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CHERNOBYL

Chapter IV. Radiation Protection after theChernobyl Catastrophe

Alexey V. Nesterenko,a Vassily B. Nesterenko,a,†and Alexey V. Yablokovb

aInstitute of Radiation Safety (BELRAD), Minsk, BelarusbRussian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Key words: Chernobyl; dose burden; radionuclide decorporation

Since the Chernobyl catastrophe more than 5million people in Belarus, Ukraine, and Euro-pean Russia continue to live in the contami-nated territories. Many thousands more live inother European countries contaminated withradiation, including Sweden, Finland, Norway,Scotland, Britain, and Wales (see Chapter I fordetails). Radiation protection is necessary forall of these people.

After the catastrophe there were enormousefforts to introduce countermeasures in Be-larus, Ukraine, and Russia—to relocate hun-dreds of thousands of people and to try tolessen exposure to radioactive contamination.Steps that were taken included restricted foodconsumption and changes in food preparation,as well as changes in agricultural, fishery, andforestry practices under the guidance of qual-ified scientists (Bar’yachtar, 1995; Aleksakhinet al., 2006).

The situation in regard to radiation pro-tection in the contaminated territories placespublic health advocates in what is describedin Russian as between an “upper and nethermillstone,” and in the West, as between a rockand a hard place. Authorities allocate as little aspossible to provide financial resources for reha-bilitation and disaster management and at thesame time are reluctant to accept data aboutdangerous levels of contamination of popula-tions, food, and the environment. These atti-tudes hold for officials practically everywhere.

†Deceased.

The reluctance on the part of officialdomto acknowledge the truth about Chernobyl’sconsequences has led to concerned citizensorganizing to find additional sources of in-formation and devising ways to help thosewho are suffering. Hundreds of such pub-lic local, national, and international organiza-tions have been created, such as “Children ofChernobyl,” “Physicians of Chernobyl,” “Wid-ows of Chernobyl,” and Liquidator’s Unionsin Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and many othercountries including Germany, Austria, France,Switzerland, Canada, the United States, andIsrael.

In 1987, initiated by physicist and human-ist Andrei Sakharov, famous Belarussian writerAles’ Adamovich, and world chess championAnatoly Karpov, the Belarussian Institute ofRadiation Safety–BELRAD was established asan independent public organization devoted tohelping Belarussian children—those who suf-fered most after the catastrophic contaminationfrom Chernobyl. For 21 years the BELRADInstitute has collected an extensive databasein the field of radiation protection and hasbecome unique as a nongovernmental Cher-nobyl center for both scientific and practicalinformation.

Chapter IV is based primarily on the BEL-RAD materials. Chapter IV.12 presents dataon the Chernobyl contamination of food andhumans in many countries, Chapter IV.13 re-ports on the Belarussian experience with ef-fective countermeasures to lower levels of in-corporated radionuclides such as the use of

Chernobyl: Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1181: 287–327 (2009).doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04836.x c© 2009 New York Academy of Sciences.

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288 Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

enterosorbents, and Chapter IV.14 outlinescommon countermeasures against radioactivecontamination in agriculture and forestry.

References

Aleksakhin, R. M., Bagdevich, I. M., Fesenko, S. V.,Sanzheva, N. I., Ageets, V. Yu. & Kashparov, V. A.

(2006). Protecting measures’ role in rehabilitation ofcontaminated territories. In: International Confer-ence. Chernobyl 20 Years After: Strategy for Recovering and

Sustaining Development of Affected Territories. April 19–21,2006 (Materials, Minsk): pp. 103–108 (in Russian).

Bar’yakhtar, V. G. (Ed.) (1995). Chernobyl Catastrophe: His-

toriography, Social Economic, Geochemical, Medical and Bi-

ological Consequences (“Naukova Dumka,” Kiev): 558pp. (in Russian).

CHERNOBYL

12. Chernobyl’s Radioactive Contaminationof Food and People

Alexey V. Nesterenko, Vassily B. Nesterenko,and Alexey V. Yablokov

In many European countries levels of I-131, Cs-134/137, Sr-90, and other radionuclidesin milk, dairy products, vegetables, grains, meat, and fish increased drastically (some-times as much as 1,000-fold) immediately after the catastrophe. Up until 1991 the UnitedStates imported food products with measurable amounts of Chernobyl radioactivecontamination, mostly from Turkey, Italy, Austria, West Germany, Greece, Yugoslavia,Hungary, Sweden, and Denmark. These products included juices, cheeses, pasta, mush-rooms, hazelnuts, sage, figs, tea, thyme, juniper, caraway seeds, and apricots. In Gomel,Mogilev, and Brest provinces in Belarus 7–8% of milk and 13–16% of other food productsfrom small farms exceeded permissible levels of Cs-137, even as recently as 2005–2007.As of 2000, up to 90% of the wild berries and mushrooms exceeded permissible levelsof Cs-137 in Rovno and Zhytomir provinces, Ukraine. Owing to weight and metabolicdifferences, a child’s radiation exposure is 3–5 times higher than that of an adult onthe same diet. From 1995 to 2007, up to 90% of the children from heavily contaminatedterritories of Belarus had levels of Cs-137 accumulation higher than 15–20 Bq/kg, withmaximum levels of up to 7,300 Bq/kg in Narovlya District, Gomel Province. Average lev-els of incorporated Cs-137 and Sr-90 in the heavily contaminated territories of Belarus,Ukraine, and European Russia did not decline, but rather increased from 1991 to 2005.Given that more than 90% of the current radiation fallout is due to Cs-137, with a half-lifeof about 30 years, we know that the contaminated areas will be dangerously radioactivefor roughly the next three centuries.

However much money is allocated by any gov-ernment for radiation protection (e.g., in Be-larus in 2006 nearly $300 million was allocatedto reduce radioactive contamination in agri-cultural production), no nation has the abilityto provide total protection from radiation forpopulations living in contaminated areas andeating locally produced vegetables, forest prod-ucts, and fish and game that are contaminatedwith radionuclides.

Thus it is of prime importance that radiation-monitoring capability be established on the lo-cal level so that citizens have access to the in-formation and the ability to monitor their own

Address for correspondence: Alexey V. Nesterenko, Institute of Radia-tion Safety (BELRAD), 2-nd Marusinsky St. 27, Minsk 220053, Belarus.Fax: +375 17 289-03-85. [email protected]

locally produced food and to actively partici-pate in organizing and carrying out radiationprotection. Too often, central data monitoringrepositories have little incentive to ensure thatpeople around the country get the informationthat they should have.

12.1. Radiation Monitoring of Food

12.1.1. Belarus

At the end of 1993, in order to mon-itor food radiation, the BELRAD Institutewith support from the State Belarus Com-mittee of Chernobyl Affairs (“Comchernobyl”)created 370 public local centers for radia-tion control (LCRC) to monitor foodstuffs inthe contaminated areas. The general database

289


on contaminated foodstuffs available fromBELRAD today has more than 340,000 mea-surements, including some 111,000 tests ofmilk.

1. According to the BELRAD database upto 15% of milk from small farms and up to80% of other food produce in three Belarusprovinces was contaminated with Cs-137 abovethe permissible levels (Table 12.1).

2. The percentage of food products with ra-dioactive contamination in excess of officialpermissible levels did not decrease for 14 yearsafter the catastrophe; on the contrary, in 1997in the Gomel and Brest areas this percentagebegan to increase (Table 12.2).

3. Up to 34.3% of all milk tested fromBrest Province in 1996 had radiation levelshigher than the permissible ones. The num-ber of milk tests showing dangerous levelswas significantly higher in Gomel and Brestthan in Mogilev province. From 1993 to 2006,there was some reduction in the number ofmilk tests that exceeded the permissible level(Table 12.3).

4. The portion of dangerous milk tests no-ticeably increased year by year: for exam-ple, from 19.3% in 1994 to 32.7% in 1995in Brest Province; from 9.9% in 2003 to15.8% in 2004 in Gomel Province; and from0.7% in 2004 to 7.2% in 2005 in MogilevProvince.

5. In some places the percent of milk teststhat showed dangerous levels of Cs-137 wassignificantly above the average. For example,in 2006 in Luga Village, Luninetsk District,Gomel Province, results in 90.7% of the testsexceeded the permissible level and levels weremore than 16-fold higher than the provinceaverage.

12.1.2. Ukraine

1. Even up to the year 2000, Cs-137 levelsremained in excess of admissible levels: 80%in berries and mushrooms in Rovno Province,90% in Zhytomir Province, 24% in forest-steppe Vinnitsa and Cherkassk provinces,

TABLE 12.1. Cs-137 Concentration in SomeFoodstuffs in Brest, Gomel, and Mogilev Provinces,Belarus, 1993 (BELRAD data)

Above Officialofficial permissible

permissible levelNumber of level for (1992),

Foodstuff samples 1992 Bq/kg

Mushrooms(starry agaric)

133 80.5 370

Cranberry 429 62.7 185Blackberry 1,383 61.0 185Meat (game) 125 58.4 600Mushrooms

(dried)459 57.7 3,700

Rough boletus 160 57.5 370Edible boletus 561 54.4 370Mushrooms

(boiled)87 52.9 370

Chanterelle 125 52.8 370Blackberry

(preserves)150 42.0 185

Kefir 71 25.4 111Honey fungus 57 22.8 370Milk 19,111 14.9 111Lard 234 14.1 185Sour cream 242 12.8 111Raspberry 154 11.7 185Pot cheese 344 11.6 111Carp 152 11.2 370Strawberry 73 9.6 185Water 2,141 8.8 185Beetroot 1,628 8.2 185Cream 51 7.8 111Garden

strawberries389 6.4 185

Carrots 1,439 5.8 185Cabbage 590 4.4 185Meat (beef) 297 3.7 600Cucumber 433 3.2 185Tomatoes 141 2.8 185Pears 208 2.4 185Apples 1,547 2.3 185Onion 435 2.1 185Cherry 196 2.0 185Meat (pork) 969 2.0 600Butter 51 2.0 185Potatoes 4,996 1.6 370

and 15% in the Volyn’ Province (Orlov,2002).

2. According to data from the UkrainianMinistry of Health, in 2000, from 1.1 up to

Nesterenko et al.: Radioactive Contamination of Food and People 291

TABLE 12.2. Percent of Food Products with Excess of Permissible Levels of Cs-137 in Gomel, Mogilev,and Brest Provinces, Belarus, 1993–2007 (BELRAD Database)

Years

Province 1993–1994 1995–1996 1997–1998 1999–2000 2001–2002 2003–2004 2005–2006 2007

Gomel 12.1 9.6 12.0∗ 12.7 14.8 19.9 14.8 16.3Mogilev 9.2 4.0 4.2 5.3 4.8 5.4 15.2 n/aBrest 15.5 16.6 14.2 17.8 18.0 19.2 13.0 12.5

∗Data on the Gomel Province since 1995 may be underestimated (24 LCRC from the heavily contaminatedLel’chitsy District were withdrawn from BELRAD and transferred to the official Institute of Radiology—Comchernobyl).

70.8% of milk and meat in the private sectorin Volyn’, Zhytomir, Kiev, Rovno, and Cherny-gov provinces had levels of Cs-137 in excess ofallowable limits (Omelyanets, 2001).

12.1.3. Other Countries and Areas

There are considerable data in other coun-tries concerning the contamination of food asa result of Chernobyl.

1. FINLAND. The level of Cs-137 in milk,beef, and pork in Finland drastically in-creased immediately after the catastrophe(Figure 12.1). Beginning in 1995, some 7.7tons of mushrooms (mostly Lactarium genus) thatwere collected annually contained 1,600 MBqof Cs-137, or about 300 Bq of Cs-137 per per-son (Rantavaara and Markkula, 1999).

2. BALTIC SEA AREA. A significantly in-creased Cs-137 contamination occurred inBaltic fish (Figure 12.2) and there was an evengreater increase in freshwater fish (Table 12.4).All game species were heavily contaminated;

TABLE 12.3. Percent of a Milk Tests Exceeding the Permissible Level of Cs-137 in Gomel, Mogilev, andBrest Provinces, Belarus, 1993–2007 (BELRAD Database)

Years

Province 1993–1994 1995–1996 1997–1998 1999–2000 2001–2002 2003–2004 2005–2006 2007

Gomel 16.6 8.6∗ 8.7 9.6 8.6 12.9 6.8 6.7Mogilev 12.0 2.8 1.2 0.5 0.2 0.6 7.2 n/aBrest 21.7 33.5 18.5 21.4 22.8 17.8 7.9 8.0

∗See the footnote to Table 12.2.

for example, Cs-137 and Cs-134 levels reachedabout 6,700 Bq/kg in the golden-eye duckand about 10,500 Bq/kg in other waterfowl(Rantavaara et al., 1987).

3. CROATIA. After the catastrophe the con-centration of Cs-137 in wheat increased morethan 100-fold (Figure 12.3).

4. FRANCE. In 1997 in Vosges Cs-137 con-tamination in wild hogs and mushrooms ex-ceeded the norms by up to 40-fold (Chykin,1997).

5. GREAT BRITAIN. The peak Chernobyl con-tamination of milk was reached in May 1986and was up to 1,000-fold as compared with themean values reported in 1985 for I-131 andCs-137 and up to four times higher for Sr-90(Jackson et al., 1987). Twenty-three years afterthe catastrophe, according to Great Britain’sMinistry of Health, 369 farms in Great Britain,accounting for more than 190,000 sheep, con-tinued to be dangerously contaminated withChernobyl’s Cs-137 (Macalister and Carter,2009).


Figure 12.1. Countrywide mean concentrationof Cs-137 in meat and milk in Finland (UNSCEAR,1988).

6. ITALY. According to radiation measure-ments from the Directorate of Nuclear SafetyHealth Protection obtained in June 1988,meat, noodles, bread, milk, and cheese werestill markedly contaminated by Chernobyl ra-dionuclides (WISE, 1988a).

Figure 12.2. Cs-137 concentrations (Bq/kg) in: (1) plaice (Platichthys flesus) and(2) flounder (Pleuronectes platessa) from 1984 to 2004, as annual mean valuesin the Bornholm and southern Baltic seas. Pre-Chernobyl (1984–1985) concentrationswere 2.9 for plaice and flounder (HELCOM Indicator Fact Sheets. 2006. Online22.04.2008;//www.helcom.fi/environment2/ifs/en_GB/cover/).

