,
> number of abortions (medical or spontaneous), stillbirths,
> congenital malformations, or mortality when children
> of exposed and unexposed parents were compared.
> A study of leukaemia incidence among offspring of parents
> exposed in the Techa River villages has previously
> been conducted [26]. During the period 19501998, 13
> cases of hematopoetic malignancies were registered in
> the offspring. The incidence of haematological malignancies
> in the offspring did not exceed that of the comparison
> group and no leukaemia incidence related to gonadal
> doses of the parents was found.
> The aim of the present paper was to describe the newly
> established Techa River offspring cohort (TROC), its
> structure and potentials, as well as the present status of the
> ongoing studies on mortality related to gonadal, in utero
> and childhood exposure to ionising radiation. Causes of
> death in the TROC have not yet been studied in detail."
>
> In the preliminary childhood mortality data in the paper, there are no
> obvious significant effects, but the oldest of this group is only 50 years
> old so the group will need to be followed into the cancer-prone years to see
> if cancer is increased.
>
> Note the following statement:
>
> "The external
> exposure has been found to be substantially lower
> because previous calculations were based on the assumption
> that all residents in a village received the same dose
> as those living closest to the riverbank. Thus, the distance
> from the river had not been taken into consideration;
> furthermore, the old calculations overestimated the
> time spent on the riverbanks."
>
> And, in ref to Alice Stewart's and other studies:
> "In utero exposure to ionising radiation,
> as a consequence of x-ray exposure during pregnancy,
> has been more thoroughly studied but the data
> are controversial. Case-control studies have consistently
> shown a small increased risk of childhood leukaemia
> following a history of prenatal radiation, but most cohort
> studies have not supported this association. Early
> case-control studies were criticised for selection bias,
> since no adjustment was made for potential confounders
> such as concomitant diseases in the mother and/or
> the fetus, and recall bias, as exposure information was
> based on interviews with the parents of affected children.
> Little is known about the carcinogenic effect of gonadal
> and in utero exposure to ionising radiation after
> protracted exposure. The TROC will provide the opportunity
> to the scientific community to study carcinogenesis
> in a cohort with a fairly reliable follow-up (comparably
> few leaving the area under surveillance) and carefully
> calculated dosimetry. The population is slowly moving
> into the period of life when cancer is most frequently
> diagnosed, i.e. the oldest member of the cohort will be
> 50 years old in 2000, and follow-up is thus needed for
> many years to come."
>
> ************************************************************************
> You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
> send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
> radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
>
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.