RADIOCESIUM IN CHILDREN FROM BYELARUS

The body burdens of Cs-137 were measured in 74 children from Belarus w ho had been exposed to fallout from the Chernobyl accident. The childr en were between the ages of 8 and 12 y old and were visiting the Ottaw a area during the summers of 1991 and 1992. The body burdens varied fr om 0.04-2.25 kBq, which are less than or comparable to the amount of n atural K-40 in the children's bodies. There was no apparent dependence on age or sex. The body burdens were related, to some extent, with re corded fallout levels in the region of origin but did not appear to ch ange significantly from 1991 to 1992. During their stay in Canada, rad iocesium was being cleared from the children's bodies with a mean half -time of 33 d (range = 12-77 d). The highest intake rate of Cs-137 was estimated to be 18 Bq d-1 and the highest dose rate was 0.13 mSv y-1.