Belarusian in utero cohort: A new opportunity to evaluate the health effects of prenatal and early-life exposure to ionising radiation
In April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear accident resulted in wide-scale contamination of Belarus with
significantly elevated levels of radioiodine isotopes, mainly iodine-131 ( 131 I), and long-lived
radiocaesium isotopes, mainly caesium-137 ( 137 Cs). Various groups of the population were affected
by exposure to ionising radiation, including pregnant women and their foetuses. This paper describes
the methods and results related to the establishment of a cohort of 2965 Belarusian people exposed
in utero due to Chernobyl fallout. The cohort consists of individuals whose mothers resided in the
most radioactively contaminated areas in Belarus at the time of the accident. Prenatal and postnatal
doses to the thyroid due to intake of 131 I, external irradiation and ingestion of radiocaesium
isotopes were estimated for all cohort members. Ongoing research on this unique cohort will provide
important information on adverse health effects following prenata...
Source: Journal of Radiological Protection - Category: Physics Authors: Vasilina Yauseyenka, Vladimir Drozdovitch, Evgenia Ostroumova, Olga Polyanskaya, Victor Minenko, Alina Brenner, Maureen Hatch, Mark P Little, Elizabeth K Cahoon, Tatiana Kukhta, Liliya Starastsenka, Rimma Grakovitch, Andrey Cheshik, Ilya Veyalkin, Alexand Source Type: research