7. MEXICO. In 1988 Mexico returned 3,000tons of milk powder to Northern Ireland be-cause of radioactive contamination from Cher-nobyl (WISE, 1988b).

8. POLAND. In June 1987, a 1,600-tonshipment of powdered milk from Poland toBangladesh showed unacceptably high levelsof radioactivity (Mydans, 1987).

9. SWEDEN. Average Cs-137 concentration inmoose (Alces alces) meat was 9–14 times higherafter Chernobyl. Levels were 470 Bq/kg forcalves and 300 Bq/kg for older animals, com-pared with the precatastrophe average level of33 Bq/kg (Danell et al., 1989).

10. TURKEY. Some 45,000 tons of tea wascontaminated with Chernobyl radioactivity in1986–1987, and more than a third of the 1986harvest could not be used (WISE, 1988c).

11. UNITED STATES. Food contaminated inthe United States as a result of Chernobyl isespecially interesting because of the wide geo-graphical scale of contamination and the broadrange of contaminated foods. In spite of offi-cial secrecy (see Chapter II.3 for details) thefull picture of Chernobyl food contamination


TABLE 12.4. Fish Cs-137 Contamination in Fin-land, 1986 (Saxen and Rantavaara, 1987)

Species Concentration, Bq/kg∗

Perch 16,000Pike 10,000Whitefish 7,100Bream 4,500Vendace 2,000

∗EU limit of Cs-137 for consumption of wild freshwaterfish is 3,000 Bq/kg.

in the United States continues to become morevisible. The peak of Chernobyl-derived I-131in imported foods was observed in May–June1986, and for Cs-134 and Cs-137, some 10to 16 months after the catastrophe (RADNET,2008, Section 9, Part 4).

Between May 5, 1986, and December 22,1988, the FDA tested 1,749 samples of im-ported foods for I-131, Cs-134, and Cs-137contamination. The survey had been classi-fied and was only obtained after a recent free-dom of information request (RADNET, 2008).The first food imported into the United Statesthat was contaminated from Chernobyl ra-dioactivity was fish from Norway with a de-tectable level of Cs-137. The contaminationwas revealed on May 5, 1986, that is, 11 daysafter the catastrophe. In May–June 1986, itwas found that 15 samples of imported foods(mostly mushrooms and cheese from Italy, butalso cheese from West Germany and Denmark)

Figure 12.3. Cs-137 concentration in wheat in Croatia from 1965 to 2004 (Franic et al.,2006).

exceeded the I-131 level of 1,000 pCi/kg. Some44% of such samples from February 1 to Oc-tober 4, 1987, had Cs-137 levels higher than100 pCi/kg, and 5% exceeded 5,000 pCi/kg.More than 50% of samples from February 5to January 25, 1987, had Cs-137 levels higherthan 1,000 pCi/kg, and about 7% of sampleshad more than 5,000 pCi/kg.

According to other data (Cunningham andAnderson, 1994), up to 24% of the importedfood sampled in 1989 was noticeably contami-nated. By 1990, 25% of samples were contam-inated; in 1991, 8% of samples; and in 1992,2%. “In spite of the general decline, contami-nated foods were still occasionally found duringFY91 and FY92; indeed, elk meat collected inFY91 contained the highest Cs-137 contam-ination found since the Chernobyl accidentoccurred”: 81,000 pCi/kg (Cunningham andAnderson, 1994, p. 1426; cit. by RADNET,2008). According to U.S. federal regulations,imported foods containing more than 10,000pCi of Cs-134 + Cs-137 must be seized and de-stroyed (U.S. FDA guidelines on May 16, 1986,by RADNET, 2008). The official documentsobtained through the RADNET request (Sec-tion 9) shows that between 1986 and 1988 therewere 12 such occasions.

The food products contaminated by Cher-nobyl radioactivity imported into the UnitedStates from 1986 to 1988 originated from (inorder of the number of cases): Turkey, Italy,


TABLE 12.5. Concentration (pCi/l) of ChernobylRadionuclides in Milk in the United States, 1986(Various Authors from RADNET, 2008)

Radionuclide Concentration Location Date

I-131 560 Redland May 5167 Willamette May 12

Valley88 Vermont May82 New York area May 2852.5 Maine May 1640 New York area May 12

Cs-137 20.3 Maine June39.7 Chester, New May 17

Jersey40.5 New York City May66 Seattle June 480 New York area May 1297 Willamette May 19

ValleyCs-134 9.7 Maine JuneCs-134 + 1,250∗ East May 5

Cs-137 Washington

∗Food, pCi/kg.

Austria, West Germany, Greece, Yugoslavia,Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, Egypt, France,The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Thecontaminated foodstuffs, in order of preva-lence, were: apple juice, cheese, pasta, oregano,berry juices, mushrooms, hazelnuts, filberts(Corylus sp.), sage (Salvia sp.), figs, laurel leaves,tea, thyme, red lentils (Lens sp.), juniper, car-away seeds (Carum sp.), endive (Cychorium sp.),apricots, and even Swiss chocolate.

Table 12.5 shows the level of radioactive con-tamination in local milk after the catastropheall over of the United States. In spite of allthe measurements, according to the official de-rived intervention level (DIL), it is a fact thatChernobyl fallout has deposited harmful ra-dioisotopes across the entire extent of NorthAmerica.

Concentration of Chernobyl Cs-134 + Cs-137 in elk meat was up to 3,000 Bq/kg (RAD-NET, 2008); the concentration of Ru-106 andCs-137 in fiddleheads was 261 and 328 pCi/kg,respectively; in mushrooms the C-137 concen-tration was 3,750 pCi/kg (RADNET, 2008).

12. Some examples of radioactive contami-nation of food products in other countries arelisted in Table 12.6. Although Cs-137, Sr-90,Pu, and Am concentrate in the root zone ofplants, they will be mobilized for decades tohundreds of years into the future, and agricul-tural products will continue to contain radioac-tivity in all of the Northern Hemisphere coun-tries contaminated by Chernobyl.

12.2. Monitoring of IncorporatedRadionuclides

For effective radiation protection, especiallyfor children, it is necessary to monitor notonly food, but also to directly monitor ra-dionuclides incorporated into the body. Suchmonitoring can determine the level of contam-ination for each particular location in a contam-inated territory and for every group of peoplewith high levels of incorporated radionuclidesin order to adequately implement radiationprotection.

12.2.1. Belarus

To determine the correlation between ra-dioactive contamination of food and incorpo-rated radionuclides in children (as children arethe most subject to radiation risk) the BEL-RAD Institute chose the most intensely con-taminated territories from the point of view ofsize of the mid-annual effective radiation doseand the level of local food contamination.

From 1995 to 2007 BELRAD con-ducted measurements of absorbed radionu-clides in about 300,000 Belarussian children.Measurement of the Cs-137 contamination iscarried out by automated complex spectrom-etry of internal radiation, utilizing an indi-vidual radiation counter (IRC) “SCANNER-3.” The Institute of Ecological and MedicalSystems, Kiev, Ukraine, makes the equipment.The BELRAD Institute has eight suchIRC SCANNER-3M instruments, whichmeasure the activity of incorporated gamma-radionuclides (Cs-137, Cs-134, Ca-40, Ra-226,


TABLE 12.6. Chernobyl Radioactive Contamination of Food in Several Countries, 1986–1987

Radionuclide Food Maximum concentration Country Reference

Cs-137∗ Reindeer meat 44,800 Bq/kg Sweden Ahman and Ahman, 1994Mushrooms > 20,000 Bq/kg Germany UNSCEAR, 1988Sheep’s milk 18,000 Bq/liter Greece Assikmakopoulos et al., 1987Mushrooms 16,300 Bq/kg∗∗ Japan Yoshida et al., 1994Reindeer >10,000 Bq/kg Sweden UNSCEAR, 1988Potatoes 1.100 ± 0.650 Bq/kg Croatia Franic et al., 2006Lamb 1,087 Bq/kg Sweden Rosen et al., 1995Milk 500 Bq/liter United Kingdom Clark, 1986Meat 395 Bq/kg Italy Capra et al., 1989Milk 254 Bq/dm3 Italy Capra et al., 1989Perch 6,042 (mean) Bq/kg Sweden Hakanson et al., 1989Perch 3,585 (mean) Bq/kg Sweden Hakanson et al., 1989Farm milk 2,900 Bq/liter Sweden Reizenstein, 1987Milk 400 Bq/liter Bulgaria Energy, 2008

I-131 Milk 135,000 Italy Orlando et al., 1986Yogurt 6,000 Bq/kg Greece Assikmakopoulos et al., 1987Edible seaweed 1,300 Bq/kg Japan Hisamatsu et al., 1987Milk 500 Bq/liter United Kingdom Clark, 1986Breast milk 110 Bq/liter (mean) Czechoslovakia Kliment and Bucina, 1990Breast milk 55 Bq/l (mean Czechoslovakia Kliment and Bucina, 1990Pork 45 Bq/kg (mean) Czechoslovakia Kliment and Bucina, 1990Milk 21.8 Bq/liter Japan Nishizawa et al., 1986Milk 20.7 Bq/liter United States RADNET, 2008

Total Reindeer meat 15,000 Bq/kg Sweden Fox, 1988Mutton 10,000 Bq/kg Yugoslavia Energy, 2008Milk 3,000 Bq/liter Yugoslavia Energy, 2008Fruits >1,000 Bq/kg Italy Energy, 2008

∗Limits of Cs-137 for consumption in EU: 600 Bq/kg for food items; 370 Bq/kg for milk and baby food; 3,000Bq/kg for game and reindeer meat.

∗∗Year 1990.

Th-232, Mn-54, Co-60, I-131, etc.) in an in-dividual’s body as well as the specific dose.It is certified by the Belarus State Commit-tee on Standardization and also registeredby the State Registry of Belarus. Each IRCscanner undergoes an annual official inspec-tion. All measurements are done accordingto protocols approved by that committee.For additional accuracy, the BELRAD IRCSCANNER-3M system was calibrated withthe “Julich” Nuclear Center in Germany (seeTable 12.7).

1. Measurements were taken in Valavsk Vil-lage, in the El’sk District, Gomel Province,where there were 800 inhabitants, including

159 children. The village is located in anarea with Cs-137 contamination of 8.3 Ci/km2

(307 kBq/m2). According to the 2004 data, thetotal annual effective dose was 2.39 mSv/year,and an internal irradiation dose was1.3 mSv/year.

2. There was a correlation between the levelsof local food contamination (Figure 12.4) andthe level of incorporated radionuclides in thechildren’s bodies (Figure 12.5).

The pattern of curves in Figures 12.4 and12.5 reflects the seasonal (within the year) vari-ation of contaminated food consumption andthus the accumulation of Cs-137 in a child’sbody. As a rule, the level of contamination


TABLE 12.7. Cs-137 Body Burden in Children of Narovlya, Bragin, and Chechersk Districts as Mea-sured by Individual Radiation Counters, 1999–2003 (BELRAD Data)

Measured by IRC children, % Children with exposureDate Location n (% of total inhabitants) dose ≥ 1 mSv/year

June 1999 Grushevka 35 (18.6) 26November 2001 44 (23.4) 11April 2002 64 (34) 11November 2001 Verbovichi 60 (20) 33January 2002 65 (21.5) 9April 2002 64 (21) 5November 2002 41 (13.5) 20December 2002 35 (11.6) 13November 2003 51 (16.8) 20November 2001 Golovchitsy 139 (33) 8January 2002 56 (13.3) 4November 2002 103 (24.5) 2October 2003 130 (30.9) 2January 1999 Demidov 109 (38.5) 10November 2001 110 (38.8) 12December 2001 91 (32.3) 9April 2002 94 (33.2) 9November 2002 75 (26.5) 12January 2003 65 (23) 5January 2000 Zavoit 51 (12.8) 4November 2001 52 (13) 19January 2002 49 (12.3) 2October 2003 50 (12.5) 6January 1999 Kyrov 94 (22.2) 16March 1999 98 (23.1) 21November 2001 92 (21.7) 22January 2002 84 (19.8) 13March 2002 91 (21.5) 22April 2002 75 (17.7) 12May 2002 90 (21.2) 12June 2003 43 (10.1) 7June 1999 Krasnovka 21 (11) 14November 2001 Narovlya 34 5January 2002 221 14February 2002 170 8November 2002 56 7November 2003 140 6December 2003 35 6February 1999 Dublin 98 (28.3) 4February 1999 Belyaevka 98 (23.8) 11March 1999 96 (23.3)October 2001 81 (19.7)January 1999 Poles’e 132 (25.3) 14October 1999 185 (35.4) 3October 2001 95 (18.2) 25November 2001 95 (18.2) 25January 2002 148 (28.4) 11April 2002 144 (27.6) 3

(Continued)


TABLE 12.7. Continued

Measured by IRC children, % Children with exposureDate Location n (% of total inhabitants) dose ≥ 1 mSv/year

January 2003 148 (28.4) 5September 2003 141 (27) 9November 2003 140 (26.8) 10December 2001 Sydorovychi 84 (30.3)January 2002 105 (37.9)

increased in the autumn and winter (third andfourth quarters) because of increased consump-tion of especially heavily contaminated foods(mushrooms, berries, wild animal meat). Milkcontamination reflects forage with high levelsof Cs-137 prepared for the winter.

3. Of about 300,000 children from heav-ily contaminated territories of Belarus whowere tested by BELRAD from 1995 to 2007,some 70–90% had levels of Cs-137 accumula-tion higher than 15–20 Bq/kg (leading to 0.1mSv/year internal irradiation). In many vil-lages levels of Cs-137 accumulation reached200–400 Bq/kg, and some children in Gomeland Brest provinces had levels up to 2,000Bq/kg (up to 100 mSv/year) (Table 12.7).

