Thyroid doses for evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear accident.
A primary health concern among residents and evacuees in affected areas immediately after a nuclear accident is the internal exposure of the thyroid to radioiodine, particularly I-131, and subsequent thyroid cancer risk. In Japan, the natural disasters of the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed an important function of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1-NPP) and a large amount of radioactive material was released to the environment. Here we report for the first time extensive measurements of the exposure to I-131 revealing I-131 activity in the thyroid of 46 out of the 62 residents and evacuees measured. The median thyroid equivalent dose was estimated to be 4.2 mSv and 3.5 mSv for children and adults, respectively, much smaller than the mean thyroid dose in the Chernobyl accident (490 mSv in evacuees). Maximum thyroid doses for children and adults were 23 mSv and 33 mSv, respectively.
Department of Radiation Physics, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki City, Aomori 036-8564, Japan. tokonami@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp
Shinji
S
Tokonami
Masahiro
M
Hosoda
Suminori
S
Akiba
Atsuyuki
A
Sorimachi
Ikuo
I
Kashiwakura
Mikhail
M
Balonov
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004435:Eating; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D062306:Geography, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D001239:Inhalation; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects*; D055815:Young Adult
D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes