Prevalence of lens changes in Ukrainian children residing around Chernobyl.
The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence and characteristics of lens changes in the eyes of a pediatric population, 5-17 y old, living in the permanent control zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor and to compare these findings with those from an unexposed control population. A total of 1,787 children are reported on (996 exposed and 791 unexposed). Over three-quarters of the subjects examined in this study show a form of minor change, termed focal lens defect, in the cortical and/or nuclear portions of the lens of the eye. The exposed group shows a small (3.6%), but statistically significant excess (p = 0.0005) of subclinical posterior subcapsular lens changes similar in form to changes identified in atomic bomb survivors. These posterior subcapsular changes tend to occur in boys 12-17 y old and in exposed children who report consuming locally grown mushrooms on a regular basis.
Day
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Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
Gorin
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MB
Eller
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AW
D000293:Adolescent; D015982:Bias; D002648:Child; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005507:Food Contamination, Radioactive; D006801:Humans; D007903:Lens Capsule, Crystalline / Q000293:injuries / Q000528:radiation effects; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000293:injuries* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008297:Male; D011210:Power Plants; D011634:Public Health; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D014455:Ukraine / Q000453:epidemiology