4. Belarus and Ukraine, with levels of in-corporation of 50 Bq/kg, which is commonfor territories with Cs-137 contamination of555 kBq/m2, show an increase in various dis-

Figure 12.4. Percentage of foodstuffs exceeding permissible levels of Cs-137 for theyears 2000 to 2005, Valavsk Village, Gomel Province, Belarus (BELRAD data). The horizon-tal axis shows the year divided into quarters; the vertical axis indicates the percentage offoodstuffs in which levels exceeded the norm.

eases and death rates and a decrease in thenumber of healthy children (Resolution, 2006;see also Chapter II).

5. High levels of the accumulation of Cs-137have been found in a significant number of chil-dren in the Lel’chitsy District (Figure 12.6), theEl’sk District (Figure 12.7), and the ChecherskDistrict (Figure 12.8) of Gomel Province. Max-imum levels of accumulation of Cs-137 (6,700–7,300 Bq/kg) have been found in a significantnumber of children in the Narovlya District ofGomel Province. In many villages in this dis-trict up to 33% of children have dose levels ex-ceeding the officially permissible 1 mSv/year(Figure 12.9).

6. The level of radionuclide incorporationis significantly different for different organs(Table 12.8).

7. Average Sr-90 concentration in the bodiesof inhabitants of Gomel Province noticeably


Figure 12.5. Average specific activity of Cs-137 (Bq/kg) in children from Valavsk Village,Gomel Province, Belarus, from 2000 to 2005 (BELRAD data).

increased from 1991 to 2000 (Borysevich andPoplyko, 2002).

8. The Pu body contamination of Gomelcitizens 4–5 years after the Chernobyl accidentis on average three to four times higher thanglobal levels (Hohryakov et al., 1994).

12.2.2. Other Countries

1. DENMARK. Sr-90 and Cs-137 contamina-tion occurs in humans, with Sr accumulatingalong with Ca and Cs occurring in the sametissues as K. The Sr-90 mean content in adult

Figure 12.6. Cs-137 levels in childrenof Lel’chitsy District, Gomel Province, Belarus(Nesterenko, 2007).

human vertebral bone collected in 1992 was18 Bq (kg Ca)−1. Whole body measurementsof Cs-137 were resumed after the Chernobylaccident. The measured mean level of Cs-137in 1990 was 359 Bq (kg K)−1 (Aarkrog et al.,1995).

2. FINLAND. Peak body burdens in Finland in1986 were 6,300 and 13,000 Bq for Cs-134 andfor Cs-137, respectively (Rahola et al., 1987).The average Cs-137 body burden 17 yearsafter the catastrophe for the entire countrywas about 200 Bq; for inhabitants of Padasyoki

Figure 12.7. Cs-137 levels in children ofEl’sk District, Gomel Province, Belarus (Nesterenko,2007).


Figure 12.8. Cs-137 levels in children of Chech-ersk District, Gomel Province, Belarus (Nesterenko,2007).

City it was 3,000 Bq (the maximum figure was15,000 Bq). At the end of 1986 the mean Cs-134 body burden was 730 Bq. The Cs-137mean body burden increased from 150 to 1,500Bq in December 1986. The maximum levelsof body burdens for Cs-134 and C-137 were

Figure 12.9. Cs-137 levels in childrenof Narovlya District, Gomel Province, Belarus(Nesterenko, 2007).

TABLE 12.8. Concentration (Bq/kg) of the Cs-137 in Autopsied Organs (56 Persons), GomelProvince, 1997 (Bandazhevsky, 2003)

Organ Concentration

Thyroid 2,054 ± 288Adrenal glands 1,576 ± 290Pancreas 1,359 ± 350Thymus 930 ± 278Skeletal muscle 902 ± 234Spleen 608 ± 109Heart 478 ± 106Liver 347 ± 61

6,300 and 13,000 Bq, respectively (Rahola et al.,1987).

3. JAPAN. Before the Chernobyl accident Cs-137 body burdens were about 30 Bq, rising theyear following 1986 to more than 50 Bq withvalues still increasing in May 1987. This com-pares to body burdens in England of 250–450Bq (Uchiyama et al., 1998). Peak concentra-tions of I-131 in urine increased to 3.3 Bq/mlin adult males (Kawamura et al., 1988). Beforethe Chernobyl catastrophe Cs-137 body bur-dens were about 30 Bq, rising to more than50 Bq in 1986 with values continuing to in-crease in May 1987 (Uchiyama and Kobayashi,1988).

4. ITALY. Average I-131 thyroid incorpora-tion for 51 adults was 6.5 Bq/g from May 3 toJune 16, 1986 (Orlando et al., 1986). Peak uri-nary excretion of Cs-137 occurred 300 to 425days after the main fallout cloud had passed onMay 5, 1986: pv 15–20 Bq/day (Capra et al.,1989).

5. GERMANY AND FRANCE. There are dataconcerning human contamination by Cher-nobyl radionuclides outside of the Former So-viet Union. Figure 12.10 shows body burdenlevels of Cs-137 in Germany and France.

6. GREAT BRITAIN. Average Cs-134 + Cs-137 body burden levels for adults in Scotlandin 1986 after the catastrophe were: Cs-134, 172Bq; Cs-137, 363 Bq; and K-40, 4,430 Bq. Peakconcentrations were: Cs-134, 285 Bq and Cs-137, 663 Bq (Watson, 1986). The Cs-137 body


Figure 12.10. Body burden of Cs-137 (Bq) in humans in Munich, Germany: (A) males,(B) females); in Grenoble, France (C) adults (UNSCEAR, 1988).

burden in England in 1987 was 250–450 Bq(Uchiyama and Kobayashi, 1988). The thyroidI-131 burden measured in the neck region wasup to 33 Bq in adults and up to 16 Bq in childrenin Britain (Hill et al., 1986).

12.3. Conclusion

All people living in territories heavily con-taminated by Chernobyl fallout continue to beexposed to low doses of chronic radiation. Hu-man beings do not have sense organs to detectionizing radiation because it cannot be per-ceived by sight, smell, taste, hearing, or touch.Therefore without special equipment to iden-tify levels of environmental contamination, itis impossible to know what radionuclide levelsare in our food and water or have been incor-porated into our bodies.

The simplest way to ensure radiation safetyin all areas contaminated by Chernobyl is tomonitor food for incorporated radionuclides.Analysis of levels of incorporated gamma-radionuclides by individual spectrometry (IRC)and radioactive monitoring of local foodin many Belarussian locations have demon-strated a high correlation between Cs-137 foodcontamination and the amount of radionu-clides in humans and, most importantly, inchildren.

Chapter II of this volume detailed manycases of deterioration in public health associ-ated with the Chernobyl radionuclide contam-ination. Many people suffer from continuingchronic low-dose radiation 23 years after thecatastrophe, owing primarily to consumptionof radioactively contaminated food. An impor-tant consideration is the fact that given an iden-tical diet, a child’s radiation exposure is three-to fivefold higher than that of an adult. Sincemore than 90% of the radiation burden nowa-days is due to Cs-137, which has a half-life ofabout 30 years, contaminated areas will con-tinue to be dangerously radioactive for roughlythe next three centuries.

Experience has shown that existing officialradioactive monitoring systems are inadequate(not only in the countries of the Former SovietUnion). Generally, the systems cover territo-ries selectively, do not measure each person,and often conceal important facts when releas-ing information. The common factor amongall governments is to minimize spending forwhich they are not directly responsible, such asthe Chernobyl meltdown, which occurred 23years ago. Thus officials are not eager to ob-tain objective data of radioactive contamina-tion of communities, individuals, or food. Un-der such circumstances, which are common,an independent system of public monitoring isneeded. Such an independent system is not a


substitute for official responsibility or control,but is needed to provide regular voluntarymonitoring of food for each family, whichwould determine the radionuclide level in eachperson.

We have to take responsibility not only forour own health, but for the health of futuregenerations of humans, plants, and animals,which can be harmed by mutations resultingfrom exposure to even the smallest amount ofradioactive contamination.

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CHERNOBYL

13. Decorporation of ChernobylRadionuclides

Vassily B. Nesterenko and Alexey V. Nesterenko

Tens of thousands of Chernobyl children (mostly from Belarus) annually leave to receivetreatment and health care in other countries. Doctors from many countries gratuitouslywork in the Chernobyl contaminated territories, helping to minimize the consequencesof this most terrible technologic catastrophe in history. But the scale and spectrum ofthe consequences are so high, that no country in the world can cope alone with thelong-term consequences of such a catastrophe as Chernobyl. The countries that havesuffered the most, especially Ukraine and Belarus, extend gratitude for the help thathas come through the United Nations and other international organizations, as wellas from private funds and initiatives. Twenty-two years after the Chernobyl releases,the annual individual dose limit in heavily contaminated territories of Belarus, Ukraine,and European Russia exceed 1 mSv/year just because of the unavoidable consumption oflocally contaminated products. The 11-year experience of the BELRAD Institute showsthat for effective radiation protection it is necessary to establish the interference levelfor children at 30% of the official dangerous limit (i.e., 15–20 Bq/kg). The direct wholebody counting measurements of Cs-137 accumulation in the bodies of inhabitants ofthe heavily contaminated Belarussian region shows that the official Dose Catalogue un-derestimates the annual dose burdens by three to eight times. For practical reasons thecurative-like use of apple-pectin food additives might be especially helpful for effectivedecorporation of Cs-137. From 1996 to 2007 a total of more than 160,000 Belarussianchildren received pectin food additives during 18 to 25 days of treatment (5 g twice aday). As a result, levels of Cs-137 in children’s organs decreased after each course ofpectin additives by an average of 30 to 40%. Manufacture and application of variouspectin-based food additives and drinks (using apples, currants, grapes, sea seaweed,etc.) is one of the most effective ways for individual radioprotection (through decorpo-ration) under circumstances where consumption of radioactively contaminated food isunavoidable.

There are three basic ways to decrease the ra-dionuclide levels in the bodies of people livingin contaminated territories: reduce the amountof radionuclides in the food consumed, accel-erate removal of radionuclides from the body,and stimulate the body’s immune and otherprotective systems.

Address for correspondence: Alexey V. Nesterenko, Institute of Radia-tion Safety (BELRAD), 2-nd Marusinsky St. 27, Minsk, 220053, Belarus.Fax: +375 17 289-03-85. [email protected]

13.1. Reducing Radionuclidesin Food

Soaking in water, scalding, salting, and pick-ling foods such as mushrooms and vegetablesand processing the fats in milk and cheeses canreduce the amount of radionuclides in somefoods severalfold.

Stimulation of the body’s natural defensesthrough the use of food additives that raiseone’s resistance to irradiation is also useful.Among such additives are the antioxidant vita-mins A and C and the microelements I, Cu, Zn,Se, and Co, which interfere with free-radical

303


formation. The additives prevent the oxida-tion of organic substances caused by irradiation(lipid peroxidation). Various food supplementscan stimulate immunity: sprouts of plants, suchas wheat, seaweed (e.g., Spirulina), pine needles,mycelium, and others.

Accelerating the removal of radionuclidesis done in three ways (Rudnev et al., 1995;Trakhtenberg, 1995; Leggett et al., 2003; andmany others):

• Increase the stable elements in food to im-pede the incorporation of radionuclides.For example, K and Rb interfere with theincorporation of Cs; Ca interferes with Sr;and trivalent Fe interferes with the uptakeof Pu.

• Make use of the various food additives thatcan immobilize radionuclides.

• Increase consumption of liquids to “washaway” radionuclides—infusions, juices,and other liquids as well as enriched foodwith dietary fiber.

Decorporants (decontaminants) are prepa-rations that promote the removal of incorpo-rated radionuclides via excretion in feces andurine. Several effective decorporants specificfor medical treatment of heavy radionuclidecontamination are known (for Cs, Fe com-pounds; for Sr, alginates and barium sulfates;for Pu, ion-exchange resins, etc.). They are ef-fective in cases of sudden contamination. In theheavily contaminated Belarussian, Ukrainian,and European Russian territories the situationis different. Daily exposure to small amountsof radionuclides (mostly Cs-137) is virtually un-avoidable as they get into the body with food(up to 94%), with drinking water (up to 5%),and through the air (about 1%). Accumulationof radionuclides in the body is dangerous, pri-marily for children, and for those living in thecontaminated territories where there are highlevels of Cs-137 in local foodstuffs (see Chap-ter IV.12). The incorporation of radionuclidesis now the primary cause of the deteriorationof public health in the contaminated territories(see Chapter II for details), and all possible ap-

proaches should be employed to mitigate theconsequences of that irradiation.

There is evidence that incorporation of50 Bq/kg of Cs-137 into a child’s body canproduce pathological changes in vital organ sys-tems (cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, andimmune), as well as in the kidneys, liver, eyes,and other organs (Bandazhevskaya et al., 2004).Such levels of radioisotope incorporation arenot unusual in the Chernobyl-contaminatedareas of Belarus, Ukraine, and European Rus-sia nowadays (see Chapter III.11 for details),which is why it is necessary to use any andall possible measures to decrease the level ofradionuclide incorporation in people living inthose territories. When children have the samemenu as adults, they get up to five times higherdose burdens from locally produced foodstuffsbecause of their lower weight and more ac-tive processes of metabolism. Children liv-ing in rural villages have a dose burden fiveto six times higher than city children of thesame age.

13.2. Results of Decontaminationby the Pectin Enterosorbents

It is known that pectin chemically bindscations such as Cs in the gastrointestinal tractand thereby increases fecal excretion. Researchand development by the Ukrainian Centerof Radiation Medicine (Porokhnyak-Ganovska,1998) and the Belarussian Institute of Radia-tion Medicine and Endocrinology (Gres’ et al.,1997) have led to the conclusion that addingpectin preparations to the food of inhabitantsof the Chernobyl-contaminated regions pro-motes an effective excretion of incorporatedradionuclides.

1. In 1981, based on 2-year clinical tests, theJoint Committee of the World Health Organi-zation (WHO) and the U.N. Food and Agri-culture Organization (FAO) on Food Additivesdeclared the pectinaceous enterosorbents ef-fective and harmless for everyday use (WHO,1981).

