title: Bipolarization of Risk Perception about the Health Effects of Radiation in Residents after the Accident at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.
abstract: The late health effects of low-dose rate radiation exposure are still a serious public concern in the Fukushima area even four years after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP). To clarify the factors associated with residents' risk perception of radiation exposure and consequent health effects, we conducted a survey among residents of Kawauchi village in May and June 2014, which is located within 30 km of FNPP. 85 of 285 residents (29.8%) answered that acute radiation syndrome might develop in residents after the accident, 154 (54.0%) residents responded that they had anxieties about the health effects of radiation on children, and 140 (49.1%) residents indicated that they had anxieties about the health effects of radiation on offspring. Furthermore, 107 (37.5%) residents answered that they had concerns about health effects that would appear in the general population simply by living in an environment with a 0.23 μSv per hour ambient dose for one year, 149 (52.2%) residents reported that they were reluctant to eat locally produced foods, and 164 (57.5%) residents believed that adverse health effects would occur in the general population by eating 100 Bq per kg of mushrooms every day for one year. The present study shows that a marked bipolarization of the risk perception about the health effects of radiation among residents could have a major impact on social well-being after the accident at FNPP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health, Medicine, and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan; Department of Nursing, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan.
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orita
authors.affiliation: Division of Strategic Collaborative Research, Center for Promotion of Collaborative Research on Radiation and Environment Health Effects, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashida
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health, Medicine, and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan; Department of Nursing, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan.
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shinkawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Urata
authors.affiliation: Hirosaki University School of Health Sciences, Hirosaki 0368560, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.affiliation: Kawauchi Municipal Government, Fukushima 9791201, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Medical Sciences, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan.
authors.forename: Shunichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.affiliation: Department of Global Health, Medicine, and Welfare, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki 8528523, Japan.
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takamura
mesh_terms: D000363:Agaricales; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D011827:Radiation; D000069079:Radiation Exposure / Q000032:analysis*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D012306:Risk