Radiocesium in children from Belarus.
The body burdens of 137Cs were measured in 74 children from Belarus who had been exposed to fallout from the Chernobyl accident. The children were between the ages of 8 and 12 y old and were visiting the Ottawa area during the summers of 1991 and 1992. The body burdens varied from 0.04-2.25 kBq, which are less than or comparable to the amount of natural 40K in the children's bodies. There was no apparent dependence on age or sex. The body burdens were related, to some extent, with recorded fallout levels in the region of origin but did not appear to change significantly from 1991 to 1992. During their stay in Canada, radiocesium was being cleared from the children's bodies with a mean half-time of 33 d (range = 12-77 d). The highest intake rate of 137Cs was estimated to be 18 Bq d-1 and the highest dose rate was 0.13 mSv y-1.
Tracy
B L
BL
Bureau of Radiation and Medical Devices, Department of National Health and Welfare, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Kramer
G H
GH
Gamarnik
K
K
D000059:Accidents; D001822:Body Burden; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D009688:Nuclear Reactors; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D002094:Republic of Belarus
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D011847:Radioactive Fallout