Nesterenko & Nesterenko: Decorporation of Radionuclides 305

2. In Ukraine and Belarus various pectin-based preparations have been studied as agentsto promote the excretion of incorporated ra-dionuclides (Gres’, 1997; Ostapenko, 2002;Ukrainian Institute, 1997). The product basedon the pectin from an aquatic plant (Zostera),known commercially as Zosterin-Ultra� is amass prophylaxis agent used in the Russiannuclear industry. As it is a nonassimilatedpectin, the injection of zosterine into the blood-stream does not harm nutrition, metabolism, orother functions. Zosterin-Ultra� in liquid formfor oral administration was approved by theUkrainian Ministry of Health (1998) and theRussian Ministry of Health (1999) as a biolog-ically active (or therapeutic) food additive en-dowed with enterosorption and hemosorptionproperties.

3. In 1996, the BELRAD Institute initiatedenterosorbent treatments based on pectin foodadditives (Medetopect�, France; Yablopect�,Ukraine) to accelerate the excretion of Cs-137. In 1999 BELRAD together with “Her-mes” Hmbh (Munich, Germany) developed acomposition of apple pectin additives known asVitapect� powder, made up of pectin (concen-tration 18–20%) supplemented with vitaminsB1, B2, B6, B12, C, E, beta-carotene, folic acid;the trace elements K, Zn, Fe, and Ca; and fla-voring. BELRAD has been producing this foodadditive, which has been approved by the Be-larussian Ministry of Health, since 2000.

4. In June–July 2001 BELRAD together withthe association “Children of Chernobyl of Be-larus” (France) in the Silver Springs sanatorium(Svetlogorsk City, Gomel Province) conducteda placebo-controlled double-blind study of 615children with internal contamination who weretreated with Vitapect (5 g twice a day) for a 3-week period. In children taking the Vitapect(together with clean food) Cs-137 levels werelowered much more effectively than in the con-trol group, who had clean food combined witha placebo (Table 13.1 and Figure 13.1).

5. In another group of children the relativereduction in the specific activity of Cs-137 inthe Vitapect-intake group was 32.4 ± 0.6%,

TABLE 13.1. Decreased Cs-137 Concentrationafter Using Vitapect for 21 Days (Total 615 Chil-dren) in 2001 in the Silver Springs BelarussianSanatorium (BELRAD Institute Data)

Concentration of Cs-137, Bq/kg

Group Before In 21 days Decrease,%

Vitapect 30.1 ± 0.7 10.4 ± 1.0 63.6∗

Placebo 30.0 ± 0.9 25.8 ± 0.8 13.9

∗p < 0.01.

and that of the placebo group was 14.2 ±0.5% (p > 0.001), with a mean effective half-life for Cs-137 in a body of 27 days for thepectin group, as compared with 69 days with-out pectin. This was a reduction of the effectivehalf-life by a factor of 2.4. These results meanthat the pectin additive Vitapect with clean nu-trition appears to be 50% more effective in de-creasing the levels of Cs-137 than clean nutri-tion alone (Nesterenko et al., 2004).

6. A clinical study of 94 children, 7 to 17years of age, divided into two groups accord-ing to their initial level of Cs-137 contami-nation determined by whole body counting(WBC) and given Vitapect orally for 16 days(5 g twice a day) revealed both a significantdecrease in incorporated Cs-137 and marked

Figure 13.1. Decrease in levels of specific ac-tivity of Cs-137 in children’s bodies after Vitapectintake (5 g twice a day) for 21 days (Nesterenkoet al., 2004).


TABLE 13.2. EKG Normalization Results in theTwo Groups of Children Contaminated with Cs-137 Treated with Vitapect (Bandazevskaya et al.,2004)

Before After 16 days

Normal NormalGroup EKG,% Bq/kg EKG,% Bq/kg

1 72 38 ± 2.4 87 232 79 122 ± 18.5 93 88

improvement in their electrocardiograms(EKG; Table 13.2).

7. From 2001 to 2003 the association “Chil-dren of Chernobyl in Belarus” (France), Mit-terand’s Fund (France), the Fund for Childrenof Chernobyl (Belgium), and the BELRAD In-stitute treated 1,400 children (10 schools serv-ing 13 villages) in the Narovlyansky District,Gomel Province, in cycles in which the chil-dren received the pectin preparation Vitapectfive times over the course of a year. The re-sults demonstrated a three- to fivefold annualdecrease in radioactive contamination in chil-dren who took the Vitapect. The results for onevillage can be seen in Figure 13.2.

8. There was concern that pectin enterosor-bents remove not only Cs-137, but also vitalmicroelements. Special studies were carried outin 2003 and 2004 within the framework of the

Figure 13.2. Changes in average specific activity of Cs-137 (Bq/kg) in the bodies ofchildren of Verbovichi Village, Narovlyansky District, Gomel Province. Averages for these dataare shown. Dotted line indicates the periods of Vitapect intake (Nesterenko et al., 2004).

TABLE 13.3. Results of Treatment of 46 Childrenfor 30 Days in France in 2004 (BELRAD InstituteData)

Concentration, Bq/kgDecrease,

Before After %

Vitapect 39.0 ± 4.4 24.6 ± 3.4 37∗

Placebo 29.6 ± 2.7 24.6 ± 2.1 17

∗p < 0.05.

project “Highly-Irradiated Belarus Children”with the support of the German Federal Officeof Radiation Protection (BfS). Tests carried outin three Belarus sanatoriums (Timberland, Sil-ver Springs, and Belarussian Girls) showed thatVitapect does not impair the positive balanceof the K, Zn, Cu, and Fe in children’s blood(Nesterenko et al., 2004).

9. At the request of the “Chernobyl’s Chil-dren” NGOs initiatives in Germany, France,England, and Ireland, the BELRAD Instituteconducted measurements of Cs-137 in childrenbefore departure to and after their return fromhealth programs in these countries. Childrenwho only ate clean food during the 25–30 daysshowed a decrease in Cs-137 levels of some 20to 22%, whereas children who also received acourse of treatment with Vitapect showed aneven further decrease in the level of Cs-137 in-corporation (Tables 13.3 and 13.4).


TABLE 13.4. Several Results of Vitapect Treat-ment of Belarussian Children (BELRAD InstituteData)

Concentration,Bq/kg

Decreasing,Before After % Group data

30.0 ± 1.5 19.2 ± 1.4∗ 36 Germany, n = 43;Jul. 7 to Aug. 29,

200742.1 ± 5.1 19.6 ± 2.5∗ 53 Spain, n = 30;

Jul. 2 to Aug. 30,2007

26.4 ± 1.5 13.2 ± 0.8∗ 50 Canada, n = 22;Jun. 26 to Aug. 22,

200723.4 ± 2.0 11.8 ± 0.7∗ 49 Canada, n = 15;

Jun. 24 to Aug. 22,2007

∗p < 0.01.

10. The frequency distribution of the activ-ity reduction in one experiment is shown inFigure 13.3. The relative reduction of the spe-cific activity for the pectin groups was 32.4%(arithmetic mean) and 33.6% (median), respec-tively, whereas the specific activity in the chil-dren who received placebos decreased only by14.2% (arithmetic mean) and 13.1% (median),respectively. This corresponds to a reduction inthe mean effective half-life of 27 days for thepectin groups, as compared with 69 days forthe placebo groups.

11. The two calculated whole-body reten-tion functions are shown in Figure 13.4 (foradults). The first curve represents the effect ofreplacing contaminated food by clean food ef-fective from t = 0 and the second correspondsto clean food plus Vitapect, also effective fromt = 0. The observed reduction of mean effectivehalf-life (69→27 days) corresponds to a factorof 2.5.

12. From 1996 to 2007 a total of more than160,000 Belarussian children received oral Vi-tapect (5 g twice a day) for an 18- to 25-daycourse of treatment. The results showed a de-crease in Cs-137 levels after each course oftreatment by an average of 30–40%.

Figure 13.3. Frequency of occurrence of ob-served relative reduction of the Cs-137 body burdenwith Vitapect treatment in Belarussian children (Hillet al., 2007).

Based on long-term experience, the BEL-RAD Institute recommends that all childrenliving in radioactive contaminated territoriesreceive a quadruple course of oral pectin foodadditives annually along with their conven-tional food ration. Eleven years of BELRAD’sactivities in controlling levels of incorporatedCs-137 in more than 327,000 children hasnot caused alarm in the population or radio-phobia and has led to the spread of knowl-edge concerning radiation protection and an

Figure 13.4. Theoretical retention functions foradults based on the model of Leggett et al. (2003).The upper curve shows the effect of clean food andthe lower one illustrates the additional effect of block-ing adsorption using Vitapect (Hill et al., 2007).


increased sense of personal responsibility forone’s health.

13.3. New Principles of RadiationProtection Based on Direct

Measurements

The BELRAD Institute’s 11 years of ex-perience shows that for effective radiationprotection in the contaminated territories, anintervention level—30% of the official danger-ous limit (i.e., 15–20 Bq/kg)—must be estab-lished for children.

1. The direct whole body counting (WBC)measurements of Cs-137 accumulation in indi-viduals in the heavily contaminated Belarussianregions showed that the official Dose Catalogueprepared on the basis of the Cs-137 concentra-tions in 10 milk samples and 10 potato samplesunderestimates the annual personal dose bur-den three- to eightfold and cannot be relied onfor effective radiation protection.

2. It is obvious that a true dose catalogue ofthe contaminated population should be devel-oped on the basis of the data obtained from thedirect WBC measurements of Cs-137, whichreflect the accumulated internal dose burden.This should be done via reliable sampling ofinhabitants from each area of Belarus affectedby Chernobyl.

3. Only by combining WBC measurementsof Cs-137 accumulation in the body with medi-cal evaluations can the causal relationship (dosedependence) between the increase in morbidityand incorporated radionuclides in the popula-tion be known. At this time, these data can onlybe obtained in the Chernobyl-contaminatedregions of Belarus, Ukraine, and EuropeanRussia. This information can be an importantfactor in designing radiation protection andtreating people, in persuading the world com-munity of the need to help Belarus minimizeradiation exposures, and in understanding thedimensions of the consequences of the Cher-nobyl catastrophe.

13.4. Where International Helpfor Chernobyl’s Children Would

Be Especially Effective

No country in the world is able to cope alonewith the long-term consequences of a catastro-phe of the magnitude of the meltdown in Cher-nobyl. The countries most severely affected, es-pecially Ukraine and Belarus, which sufferedgreatly, are grateful for the help they get fromthe United Nations and other international or-ganizations, as well as from private funds andinitiatives.

Annually, tens of thousands of Chernobylchildren go to other countries for treatmentto improve their health. Doctors from manycountries work pro bono in the Chernobyl-contaminated territories to help minimize theconsequences of this most terrible technologiccatastrophe in history. The scale and the rangeof the consequences are so great that there isalways the question of how to make such helpeven more effective.

Experience from large-scale long-term pro-grams to monitor foodstuffs and the levels ofincorporated radionuclides in the bodies ofthose living in the contaminated territories isthe basis for the following proposals to increasethe efficacy of the international and nationalprograms:

• Joint studies to determine the frequencyand intensity of various diseases, especiallyin children, correlated with levels of incor-porated radionuclides.

• Regular individual radiometric evaluationof the populations, especially children, inall contaminated territories. To accom-plish this, Belarus will have to increasethe number of mobile laboratories fromeight to twelve or fifteen. Similar to theBelarussian system, independent, practi-cal, science/clinical centers must be estab-lished in Ukraine and European Russia touse the results of such regular radiometricmonitoring to identify critical groups withhigh radionuclide incorporation.


• Manufacture and administer variouspectin-based food additives and drinks(based on apples, currants, grapes, sea-weed, etc.) as one of the most effec-tive ways of providing individual radiationprotection (through decorporation) whencircumstances make using contaminatedfood unavoidable.

• Independent radiation monitoring and ra-diation control of local foodstuffs, mak-ing use of the BELRAD Institute’s ex-perience in organizing local centers forradioactive control. This does not re-place, but can add to the existing officialsystem.

• Regular courses of oral pectin food addi-tives for preventive maintenance.

Twenty-two years after the catastrophe thetrue situation in Chernobyl’s heavily contami-nated territories shows that the internationallyaccepted individual dose limit is in excess of1 mSv/year because of the unavoidable con-sumption of local radioactively contaminatedproducts. Thus the most advisable way to lowerthe levels of incorporated radionuclides is toconsume only clean food. In those situationswhere clean food is not available, decorporantand sorbent additives should be used to removeas much as possible of the absorbed and incor-porated radionuclides.

There are many more-or-less effective decor-porants and sorbents: a wide spectrum of prod-ucts with alginic acid-alginates (mostly frombrown seaweed) promotes the reduction of Sr,iron and copper cyanides (e.g., ferrocyanideblue) promote the reduction of Cs. Activatedcharcoal, cellulose, and various pectins are alsoeffective sorbents for incorporated radionu-clides. For practical reasons the curative-likeapplication of apple-pectin food additives maybe especially helpful to effectively decorporateCs-137.

What can be done:

• Reduce Cs-137 concentration in the maindose-forming product—milk—by feedingcows with mixed fodder containing sor-

bents and by separating the milk to pro-duce cream and butter.

• Provide children and pregnant womenwith clean foodstuffs and with food ad-ditives to increase the elimination of ra-dionuclides and heavy metals from theirbodies.

• Inform the population about the levels ofradionuclide contamination of the localfoodstuffs and the radionuclide concentra-tion in the bodies of the inhabitants (espe-cially children), taking into considerationthe existing available foods and the localway of life.

• Institute the practice of regular decorpo-ration of radionuclides into the lifestyle asan effective measure of radiation protec-tion for the population of the Chernobyl-contaminated regions.

The use of food additives, pectin prepa-rations with a complex of vitamins andmicroelements, demonstrated a high efficiencyin eliminating incorporated radionuclides.

References

Bandazhevskaya, G. S., Nesterenko, V. B., Babenko, V.I., Babenko, I. V., Yerkovich, T. V. & Bandazhevsky,Yu. I. (2004). Relationship between Cesium (Cs-137)load, cardiovascular symptoms, and source of foodin “Chernobyl” children: Preliminary observationsafter intake of oral apple pectin. Swiss Med. Wkly.

