title: Whole-body counter surveys of over 2700 babies and small children in and around Fukushima Prefecture 33 to 49 months after the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident.
abstract: BABYSCAN, a whole-body counter (WBC) for small children was developed in 2013, and units have been installed at three hospitals in Fukushima Prefecture. Between December, 2013 and March, 2015, 2707 children between the ages of 0 and 11 have been scanned, and none had detectable levels of radioactive cesium. The minimum detectable activities (MDAs) for (137)Cs were ≤ 3.5 Bq kg(-1) for ages 0-1, decreasing to ≤ 2 Bq kg(-1) for ages 10-11. Including the (134)Cs contribution, these translate to a maximum committed effective dose of ∼ 16 µSv y(-1) even for newborn babies, and therefore the internal exposure risks can be considered negligibly small.Analysis of the questionnaire filled out by the parents of the scanned children regarding their families' food and water consumption revealed that the majority of children residing in the town of Miharu regularly consume local or home-grown rice and vegetables, while in Minamisoma, a majority avoid tap water and produce from Fukushima. The data show, however, no correlation between consumption of locally produced food and water and the children's body burdens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo.
authors.forename: Ryugo S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Hayano
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsubokura
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozaki
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kambe
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Tomoyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oikawa
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nihei
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimmura
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tokiwa
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014915:Whole-Body Counting