R. Devita et al., Health status and internal radiocontamination assessment in children exposed to the fallout of the Chernobyl accident, ARCH ENV HE, 55(3), 2000, pp. 181-186
The Chernobyl fallout caused release of radioisotope contaminants in a very
large area that includes Belarus, the Ukraine, and the Russian Federation.
In this study, the authors monitored the health status and level of intern
al contamination in 422 children who resided in the aforementioned areas an
d who were less than or equal to 10 gamma of age at the time of the acciden
t. The children came to Italy for a 1-mo period between 1991 and 1992. Duri
ng this time, the children underwent pediatric checkups and biochemical, im
munological, and thyroid analyses. All children underwent whole-body counte
r measurements, and urine radiotoxicological analysis was performed for 224
of them. The 24 children evacuated from Pripiat, a village very close to t
he Chernobyl reactor site, were selected for cytogenetic analysis. All of t
hese children continue to have a detectable internal contamination of caesi
um radioisotopes. This condition is likely the result of ground and foodstu
ff contamination in the various areas. The children did not evidence overt
pathologies related to ionizing radiation. However, minor alterations in im
munological and thyroid parameters were observed in the group of the evacua
ted children. Traditional cytogenetic dosimetry was not possible, but the o
ccurrence of acentric fragments was observed-indicating a persistent effect
of continuous exposure to low doses of radiation.