134: 725–729.Gres’, N. A. (1997). Influence of pectinous formulations

on dynamics of micro elementary composition ofchildren’s blood. In: Micro Elementary Disorders and Be-

larusian Children’s Health after Chernobyl Catastrophe. Col-lected Papers (Institute for Radiation Medicine andEndocrinology, Minsk): 108–116 (in Russian).

Hill, P., Schlager, M., Vogel, V., Hille, R., Nesterenko,A. V. & Nesterenko, V. ; (2007). Studies on thecurrent Cs-137 body burden of children in Belarus:Can the dose be further reduced? Rad. Protec. Dosim.

125(1–4): 523–526 (//www.rpd.oxfordjournals.org/misc/terms.shtm) (in Russian).

Leggett, R. W., Williams, L. R., Melo, D. R. & Lipsztein,J. L. (2003). A physiologically based biokinetic modelfor Cesium in the human body. Sci. Total Env. 317:235–255.


Nesterenko, V. B. (2005). Radiation monitoring of inhab-itants and their foodstuffs in Chernobyl zone of Be-larus. BELRAD Inform. Bull. 28 (BELRAD, Minsk):129 pp. (in Russian).

Nesterenko, V. B., Nesterenko, A. V., Babenko, V. I.,Yerkovich, T. V. & Babenko, I. V. (2004). Reducingthe Cs-137 load in the organs of Chernobyl childrenwith apple-pectin. Swiss Med. Wkly. 134: 24–27.

Ostapenko, V. (2002) (Interview). Belarussian Minis-ter of Public Health predicts increasing thyroidcancer morbidity in Belarussian population.Problems with Chemical Safety, UCS-INFO 864(//www.seu.ru /members /ucs/ucs-info /864.htm)(in Russian).

Porokhnyak-Ganovska, L. V. (1998). New ways of prophy-laxis and rehabilitation of populations from radioac-tive contaminated territories: Apple-pectin powderand fortified vitamized soluble tablets “Yablopect.”Med. Adviser 1: 7–8 (in Russian).

Rudnev, M. I., Malyuk, V. I. & Korzun, V. N. (1995).Decorporants. Sect 6.7. In: Bar’yakhtar, V. G. (Ed.),Chernobyl Catastrophe: History, Social, Economical, Geo-

chemical, Medical and Biological Consequences (“NaukovaDumka,” Kiev) (//www.stopatom.slavutich.kiev.ua)(in Russian).

Trakhtenberg, I. M. (1995). Enterosorbents. Sect. 6.8.In: Bar’yakhtar, V. G. (Ed.), Chernobyl Catastrophe:

History, Social, Economical, Geochemical, Medical and

Biological Consequences (“Naukova Dumka,” Kiev)(//www.stopatom.slavutich.kiev.ua) (in Russian).

Ukrainian Institute (1997). Report on Scientific Researchof Clinical Studies of Pectinaceous PreparationsBased on Apple Flakes “Yablopect” (Ukrainian In-stitute of Industrial Medicine, Kryvoy Rog): 58 pp.(in Russian).

WHO (1981). Toxicological evaluation of certain food ad-ditives: Pectins and Amidated. WHO Food AdditivesSeries, 16 (WHO, Geneva) (//www.inchem.org).

CHERNOBYL

14. Protective Measures for Activities inChernobyl’s Radioactively Contaminated

TerritoriesAlexey V. Nesterenko and Vassily B. Nesterenko

Owing to internally absorbed radionuclides, radiation levels for individuals living in thecontaminated territories of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia have been increasing steadilysince 1994. Special protective measures in connection with agriculture, forestry, hunt-ing, and fishing are necessary to protect the health of people in all the radioactivelycontaminated territories. Among the measures that have proven to be effective in re-ducing levels of incorporated radionuclides in meat production are food additives withferrocyanides, zeolites, and mineral salts. Significant decreases in radionuclide levels incrops are achieved using lime/Ca as an antagonist of Sr-90, K fertilizers as antagonistsof Cs-137, and phosphoric fertilizers that form a hard, soluble phosphate with Sr-90.Disk tillage and replowing of hayfields incorporating applications of organic and min-eral fertilizers reduces the levels of Cs-137 and Sr-90 three- to fivefold in herbage grownin mineral soils. Among food technologies to reduce radionuclide content are cleaningcereal seeds, processing potatoes into starch, processing carbohydrate-containing prod-ucts into sugars, and processing milk into cream and butter. There are several simplecooking techniques that decrease radionuclides in foodstuffs. Belarus has effectivelyused some forestry operations to create “a live partition wall,” to regulate the redistri-bution of radionuclides into ecosystems. All such protective measures will be necessaryin many European territories for many generations.

As a result of the Chernobyl catastrophe,millions of hectares of agricultural lands aredangerously contaminated with Cs-137 withconcentrations higher than 37 kBq/m2: inBelarus, 1.8 million hectares; in Russia, 1.6million hectares; and in Ukraine, 1.2 millionhectares. According to the Belarus Ministryof Agriculture, agricultural production nowtakes place on more than 1.1 million hectaresof land contaminated with Cs-137 at a levelfrom 37 to 1,480 kBq/m2, and 0.38 millionmore hectares are similarly contaminated bySr-90 at a level of more than 5.55 kBq/m2.In Gomel Province 56% of all the agriculturalland is contaminated, and in Mogilev Province

Address for correspondence: Alexey V. Nesterenko, Institute of Radia-tion Safety (BELRAD), 2-nd Marusinsky St. 27, Minsk, 220053, Belarus.Fax: +375 17 289-03-85. [email protected]

that figure is 26%. Millions of hectares of Be-larussian, Russian, and Ukrainian forests (morethan 22% of all Belarussian woodlands) ap-pear to be dangerously contaminated (NationalBelarussian Report, 2006). More than 5 mil-lion people live in the contaminated territo-ries of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia (see Chap-ter I for details). Moreover, some grasslands,forests, mountains, and lakes in Sweden, Nor-way, Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria,Italy, France, and Turkey continue to showmeasurable contamination.

Over the 23 years since the catastrophe, ow-ing to the devoted activities of many thousandsof scientists and technical specialists, somemethods and practical measures have been de-veloped to decrease the risks from the con-tamination linked to the use of natural re-sources (agricultural, forestry, hunting, etc.). Asa comprehensive review all these results would

311


require a separate monograph. This shortchapter simply outlines some basic techniquesdesigned to achieve radiation protection for theresources utilized in the course of everyday liv-ing in the contaminated territories.

14.1. Measures for RadiationProtection in Agriculture

1. Where production with “permissible”amounts of radionuclides is impossible, agri-cultural lands have been taken out of use: inBelarus, 265,000 hectares; in Ukraine, 130,000hectares; and in Russia, 17,000 hectares(Aleksakhin et al., 2006).

2. Agricultural land with radioactive con-tamination is subject to obligatory monitoringof both soil and production processes for end-product control technology to ensure permis-sible levels of Cs-137 and Sr-90 in foodstuffs.This permissible level is established by calculat-ing the combined individual average annualfood intake so as to limit the effective equiva-lent radiation dose to less than 1 mSv/year. Forbeef and mutton the level of Cs-137 shouldbe no higher than 500 Bq/kg in Belarusand 160 Bq/kg in Russia and Ukraine, flourand groats (buckwheat) should have no morethan 90 Bq/kg, etc. (Bagdevich et al., 2001).Each country has its own radioprotectionpolicy.

3. Effective decreases in the levels of ra-dionuclides in crops are achieved by applica-tions of lime/Ca as antagonists of Sr-90, Kfertilizers as antagonists of Cs-137, phosphoricfertilizers that form a hard soluble phosphateand precipitate Sr-90, plus zeolites, sapropel(gyttja), and other natural antagonists and ab-sorbents (Aleksakhin et al., 1992; and many oth-ers; Table 14.1).

4. Hayfields (meadows and pastures) used tosupport milk and meat production account forup to half of all contaminated agricultural landin Belarus. Disk tilling and replowing of hay-fields incorporating an application of organicand mineral fertilizers reduces the levels of Cs-

TABLE 14.1. Efficiency of Agrochemical Mea-sures to Reduce Cs-137 and Sr-90 Concentrationsin Plant Production (Gudkov, 2006)

Reduction factor

Method Cs-137 Sr-90

Lime 1.5–4 1.5–2.5Higher level of:

Phosphoric fertilizers 1.5–2 1.2–1.5Potassium fertilizers 1.8 None

Organic fertilizers 40 tons/ha 1.5–3 1.5–2Combined application of lime, 2–5 2–4

mineral, and organic fertilizersMineral soil absorbents (zeolites, 1.5–2.5 1.5–2

vermiculites, bentonites, etc.)∗

∗They were most effective during the first 5 years afterthe catastrophe (Kenik, 1998).

137 and Sr-90 accumulation three- to fivefoldin herbage grown in mineral soils. Such radi-cal treatment of hayfields on peat soils sharplyreduces Cs-137, but is less effective for Sr-90.Owing to degradation of cultivated hayfields,repeated grassland renovation with an applica-tion of fertilizers is needed every 3 to 6 years.

5. As noted above, radiation protection mea-sures are effectively applied in large state-owned and collective farms. In small private-sector households and farms, which in Belarusaccount for more than 50% of agricultural pro-duction, these measures are incidental. Gener-ally for each cow on a private Belarus farmthere is about 1 hectare of hayfield and im-proved pasture. This is not sufficient to sus-tain the animal so the farmers have to get hayfrom grassy forest glades and unarable landsthat are contaminated with higher levels of ra-dioactivity than cultivated hayfields. Thus a sig-nificant number of settlements, even 23 yearssince the catastrophe, had inadequate radiationprotection for agricultural production. Thereare more than 300 such settlements each inBelarus and Ukraine, and more than 150 inRussia (Kashparov et al., 2005).

6. Twenty years after the catastrophe, some10 to 15% of the milk on private Belarus-sian farms had a higher Cs-137 contaminationthan the permissible level. In 2006 there were

Nesterenko & Nesterenko: Protective Measures for Activities 313

TABLE 14.2. Efficiency of Measures to Reduce Cs-137 and Sr-90 Concentrations in Animal-BreedingProduction (Gudkov, 2006)

Reduction factor

Measure Cs-137 Sr-90

Improvement of meadows and 1.5–10 1.5–5pastures∗

Food additives with ferrocyanide 2–8 (to 20) NoneFood additives with zeolites 2–4 NoneFood additives with mineral salts 1.5–2 2–3Month on clean fodder before 2–4 None

slaughter

∗Less effective on peat soils.

instances in which household milk containedCs-137 at a value as high as 1,000 Bq/liter. InGomel Province in 2004, some 12% of beefhad Cs-137 levels above 160 Bq/kg (BELRADInstitute data).

7. There are some effective measures toreduce levels of incorporated radionuclidesin meat production (Table 14.2) and food-processing technologies to reduce radionuclidecontent in foodstuffs (Table 14.3).

8. Table 14.4 presents the primary knownantiradiation chemical and pharmacologicalmeasures to achieve clean animal breeding inthe contaminated territories.

9. All the methods described to reduceradiation in agricultural production requireadditional material and labor; thus economicefficiency in the contaminated areas is com-

TABLE 14.3. Efficiency of Measures to ReduceCs-137 and Sr-90 Content in Foodstuffs (Gudkov,2006)

Reduction factor

Measure Cs-137 Sr-90

Cleaning of cereals seeds 1.5–2Processing of potato to starch 15–50Processing carbohydrate- 60–70

containing: Production to sugarsProduction to ethyl alcohol Up to 1,000Processing of milk to cream 6–12 5–10Processing of milk to butter 20–30 30–50Culinary treatment of meat 2–4 None

TABLE 14.4. Chemical and Pharmacological An-tiradiation Remedies (Based on Gudkov, 2006)

Radionuclide blockers and decontaminantsAntagonists— Stable isotopes,

competitors chemical analoguesEnterosorbents Activated charcoal, zeolite,

Vitapect, Algisorb, etc.Insoluble complexes Ferrocyanides, alginates, pectins,

phosphatesSoluble complexes Natural (flavonoids: flavones,

anthocyans, catechins) andsynthetic (Zinkacyne, etc.)

RadioprotectantsAntioxidants Aminothiols; disulfides;

thiosulfates; vitamins A, C, EStabilizers of DNA Metal ions, chelates, flavonoids

and membranesMetabolism Cyanides, nitriles, azides,

inhibitors endotoxinsAdaptogenes Immunostimulants, vitamins,

microelements, etc.

promised. In spite of measures taken and sub-sidies, agricultural production in radioactivecontaminated areas continues to be difficultand the farmers often turn to specialized en-terprises for cattle breeding for meat produc-tion, production of oils and industrial crops,etc.

14.2. Radiation ProtectionMeasures for Forestry, Hunting,

and Fisheries

Forestlands accumulated about 70% of theChernobyl radionuclides that fell on Belarus.Shortly after the catastrophe most forest ra-dionuclide contamination was on the surfaceof trees. Roots absorb Cs-137 and Sr-90 fromthe soil and transport them into the wood andother parts of the plant. Specific activity of Cs-137 can exceed 20 kBq/kg in forest berries andmushrooms, as much as 150 kBq/kg in driedmushrooms, and 250 kBq/kg in wild gamemeat. In predatory fish breeds in landlockedreservoirs the levels can reach 300 kBq/kg (seeChapter III for details).


1. In the exclusion zone, which in 1986–1987was 30 km wide, as well as in the zone of in-voluntary resettlement, all forestry activities areforbidden where there is risk to an individual ofa dose greater than 5.0 mSv. In this zone per-manent housing is banned and economic activ-ity is strictly limited. The zone of involuntaryresettlement is an area outside the exclusionzone where the level of ground contaminationfrom Cs-137 is above 15 Ci/km2, that from Sr-90 is above 3 Ci/km2, or that from Pu-239 andPu-240 is above 0.1 Ci/km2. The territories ofinvoluntary resettlement also include some ar-eas with low-level radioactivity where radionu-clides migrate into plants from contaminatedsoil.

2. According to official Belarussian data, forseveral years after the catastrophe radiationlevels in contaminated forest products (wildberries, mushrooms, firewood, etc.) exceededthose in domestic agricultural products (milk,bread, cereals, etc.).

