title: Assessment of radiation exposure from cesium-137 contaminated roads for epidemiological studies in Seoul, Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to assess the radiation exposure for epidemiologic investigation in residents exposed to radiation from roads that were accidentally found to be contaminated with radioactive cesium-137 ((137)Cs) in Seoul.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using information regarding the frequency and duration of passing via the (137)Cs contaminated roads or residing/working near the roads from the questionnaires that were obtained from 8875 residents and the measured radiation doses reported by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, we calculated the total cumulative dose of radiation exposure for each person.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-three percent of the residents who responded to the questionnaire were considered as ever-exposed and 1% of them had a total cumulative dose of more than 10 mSv. The mean (minimum, maximum) duration of radiation exposure was 4.75 years (0.08, 11.98) and the geometric mean (minimum, maximum) of the total cumulative dose was 0.049 mSv (<0.001, 35.35) in the exposed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An individual exposure assessment was performed for an epidemiological study to estimate the health risk among residents living in the vicinity of (137)Cs contaminated roads. The average exposure dose in the exposed people was less than 5% of the current guideline.
authors.affiliation: Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yun-Keun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Pyungchon, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Su
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Won Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Medicine, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Sik
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Hyuk
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yim
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Pyungchon, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Chul
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Korea Federation for Environmental Movements, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jieon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Eunae
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Burm
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ha
keywords: Accidental contamination; Cesium-137; Epidemiological studies; Radiation exposure assessment