title: Doses for post-Chernobyl epidemiological studies: are they reliable?
abstract: On 26 April 2016, thirty years will have elapsed since the occurrence of the Chernobyl accident, which has so far been the most severe in the history of the nuclear reactor industry. Numerous epidemiological studies were conducted to evaluate the possible health consequences of the accident. Since the credibility of the association between the radiation exposure and health outcome is highly dependent on the adequacy of the dosimetric quantities used in these studies, this paper makes an effort to overview the methods used to estimate individual doses and the associated uncertainties in the main analytical epidemiological studies (i.e. cohort or case-control) related to the Chernobyl accident. Based on the thorough analysis and comparison with other radiation studies, the authors conclude that individual doses for the Chernobyl analytical epidemiological studies have been calculated with a relatively high degree of reliability and well-characterized uncertainties, and that they compare favorably with many other non-Chernobyl studies. The major strengths of the Chernobyl studies are: (1) they are grounded on a large number of measurements, either performed on humans or made in the environment; and (2) extensive effort has been invested to evaluate the uncertainties associated with the dose estimates. Nevertheless, gaps in the methodology are identified and suggestions for the possible improvement of the current dose estimates are made.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Drozdovitch
authors.forename: Vadim
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chumak
authors.forename: Ausrele
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kesminiene
authors.forename: Evgenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ostroumova
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouville
mesh_terms: D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D002094:Republic of Belarus / Q000453:epidemiology; D014586:USSR / Q000453:epidemiology; D014455:Ukraine / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D011848:Radioactive Pollutants