3. Ten years after the catastrophe, theamount of radionuclides in underground partsof trees doubled and reached 15% of the to-tal amount in forest ecosystems. Even now, inBelarus, owing to external radiation contam-ination, foresters are exposed to levels two tothree times higher than agricultural workers.

4. Among the principal measures proposedto decrease radiation risk for forestry workersare: (a) shorten the length of stay in contami-nated territory; (b) minimize manned technolo-gies and maximize mechanization; (c) provideindividual safety equipment and shielding forthe driver’s cabin on farm machines and de-vices for protection from gamma irradiation; (d)require special permission to enter the forests;and (e) impose seasonal regulations on forestryoperations (Maradudin et al., 1997).

5. Contamination is increasing and it ap-pears that it will rise even more with the use ofcontaminated firewood as fuel and its radioac-tive ashes as fertilizer; all of these activities willincrease individual radiation doses.

6. Among forest products, mushrooms,berries, and hazelnuts are the most contami-

nated. Up to 50% of all the mushrooms andberries that were measured exceeded the per-missible level of Cs-137 (370 Bq/kg). Consump-tion of forest products accounts for up to 40%of the annual individual dose of internal ra-diation in Belarus. Persistence of Cs-137 inforest products exceeds the permissible leveleven in territories with soil contamination be-low 37 kBq/m2 (<1 Ci/km2).

7. The Belarus National Academy Forest In-stitute revealed that the forest can serve as “alive partition wall,” by regulating redistributionof radionuclides in ecosystems. In test plots insections of the Vetka and El’sk forests in GomelProvince the amounts of radionuclides in theroots of trees, in forest berries, and in mush-rooms have been decreased up to sevenfold asa result of special forestry and reclamation mea-sures (Ipat’ev, 2008).

8. To prevent dispersion of radionuclidesfrom contaminated forest areas to adjoiningterritories as a result of water and wind erosionit is necessary to reforest eroded land. Univer-sal efforts to prevent forest fires and improvefire-fighting efficiency are needed to stop ra-dionuclide dispersion via wind currents severalhundred or even thousands of kilometers awayfrom contaminated territories. Unfortunately,this was not done during the fires that raged in1992.

9. In zones with a Cs-137 level of more than15 Ci/km2 it is dangerous to consume wildgame. Obligatory total control over all gameproduction is needed in zones contaminatedup to 15 Ci/km2. In contaminated territoriesit is recommended to shoot wild boars and roedeer aged 2 years or older because they havelower levels of incorporated radionuclides thanyounger ones.

10. The situation with elk is the oppo-site. The level of radionuclide incorporationis significantly lower among young animals ascompared to adults.

11. Radionuclide concentrations in the vis-ceral organs of game mammals (heart, liver, kid-neys, lungs, etc.) are significantly higher than inmuscle tissue.


12. Decreasing levels of specific radioactivecontamination of principal game species are asfollows: wolf > fox > wild boar > roe deer >

hare > duck > elk.13. In contaminated territories the same

species of fish taken from rivers and streamshave significantly lower radionuclide levels thanthose from lakes and ponds. Phytophagous fishhave three to four times lower radionuclide lev-els than predatory species (catfish, pike, etc.).Benthic fishes (crucian, tench, etc.) have sev-eral times more contamination than fish thatlive in the top water layers (small fry, chub,etc.).

14. There are some effective methods to sig-nificantly decrease radionuclide contaminationin pond cultures by plowing from the pond bot-tom down to a depth up to 50 cm and washingwith flowing water, applying potash fertilizers,and using vitamins and antioxidants (radiopro-tectants) as food additives for the fish (Slukvinand Goncharova, 1998).

14.3. Radiation ProtectionMeasures in Everyday Life

Instructions for radiation protection andself-help countermeasures can be found inRamzaev, 1992; Nesterenko, 1997; Beresdorfand Wright, 1999; Annenkov and Averin, 2003;Babenko, 2008; Parkhomenko et al., 2008; andmany others.

It is very important to avoid radionuclides infood and if they are consumed to try to elimi-nate them from the body as quickly as possible.In a baby, the biological half-life of Cs-137 is 14days; for a 5-year old it is 21 days; for a 10-yearold, 49 days; for teenagers, about 90 days; andfor a young male, about 100 days (Nesterenko,1997).

1. The most direct way of decreasing ra-dionuclide intake is to avoid foods that are po-tentially heavily contaminated and to consumefoodstuffs with lower levels. However, this isnot easy to do because the average level ofradionuclide bioaccumulation differs in each

region owing to differences in soils, cultivars,agriculture techniques, etc.

Several examples of differing levels of con-tamination are presented below.

1.1. Vegetables: Order of decreasing Cs-137in some areas of Belarus: sweet pepper > cab-bage >potatoes > beetroot > sorrel > let-tuce > radish > onion > garlic > carrots >

cucumbers > tomatoes. Order of decreasinglevels in Gomel Province: sorrel > beans >

radish > carrots > been root > potatoes >

garlic > sweet pepper > tomatoes > squash >

cucumbers > cabbage (kohlrabi) > cauliflower> colewort (Radiology Institute, 2003).

1.2. Berries: Order of decreasing Cs-137among some berries: blueberry (Vaccinium myr-

tillus), cowberry (V. vitis-idaea), red and blackcurrants (Ribes sp.), and cranberry (Oxycoccus)usually accumulate more Cs-137 than straw-berry (Fragaria), gooseberry (Grossularia), whitecurrant, raspberry (Rubus), and mountainash(Sorbus).

1.3. Meat: Order of decreasing Cs-137 insome meats: poultry > beef > mutton > pork.Meats from older animals have more radionu-clides that meat from younger ones owing toaccumulation over time. Bones of young ani-mals have more Sr-90. Among visceral organsthe order of decreasing levels of Cs-137 is: lung> kidney > liver > fat.

1.4. Eggs: Order of decreasing levels: shell >egg-white > yolk.

1.5. Fish: Predatory and benthic fishes (pike,perch, carp, catfish, tench, etc.) are more con-taminated, and fish living in rivers and streamsare always less contaminated than those fromlakes and ponds.

1.6. Mushrooms: The cap usually containsmore Cs-137 than the pedicle. Agaric (Agari-cales) mushrooms usually concentrate more ra-dionuclides than boletuses (Boletus).

2. The biological properties of Cs-137 aresimilar to those of stable K and Rb, and Sr-90and Pu are similar to Ca. These properties de-termine where they concentrate in the body sothe use of stable elements may help to decreasethe absorption of radionuclides.


Foods rich in K include potatoes, maize,beans, beets, raisins, dried apricots, tea, nuts,potatoes, lemons, and dried plums. Ca-richfoods include milk, eggs, legumes, horseradish,green onions, turnip, parsley, dill, and spinach.Green vegetables, apples, sunflower seeds,black chokeberries, and rye bread are rich inFe; and Rb is found in red grapes.

3. A diet to protect against radioactivecontamination should include uncontaminatedfruits and vegetables, those rich in pectin, andthose with high-fiber complexes to promote therapid elimination of radionuclides.

4. High intake of fluids including fruit drinkshelps promote excretion of contaminants inurine.

5. Daily addition of antioxidants (vitamins A,C, E, and the trace elements Zn, Co, Cu, andSe) is recommended.

6. Individuals exposed to radioactive con-tamination should consume special food addi-tives such as Vitapect (see Chapter IV.13) andproducts made from apples, green algae (Spir-

ulinae), fir-needles, etc.7. There are several simple cooking tech-

niques that decrease radionuclides: boil foodsseveral times and discard the water, wash foodthoroughly, soak some foods and discard thewater, avoid the rinds of fruits and vegetables,salt and pickle some foods but throw away thepickling juice! Avoid eating strong bouillon, userendered butter, etc.

Experiences from around the world after thecatastrophe show that citizens of countries thatdid not provide information and methods tocounter the effects of the radioactive falloutfared more poorly than those in countries thatdid provide such help. In 1986 the effectiveindividual dose to the “average” person in Bul-garia, where there was no emergency protec-tion was 0.7 to 0.8 mSv, or about threefoldhigher than the dose for the “average” Nor-wegian. The Norwegian government placed aprohibition against eating leafy vegetables anddrinking fresh milk, destroyed contaminated

meat, maintained cattle in stalls, deactivatedpastures and reservoirs, and mandated thatprior to slaughter the cattle be fed on clean for-age, etc. This disparity in contamination dosesoccurred even though the level of contamina-tion in Bulgaria was measurably lower than thatin Norway (Energy, 2008).

Since 1994, radiation exposure of individualsliving in the contaminated territories of Belarus,Ukraine, and Russia has continued to increaseowing to internal absorption of radionuclides—the most dangerous form of radiation exposuredespite natural radioactive decay.

Migration of Chernobyl radionuclides intosoil root zones allows plants to absorb them,transport them to the surface, and incorporatethem into edible portions of the plant. Agricul-tural and forest product radionuclides are intro-duced into food chains, significantly increasingthe radiation danger for all who consume thosefoodstuffs. Today the most serious contaminat-ing agents are Cs-137 and Sr-90. In comingyears the situation will change and Am-241 willpresent a very serious problem (see Chapter Ifor details).

For at least six to seven generations, vastterritories of Belarus, Russia, and Ukrainemust take special measures to control radia-tion exposure in agriculture, forestry, hunting,and fishing. So too must other countries withareas of high radioactive contamination, in-cluding Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Austria,France, and Germany. This means, that localeconomies will require external grants-in-aidand donations to minimize the level of radionu-clides in all products because many areas sim-ply do not have the funds to monitor, teach,and mandate protection. Thus the problem ofcontamination is dynamic and requires con-stant monitoring and control—for Cs-137 andSr-90 pollution at least 150 to 300 years intothe future. The contamination from the widerspectrum of radioisotopes is dynamic and willrequire constant monitoring and control essen-tially forever.


References

Aleksakhin, R. M., Bagdevich, I. M., Fesenko, S. V.,Sanzheva, N. I., Ageets, V. Yu. & Kashparov, V.A. (2006). Role of protective measures in rehabilita-tion of contaminated territories. International Con-ference. Chernobyl 20 Years After: Strategy for Recovering

and Sustainable Development of Affected Territories. April19–21, 2006, Minsk, Belarus (Materials, Minsk): pp.103–108 (in Russian).

Aleksakhin, R. M., Vasyl’ev, A. V. & Dykarev, V. G. (1992).Agricultural Radioecology (“Ecologiya,” Moscow): 400pp. (in Russian).

Annenkov, B. N. & Averin, V. S. (2003). Agriculture in

Radioactive Contaminated Areas: Radionuclides in Food

(“Propiley,” Minsk): 84 pp. (in Russian).Babenko, V. I. (2008). How to protect yourself and

your child from radiation (//www.belradinstitute.boom.ru/frameru.htm) (in Russian).

Bagdevich, I. M., Putyatin, Yu. V., Shmigel’skaya, I. A.,Tarasyuk, S. V., Kas’yanchik, S. A. & Ivanyutenko, V.V. (2001). Agricultural Production on Radioactive Contam-

inated Territories (Institute for Soil Science and Agro-chemistry, Minsk): 30 pp. (in Russian).

Beresdorf, N, A. & Wright, S. M. (Eds.) (1999). Self-help countermeasure strategies for populations liv-ing within contaminated areas of the former SovietUnion and an assessment of land currently removedfrom agricultural usage. EC projects RESTORE(F14-CT95–0021) and RECLAIM (ERBIC15-CT96–0209) (Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, MonksWood): 83 pp.

Energy (2008). Chernobyl echo in Europe (//www.members.tripod.com/BRuslan / win / energe1.htm)(in Russian).

Gudkov, I. N. (2006). Strategy of biological radiationprotection of biota in radionuclide contaminatedterritories. In: Signa, A. A. & Durante, M. (Eds.),Radiation Risk Estimates in Normal and Emergency Sit-

uations (Dordrecht Springer, Berlin/London/NewYork): pp. 101–108.

Ipat’ev, V. (2008). Clean soil under radio-contaminatedforest: Is it real? Sci. Innovat. 61(3): 36–38 (inRussian).

Kashparov, V. A., Lazarev, N. M. & Poletchyuk, S. V.(2005). Actual problems of agricultural radiology inUkraine. Agroecolog. J. 3: 31–41 (in Ukrainian).

Kenik, I. A. (Ed.) (1998). Belarus and Chernobyl: Priorities

for Second Decade after the Accident (Belarus Ministry forEmergency Situations, Minsk): 92 pp. (in Russian).

Maradudin, I. I., Panfylov, A. V., Rusyna, T. V., Shubin, V.A., Bogachev, V. K., et al. (1997). Manual for forestryin Chernobyl radioactively contaminated zones (forperiod 1997–2000). Authorized by order N 40 from1.03.97 of Russian Federal Forestry Service: 7 pp. (inRussian).

National Belarussian Report (2006). Twenty Years after Cher-

nobyl Catastrophe: Consequences for Belarus Republic and Its

Surrounding Areas (Shevchuk, V. F. & Gurachevsky, V.L., Eds.) (Belarus National Publishers, Minsk): 112pp. (in Russian).

Nesterenko, V. B. (1997). Radiation monitoring of inhab-itants and their foodstuffs in Chernobyl zone of Be-larus. BELRAD Inform. Bull. 6 (“Pravo Ekonomika,”Minsk): 71 pp. (in Russian).

Parkhomenko, V. I., Shutov, V. N., Kaduka, M. V.,Kravtsova, O. S., Samiolenko, V. M., et al. (2008).Protection from radiation: Manual on radiationsafety (//www.eco.scilib.debryansk.ru//2infres/radiation/content.html) (in Russian).

Radiology Institute (2003). Life in territory contami-nated by radioactive substances (Radiology Insti-tute, Gomel): 21 pp. (//www.mondoincammino.org/humus/azioni/docs/opuscolo.pdf) (in Russian).

Ramzaev, P. V. (Ed.) (1992). Recommendations topublic on behavior on radionuclide contami-nated territory (“IzDAT,” Moscow): 16 pp. (inRussian).

Slukvin, A. M. & Goncharova, R. I. (1998). Pond carpdefenses from low doses on outer and inner chronicirradiation. Chernobyl Ecol. Health (Gomel) 2(6): 56–57(in Russian).

