title: Urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine in Belarussian children relates to urban living rather than radiation dose after the chernobyl accident: a pilot study.
abstract: As a result of the Chernobyl accident in 1986, exposure to radioactive cesium is still a concern in the contaminated regions of Belarus. We tested the hypothesis that long-term radiation exposure from the Chernobyl accident might increase the urinary excretion of the oxidative stress marker, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), in Belarussian children. Urinary 8-OHdG was determined in two groups of children (-n = 31 and n = 46) -living in contaminated and uncontaminated areas of Belarus, respectively (the majority of the unexposed children lived in the capital Minsk). The children from the contaminated areas had a significantly higher annual summary effective dose but significantly lower urinary 8-OHdG levels than the children from the uncontaminated areas. Unexpectedly, children living in uncontaminated urban areas had significantly higher urinary 8-OHdG levels than children living in uncontaminated rural areas. There was no statistically significant effect of sex or body mass index on urinary 8-OHdG, but there was a weak significant inverse correlation to age as well as to the annual summary effective dose. These findings suggest that radiation from the Chernobyl accident is now a less important contributor to oxidative stress in Belarussian children than urban living.
authors.affiliation: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden. martin.tondel@lio.se
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tondel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arynchyn
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jönsson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tagesson
mesh_terms: D000080242:8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine; D000293:Adolescent; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018736:DNA Adducts / Q000652:urine*; D003849:Deoxyguanosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D002094:Republic of Belarus / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D018736:DNA Adducts; D000080242:8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine; D003849:Deoxyguanosine