title: Urinary iodine levels and thyroid diseases in children; comparison between Nagasaki and Chernobyl.
abstract: We evaluated the incidence of childhood thyroid diseases and urinary iodine levels in Nagasaki, Japan and in Gomel, Belarus, which was greatly radio-contaminated by the Chernobyl accident, in order to obtain the comparative data of thyroid diseases between iodine-rich (Japan) and -deficient (Belarus) areas. In Nagasaki, the median level of urinary iodine, measured by ammonium persulfate digestion in microplate method, was 362.9 microg/L. In order to evaluate the geographical differences in Japan, other samples were collected in Hamamatsu and in South Kayabe, Hokkaido, where the median levels were 208.4 microg/L and 1015.5 microg/L, respectively. Furthermore, thyroid screening by ultrasound (US) in Nagasaki revealed only four cases that showed goiter (1.6%) and two cases (0.8%) that had cystic degeneration and single thyroid cyst. There was no evidence of thyroid nodule detected by US examination. In contrast, the median of urinary iodine level was 41.3 microg/L in Gomel. The incidences of goiter (13.6%) and echogenic abnormality (1.74%) in Gomel were much higher than in Nagasaki, suggesting the critical involvement of iodine deficiency in increased childhood thyroid abnormality around Chernobyl. Radioactive iodine released just after the Chernobyl accident may have influenced predominantly children residing in iodine-deficient areas. Our results suggest that management of thyroid screening for schoolchildren at ordinary times may be beneficial for monitoring the adverse effects of radioactive iodine from the standpoint of future prospective study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nature Medicine, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishigaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Namba
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takamura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saiwai
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Parshin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanematsu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamashita
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007455:Iodine / Q000172:deficiency / Q000652:urine*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D009689:Nuclear Warfare; D011210:Power Plants; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D002094:Republic of Belarus / Q000453:epidemiology; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine*; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D007455:Iodine