CHERNOBYL

15. Consequences of the ChernobylCatastrophe for Public Health and the

Environment 23 Years LaterAlexey V. Yablokov, Vassily B. Nesterenko,

and Alexey V. Nesterenko

More than 50% of Chernobyl’s radionuclides were dispersed outside of Belarus, Ukraine,and European Russia and caused fallout as far away as North America. In 1986 nearly400 million people lived in areas radioactively contaminated at a level higher than4 kBq/m2 and nearly 5 million individuals are still being exposed to dangerous con-tamination. The increase in morbidity, premature aging, and mutations is seen in allthe contaminated territories that have been studied. The increase in the rates of totalmortality for the first 17 years in European Russia was up to 3.75% and in Ukraine itwas up to 4.0%. Levels of internal irradiation are increasing owing to plants absorb-ing and recycling Cs-137, Sr-90, Pu, and Am. During recent years, where internal levelsof Cs-137 have exceeded 1 mSv/year, which is considered “safe,” it must be loweredto 50 Bq/kg in children and to 75 Bq/kg in adults. Useful practices to accomplish thisinclude applying mineral fertilizers on agricultural lands, K and organosoluble ligninon forestlands, and regular individual consumption of natural pectin enterosorbents.Extensive international help is needed to provide radiation protection for children,especially in Belarus, where over the next 25 to 30 years radionuclides will continueto contaminate plants through the root layers in the soil. Irradiated populations ofplants and animals exhibit a variety of morphological deformities and have significantlyhigher levels of mutations that were rare prior to 1986. The Chernobyl zone is a “blackhole”: some species may persist there only via immigration from uncontaminatedareas.

The explosion of the fourth block of the Cher-nobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on April,26, 1986 was the worst technogenic accidentin history. The information presented in thefirst 14 parts of this volume was abstractedfrom the several thousand cited scientific pa-pers and other materials. What follows here isa summary of the main results of this meta-analysis of the consequences of the Chernobylcatastrophe.

The principal methodological approach ofthis meta-review is to reveal the consequences

Address for correspondence: Alexey V. Yablokov, RussianAcademy of Sciences, Leninsky Prospect 33, Office 319, 119071Moscow, Russia. Voice: +7-495-952-80-19; fax: [email protected]

of Chernobyl by comparing differences amongpopulations, including territories or subgroupsthat had and have different levels of contam-ination but are comparable to one another inethnic, biologic, social, and economic charac-teristics. This approach is clearly more validthan trying to find “statistically significant” cor-relations between population doses that are im-possible to quantify after the fact and healthoutcomes that are defined precisely by morbid-ity and mortality data.

15.1. The Global Scale of theCatastrophe

1. As a result of the catastrophe, 40%of Europe was contaminated with dangerous

318

Yablokov et al.: Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe 319

radioactivity. Asia and North America werealso exposed to significant amounts of ra-dioactive fallout. Contaminated countries in-clude Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway,Switzerland, Romania, Great Britain, Ger-many, Italy, France, Greece, Iceland, and Slove-nia, as well as wide territories in Asia, includ-ing Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, The Emirates,China, and northern Africa. Nearly 400 millionpeople lived in areas with radioactivity at a levelexceeding 4 kBq/m2 (≥0.1 Ci/km2) during theperiod from April to July 1986.

2. Belarus was especially heavily contami-nated. Twenty-three years after the catastro-phe nearly 5 million people, including some 1million children, live in vast areas of Belarus,Ukraine, and European Russia where danger-ous levels of radioactive contamination persist(see Chapter 1).

3. The claim by the International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA), the United NationsScientific Committee on the Effects of AtomicRadiation (UNSCEAR), and several othergroups that the Chernobyl radioactive falloutadds “only” 2% to the natural radioactive back-ground ignores several facts:

• First, many territories continue to have danger-ously high levels of radiation.

• Second, high levels of radiation were spread farand wide in the first weeks after the catas-trophe.

• Third, there will be decades of chronic,low-level contamination after thecatastrophe (Fig. 15.1).

• Fourth, every increase in nuclear radiation hasan effect on both somatic and reproductivecells of all living things.

4. There is no scientific justification for thefact that specialists from IAEA and the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) (Chernobyl Fo-rum, 2005) completely neglected to cite theextensive data on the negative consequencesof radioactive contamination in areas otherthan Belarus, Ukraine, and European Russia,

Figure 15.1. Total additional radioactivity (inpetabequerels) in the global environment after theChernobyl catastrophe: (1) Am-241, (2) Pu (239 +240), (3) Pu-241, (4) Sr-90, (5) Cs-137, (6) I-131(Mulev, 2008).

where about 57% of the Chernobyl radionu-clides were deposited.

15.2. Obstacles to Analysis of theChernobyl Consequences

1. Among the reasons complicating a full-scale estimation of the impact of the Chernobylcatastrophe on health are the following:

• Official secrecy and unrectifiable falsifica-tion of Soviet Union medical statistics forthe first 3.5 years after the catastrophe.

• Lack of detailed and clearly reliable med-ical statistics in Ukraine, Belarus, andRussia.

• Difficulties in estimating true individual ra-dioactive doses in view of: (a) reconstruc-tion of doses in the first days, weeks, andmonths after the catastrophe; (b) uncer-tainty as to the influence of individual “hotparticles”; (c) problems accounting for un-even and spotty contamination; and (d)inability to determine the influence of eachof many radionuclides, singly and in com-bination.


• Inadequacy of modern knowledge as to:(a) the specific effect of each of the manyradionuclides; (b) synergy of interactions ofradionuclides among themselves and withother environmental factors; (c) populationand individual variations in radiosensitiv-ity; (d) impact of ultralow doses and doserates; and (e) impact of internally absorbedradiation on various organs and biologicalsystems.

2. The demand by IAEA and WHO expertsto require “significant correlation” between theimprecisely calculated levels of individual radi-ation (and thus groups of individuals) and pre-cisely diagnosed illnesses as the only iron cladproof to associate illness with Chernobyl radi-ation is not, in our view, scientifically valid.

3. We believe it is scientifically incorrect toreject data generated by many thousands of sci-entists, doctors, and other experts who directlyobserved the suffering of millions affected by ra-dioactive fallout in Belarus, Ukraine, and Rus-sia as “mismatching scientific protocols.” It isscientifically valid to find ways to abstract thevaluable information from these data.

4. The objective information concerning theimpact of the Chernobyl catastrophe on healthcan be obtained in several ways:

• Compare morbidity and mortality of ter-ritories having identical physiographic, so-cial, and economic backgrounds and thatdiffer only in the levels and spectra ofradioactive contamination to which theyhave been and are being exposed.

• Compare the health of the same group ofindividuals during specific periods after thecatastrophe.

• Compare the health of the same individualin regard to disorders linked to radiationthat are not a function of age or sex (e.g.,stable chromosomal aberrations).

• Compare the health of individuals living incontaminated territories by measuring thelevel of incorporated Cs-137, Sr-90, Pu,and Am. This method is especially effec-

tive for evaluating children who were bornafter the catastrophe.

• Correlate pathological changes in partic-ular organs by measuring their levels ofincorporated radionuclides.

The objective documentation of the catas-trophe’s consequences requires the analysis ofthe health status of about 800,000 liquidators,hundreds of thousands of evacuees, and thosewho voluntary left the contaminated territo-ries of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia (and theirchildren), who are now living outside of theseterritories, even in other countries.

5. It is necessary to determine territories inAsia (including Trans-Caucasus, Iran, China,Turkey, Emirates), northern Africa, and NorthAmerica that were exposed to the Chernobylfallout from April to July 1986 and to analyzedetailed medical statistics for these and sur-rounding territories.

15.3. Health Consequencesof Chernobyl

1. A significant increase in general morbidityis apparent in all the territories contaminatedby Chernobyl that have been studied.

2. Among specific health disorders associ-ated with Chernobyl radiation there are in-creased morbidity and prevalence of the fol-lowing groups of diseases:

• Circulatory system (owing primarily to ra-dioactive destruction of the endothelium,the internal lining of the blood vessels).

• Endocrine system (especially nonmalig-nant thyroid pathology).

• Immune system (“Chernobyl AIDS,” in-creased incidence and seriousness of all ill-nesses).

• Respiratory system.• Urogenital tract and reproductive disor-

ders.• Musculoskeletal system (including patho-

logic changes in the structure and


composition of bones: osteopenia and os-teoporosis).

• Central nervous system (changes in frontal,temporal, and occipitoparietal lobes of thebrain, leading to diminished intelligenceand behaviorial and mental disorders).

• Eyes (cataracts, vitreous destruction,refraction anomalies, and conjunctivedisorders).

• Digestive tract.• Congenital malformations and anomalies

(including previously rare multiple defectsof limbs and head).

• Thyroid cancer (All forecasts concern-ing this cancer have been erroneous;Chernobyl-related thyroid cancers haverapid onset and aggressive development,striking both children and adults. Aftersurgery the person becomes dependent onreplacement hormone medication for life.)

• Leukemia (blood cancers) not only in chil-dren and liquidators, but in the gen-eral adult population of contaminatedterritories.

• Other malignant neoplasms.

3. Other health consequences of the catas-trophe:

• Changes in the body’s biological balance,leading to increased numbers of seriousillnesses owing to intestinal toxicoses, bac-terial infections, and sepsis.

• Intensified infectious and parasitic dis-eases (e.g., viral hepatitis and respiratoryviruses).

• Increased incidence of health disorders inchildren born to radiated parents (both toliquidators and to individuals who left thecontaminated territories), especially thoseradiated in utero. These disorders, involv-ing practically all the body’s organs andsystems, also include genetic changes.

• Catastrophic state of health of liquida-tors (especially liquidators who worked in1986–1987).

• Premature aging in both adults and chil-dren.

• Increased incidence of multiple somaticand genetic mutations.

4. Chronic diseases associated with radioac-tive contamination are pervasive in liquida-tors and in the population living in con-taminated territories. Among these individualspolymorbidity is common; that is, people areoften afflicted by multiple illnesses at the sametime.

5. Chernobyl has “enriched” world medicinewith such terms, as “cancer rejuvenescence,” aswell as three new syndromes:

• “Vegetovascular dystonia”—dysfunction-al regulation of the nervous systeminvolving cardiovascular and other organs(also called autonomic nervous system dys-function), with clinical signs that presentagainst a background of stress.

• “Incorporated long-life radionuclides”—functional and structural disorders of thecardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, repro-ductive, and other systems owing to ab-sorbed radionuclides.

• “Acute inhalation lesions of the upper res-piratory tract”—a combination of a rhini-tis, throat tickling, dry cough, difficultybreathing, and shortness of breath owingto the effect of inhaled radionuclides, in-cluding “hot particles.”

6. Several new syndromes, reflecting in-creased incidence of some illnesses, appearedafter Chernobyl. Among them:

• “Chronic fatigue syndrome”—excessiveand unrelieved fatigue, fatigue without ob-vious cause, periodic depression, memoryloss, diffuse muscular and joint pains, chillsand fever, frequent mood changes, cervicallymph node sensitivity, weight loss; it is alsooften associated with immune system dys-function and CNS disorders.

• “Lingering radiating illness syndrome”—acombination of excessive fatigue, dizziness,trembling, and back pain.

• “Early aging syndrome”—a divergencebetween physical and chronological age


with illnesses characteristic of the elderlyoccurring at an early age.

7. Specific Chernobyl syndromes such as“radiation in utero,” “Chernobyl AIDS,”“Chernobyl heart,” “Chernobyl limbs,” andothers await more detailed definitive medicaldescriptions.

8. The full picture of deteriorating healthin the contaminated territories is still far fromcomplete, despite a large quantity of data. Med-ical, biological, and radiological research mustexpand and be supported to provide the full pic-ture of Chernobyl’s consequences. Instead thisresearch has been cut back in Russia, Ukraine,and Belarus.

9. Deterioration of public health (especiallyof children) in the Chernobyl-contaminatedterritories 23 years after the catastrophe is notdue to psychological stress or radiophobia, orfrom resettlement, but is mostly and primarilydue to Chernobyl irradiation. Superimposedupon the first powerful shock in 1986 is con-tinuing chronic low-dose and low-dose-rate ra-dionuclide exposure.

10. Psychological factors (“radiation pho-bia”) simply cannot be the defining reasonbecause morbidity continued to increase forsome years after the catastrophe, whereas radi-ation concerns have decreased. And what is thelevel of radiation phobia among voles, swallows,frogs, and pine trees, which demonstrate simi-lar health disorders, including increased muta-tion rates? There is no question but that socialand economic factors are dire for those sickfrom radiation. Sickness, deformed and im-paired children, death of family and friends,loss of home and treasured possessions, loss ofwork, and dislocation are serious financial andmental stresses.

15.4. Total Number of Victims

1. Early official forecasts by IAEA and WHOpredicted few additional cases of cancer. In2005, the Chernobyl Forum declared that thetotal death toll from the catastrophe would be

about 9,000 and the number of sick about200,000. These numbers cannot distinguishradiation-related deaths and illnesses from thenatural mortality and morbidity of a huge pop-ulation base.

2. Soon after the catastrophe average life ex-pectancy noticeably decreased and morbidityand mortality increased in infants and the el-derly in the Soviet Union.

3. Detailed statistical comparisons of heav-ily contaminated territories with less contam-inated ones showed an increase in the mor-tality rate in contaminated European Russiaand Ukraine of up to 3.75% and 4.0%, re-spectively, in the first 15 to 17 years after thecatastrophe.

4. According to evaluations based on de-tailed analyses of official demographic statisticsin the contaminated territories of Belarus,Ukraine, and European Russia, the additionalChernobyl death toll for the first 15 years afterthe catastrophe amounted to nearly 237,000people. It is safe to assume that the total Cher-nobyl death toll for the period from 1987to 2004 has reached nearly 417,000 in otherparts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and nearly170,000 in North America, accounting fornearly 824,000 deaths worldwide.

5. The numbers of Chernobyl victims willcontinue to increase for several generations.

15.5. Chernobyl Releases andEnvironmental Consequences

1. Displacement of the long half-life Cher-nobyl radionuclides by water, winds, and mi-grating animals causes (and will continue tocause) secondary radioactive contaminationhundreds and thousands of kilometers awayfrom the Ukrainian Chernobyl Nuclear PowerStation.

2. All the initial forecasts of rapid clearanceor decay of the Chernobyl radionuclides fromecosystems were wrong: it is taking much longerthan predicted because they recirculate. Theoverall state of the contamination in water, air,


and soil appears to fluctuate greatly and thedynamics of Sr-90, Cs-137, Pu, and Am con-tamination still present surprises.

3. As a result of the accumulation of Cs-137,Sr-90, Pu, and Am in the root soil layer, ra-dionuclides have continued to build in plantsover recent years. Moving with water to theabove-ground parts of plants, the radionuclides(which earlier had disappeared from the sur-face) concentrate in the edible components, re-sulting in increased levels of internal irradiationand dose rate in people, despite decreasing totalamounts of radionuclides from natural disinte-gration over time.

4. As a result of radionuclide bioaccumula-tion, the amount in plants, mushrooms, andanimals can increase 1,000-fold as comparedwith concentrations in soil and water. The fac-tors of accumulation and transition vary con-siderably by season even for the same species,making it difficult to discern dangerous levelsof radionuclides in plants and animals that ap-pear to be safe to eat. Only direct monitoringcan determine actual levels.

5. In 1986 the levels of irradiation inplants and animals in Western Europe, NorthAmerica, the Arctic, and eastern Asia weresometimes hundreds and even thousands oftimes above acceptable norms. The initialpulse of high-level irradiation followed by ex-posure to chronic low-level radionuclides hasresulted in morphological, physiological, andgenetic disorders in all the living organisms incontaminated areas that have been studied—plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, in-vertebrates, bacteria, and viruses.

6. Twenty years after the catastrophe allgame animals in contaminated areas of Belarus,Ukraine, and European Russia have high levelsof the Chernobyl radionuclides. It is still pos-sible to find elk, boar, and roe deer that aredangerously contaminated in Austria, Sweden,Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, andseveral other countries.

7. All affected populations of plants and an-imals that have been the subjects of detailedstudies exhibit a wide range of morphological

deformities that were rare or unheard of priorto the catastrophe.

8. Stability of individual development (de-termined by level of fluctuating symmetry—aspecific method for detecting the level of indi-vidual developmental instability) is lower in allthe plants, fishes, amphibians, birds, and mam-mals that were studied in the contaminatedterritories.

9. The number of the genetically anomalousand underdeveloped pollen grains and sporesin the Chernobyl radioactively contaminatedsoils indicates geobotanical disturbance.

10. All of the plants, animals, and mi-croorganisms that were studied in the Cher-nobyl contaminated territories have signifi-cantly higher levels of mutations than those inless contaminated areas. The chronic low-doseexposure in Chernobyl territories results in atransgenerational accumulation of genomic in-stability, manifested in cellular and systemiceffects. The mutation rates in some organ-isms increased during the last decades, de-spite a decrease in the local level of radioactivecontamination.

11. Wildlife in the heavily contaminatedChernobyl zone sometimes appears to flourish,but the appearance is deceptive. According tomorphogenetic, cytogenetic, and immunologi-cal tests, all of the populations of plants, fishes,amphibians, and mammals that were studiedthere are in poor condition. This zone is analo-gous to a “black hole”—some species may onlypersist there via immigration from uncontam-inated areas. The Chernobyl zone is the mi-croevolutionary “boiler,” where gene pools ofliving creatures are actively transforming, withunpredictable consequences.

12. What happened to voles and frogs in theChernobyl zone shows what can happen to hu-mans in coming generations: increasing muta-tion rates, increasing morbidity and mortality,reduced life expectancy, decreased intensity ofreproduction, and changes in male/female sexratios.

13. For better understanding of the pro-cesses of transformation of the wildlife in the


Chernobyl-contaminated areas, radiobiologi-cal and other scientific studies should notbe stopped, as has happened everywhere inBelarus, Ukraine, and Russia, but must beextended and intensified to understand andhelp to mitigate expected and unexpectedconsequences.

15.6. Social and EnvironmentalEfforts to Minimize the

Consequences of the Catastrophe

1. For hundreds of thousands of individuals(first of all, in Belarus, but also in vast territo-ries of Ukraine, Russia, and in some areas ofother countries) the additional Chernobyl irra-diation still exceeds the considered “safe” levelof 1 mSv/year.

2. Currently for people living in the contam-inated regions of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia,90% of their irradiation dose is due to con-sumption of contaminated local food, so mea-sures must be made available to rid their bod-ies of incorporated radionuclides (see ChapterIV.12–14).

3. Multiple measures have been undertakento produce clean food and to rehabilitate thepeople of Belarus, Ukraine, and EuropeanRussia. These include application of additionalamounts of select fertilizers, special programsto reduce levels of radionuclides in farm prod-ucts and meat, organizing radionuclide-freefood for schools and kindergartens, and spe-cial programs to rehabilitate children by pe-riodically relocating them to uncontaminatedplaces. Unfortunately these measures are notsufficient for those who depend upon food fromtheir individual gardens, or local forests, andwaters.

4. It is vitally necessary to develop measuresto decrease the accumulation of Cs-137 in thebodies of inhabitants of the contaminated ar-eas. These levels, which are based upon avail-able data concerning the effect of incorporatedradionuclides on health, are 30 to 50 Bq/kgfor children and 70 to 75 Bq/kg for adults. In

some Belarus villages in 2006 some childrenhad levels up to 2,500 Bq/kg!

5. The experience of BELRAD Institute inBelarus has shown that active decorporationmeasures should be introduced when Cs-137levels become higher than 25 to 28 Bq/kg.This corresponds to 0.1 mSv/year, the samelevel that according to UNSCEAR a personinevitably receives from external irradiation liv-ing in the contaminated territories.

6. Owing to individual and family foodconsumption and variable local availability offood, permanent radiation monitoring of lo-cal food products is needed along with mea-surement of individual radionuclide levels, es-pecially in children. There must be generaltoughening of allowable local food radionuclidelevels.

7. In order to decrease irradiation to a con-sidered safe level (1 mSv/year) for those incontaminated areas of Belarus, Ukraine, andRussia it is good practice to:

• Apply mineral fertilizers not less than threetimes a year on all agricultural lands, in-cluding gardens, pastures, and hayfields.

• Add K and soluble lignin to forest ecosys-tems within a radius up to 10 km from set-tlements for effective reduction of Cs-137in mushrooms, nuts, and berries, which areimportant local foods.

• Provide regular individual intake of nat-ural pectin enterosorbents (derived fromapples, currants, etc.) for 1 month at leastfour times a year and include juices withpectin daily for children in kindergartensand schools to promote excretion ofradionuclides.

• Undertake preventive measures for milk,meat, fish, vegetables, and other local foodproducts to reduce radionuclide levels.

• Use enterosorbents (ferrocyanides, etc.)when fattening meat animals.

8. To decrease the levels of illness and pro-mote rehabilitation it is a good practice in thecontaminated areas to provide:


• Annual individual determination of actuallevels of incorporated radionuclides usinga whole-body radiation counter (for chil-dren, this must be done quarterly).

• Reconstruction of all individual externalirradiation levels from the initial period af-ter the catastrophe using EPR-dosimetryand measurement of chromosomal aber-rations, etc. This should include all vic-tims, including those who left contam-inated areas—liquidators, evacuees, andvoluntary migrants and their children.

• Obligatory genetic consultations in thecontaminated territories (and voluntary forall citizens of childbearing age) for the risksof severe congenital malformations in off-spring. Using the characteristics and spec-tra of mutations in the blood or bone mar-row of future parents, it is possible to definethe risk of giving birth to a child with se-vere genetic malformations and thus avoidfamily tragedies.

• Prenatal diagnosis of severe congenitalmalformations and support for programsfor medical abortions for families livingin the contaminated territories of Belarus,Ukraine, and Russia.

• Regular oncological screening and pre-ventive and anticipatory medical practicesfor the population of the contaminatedterritories.

9. The Chernobyl catastrophe clearly showsthat it is impossible to provide protection fromthe radioactive fallout using only national re-sources. In the first 20 years the direct economicdamage to Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia has ex-ceeded 500 billion dollars. To mitigate some ofthe consequences, Belarus spends about 20% ofits national annual budget, Ukraine up to 6%,and Russia up to 1%. Extensive internationalhelp will be needed to protect children for atleast the next 25 to 30 years, especially thosein Belarus because radionuclides remain in theroot layers of the soil.

10. Failure to provide stable iodine in April1986 for those in the contaminated territories

led to substantial increases in the number ofvictims. Thyroid disease is one of the first con-sequences when a nuclear power plant fails,so a dependable system is needed to get thissimple chemical to all of those in the path ofnuclear fallout. It is clear that every countrywith nuclear power plants must help all coun-tries stockpile potassium iodine in the event ofanother nuclear plant catastrophe.

11. The tragedy of Chernobyl shows thatsocieties everywhere (and especially in Japan,France, India, China, the United States, andGermany) must consider the importance of in-dependent radiation monitoring of both foodand individual irradiation levels with the aimof ameliorating the danger and preventing ad-ditional harm.

12. Monitoring of incorporated radionu-clides, especially in children, is necessaryaround every nuclear power plant. This mon-itoring must be independent of the nuclear in-dustry and the data results must be made avail-able to the public.

15.7. Organizations Associatedwith the Nuclear Industry Protectthe Industry First—Not the Public

1. An important lesson from the Chernobylexperience is that experts and organizationstied to the nuclear industry have dismissed andignored the consequences of the catastrophe.

2. Within only 8 or 9 years after the catas-trophe a universal increase in cataracts was ad-mitted by medical officials. The same occurredwith thyroid cancer, leukemia, and organic cen-tral nervous system disorders. Foot-dragging inrecognizing obvious problems and the resultantdelays in preventing exposure and mitigatingthe effects lies at the door of nuclear power ad-vocates more interested in preserving the sta-tus quo than in helping millions of innocentpeople who are suffering through no faultof their own. It need to change officialagreement between WHO and IAEA (WHO,1959) providing hiding from public of any


information which can be unwanted of nuclearindustry.

15.8. It Is Impossibleto Forget Chernobyl

1. The growing data about of the negativeconsequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe forpublic health and nature does not bode wellfor optimism. Without special large-scale na-tional and international programs, morbidityand mortality in the contaminated territorieswill increase. Morally it is inexplicable that theexperts associated with the nuclear industryclaim: “It is time to forget Chernobyl.”

2. Sound and effective international and na-tional policy for mitigation and minimizationof Chernobyl’s consequences must be basedon the principle: “It is necessary to learnand minimize the consequences of this terri-ble catastrophe.”

15.9. Conclusion

U.S. President John F. Kennedy speakingabout the necessity to stop atmospheric nucleartests said in June 1963:

. . . The number of children and grandchildrenwith cancer in their bones, with leukemia in theirblood, or with poison in their lungs might seem

statistically small to some, in comparison with nat-ural health hazards, but this is not a natural healthhazard—and it is not a statistical issue. The loss ofeven one human life or the malformation of evenone baby—who may be born long after we aregone—should be of concern to us all. Our childrenand grandchildren are not merely statistics towardwhich we can be indifferent.

The Chernobyl catastrophe demonstratesthat the nuclear industry’s willingness to riskthe health of humanity and our environmentwith nuclear power plants will result, not onlytheoretically, but practically, in the same levelof hazard as nuclear weapons.

References

Chernobyl Forum (2005). Environmental Consequencesof the Chernobyl Accident and Their Remedi-ation: Twenty Years of Experience. Report ofthe UN Chernobyl Forum Expert Group “En-vironment” (EGE) Working Draft, August 2005(IAEA, Vienna): 280 pp. (//www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1239_web.pdf).

Kennedy, J. F. (1963). Radio/TV address regarding theNuclear Test Ban Treaty, July 26, 1963 (//www.rat-ical.org/radiation/inetSeries/ChernyThyrd.html).

Mulev, St. (2008). Chernobyl’s continuing hazards. BBCNews website, April 25, 17.25. GMT (//www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4942828.stm).

WHO (1959). Resolution World Health Assembly.Rez WHA 12–40, Art. 3, §1(//www.resosol.org/InfoNuc/IN_DI.OMS_AIEA.htm).

CHERNOBYL

Conclusion to Chapter IV

In the last days of spring and the beginningof summer of 1986, radioactivity was releasedfrom the Chernobyl power plant and fell uponhundreds of millions of people. The resultinglevels of radionuclides were hundreds of timeshigher than that from the Hiroshima atomicbomb.

The normal lives of tens of millions havebeen destroyed. Today, more than 6 millionpeople live on land with dangerous levels ofcontamination—land that will continue to becontaminated for decades to centuries. Thusthe daily questions: how to live and where tolive?

In the territories contaminated by the Cher-nobyl fallout it is impossible to engage safelyin agriculture; impossible to work safely inforestry, in fisheries, and hunting; and dan-gerous to use local foodstuffs or to drinkmilk and even water. Those who live inthese areas ask how to avoid the tragedy ofa son or daughter born with malformationscaused by irradiation. Soon after the catas-trophe these profound questions arose amongliquidators’ families, often too late to avoidtragedy.

During this time, complex measures to min-imize risks in agriculture and forestry were de-

veloped for those living in contaminated territo-ries, including organizing individual radiationprotection, support for radioactive-free agricul-tural production, and safer ways to engage inforestry.

Most of the efforts to help people in thecontaminated territories are spearheaded bystate-run programs. The problem with theseprograms is the dual issue of providing helpwhile hoping to minimize charges that Cher-nobyl fallout has caused harm.

To simplify life for those suffering irradiationeffects a tremendous amount of educationaland organizational work has to be done to mon-itor incorporated radionuclides, monitor (with-out exception) all foodstuffs, determine individ-ual cumulative doses using objective methods,and provide medical and genetic counseling,especially for children.

More than 20 years after the catastrophe, byvirtue of the natural migration of radionuclidesthe resultant danger in these areas has not de-creased, but increases and will continue to doso for many years to come. Thus there is theneed to expand programs to help people stillsuffering in the contaminated territories, whichrequires international, national, state, and phil-anthropic assistance.

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