A review of exposures to radon, long-lived radionuclides and external gamma at the Czech uranium mine

Marušiaková, Miriam; Gregor, Zdeněk; Tomášek, Ladislav

doi:10.1093/rpd/ncr065

Cited by 11 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…As mentioned above, however, the dosimetric records of this group of miners were too sketchy to be of use. Moreover, the only measurement recorded was the exposure to shortlived radon decay products, whereas we know from the analysis of more recent data that this would account for only about 25% of the overall effective dose, other components being the external gamma exposure (20%) and the exposure to long-lived alpha emitters (55%) [Marušiaková et al, 2011;Zölzer et al, submitted for publication]. It should also be noted that no correlation between the frequency of micronucleus-containing cells and the radon exposure (given in working level month) was found in former German uranium miners either [Müller et al, 2004].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of Genetic Damage in Lymphocytes from Former Uranium Miners

Zölzer

Hon²,

Skalická³

et al. 2012

Cytogenet Genome Res

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Lymphocytes from former uranium miners who finished work underground one or more decades ago were analysed with respect to possibly persisting genetic damage induced by their radiation exposure. A modified micronucleus-centromere test was used which determined the frequency of micronucleus-containing binucleate cells after cytochalasin B treatment and the percentage of centromere-free micronuclei, assessed with the help of immunofluorescence labeling of centromere protein B. Whereas the overall frequency of micronucleus-containing cells was not significantly elevated above the level found in a control group, former miners showed a greater percentage of centromere-free micronuclei, i.e. micronuclei containing only acentric fragments. Our results are in excellent agreement with those of an earlier uranium miner study and lend support to the assumption that genetic damage from alpha radiation can persist for many years after exposure, possibly due to genomic instability. The frequency of micronucleus-containing cells, but not the percentage of centromere-free micronuclei, significantly increased with time since last exposure in the mines. This can be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that miners who have finished working underground longer ago tend to be older, and there is an increase of the frequency of micronucleus-containing cells with age.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of Genetic Damage in Lymphocytes from Former Uranium Miners

Zölzer

Hon²,

Skalická³

et al. 2012

Cytogenet Genome Res

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“…The number of working hours and the activity concentrations (in mJ/m 3 for radon and its progeny and in kBq/m 3 for long-lived radionuclides) were used to calculate exposures under the assumption of a breathing rate of 1.2 m 3 /h. Effective doses could then be derived from the exposures by applying conversion factors of 1.18 mSv/mJ for radon and its progeny and 11 mSv/kBq for long-lived radionuclides [Marušiaková et al, 2011]. These values would have agreed with the current Czech directives, but recently it has been suggested that the conversion factor for radon and its progeny should be about twice as large [ICRP, 2010], whereas the one for long-lived radionuclides should be smaller by 70% [Tomašek et al, 2012].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Genetic Damage in Lymphocytes of Former Uranium Processing Workers

Zölzer

Havránková²,

Skalická³

et al. 2015

Cytogenet Genome Res

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The frequency of cells containing micronuclei (MN) and the presence of centromeres in these MN were analyzed in lymphocytes of 98 men from Southern Bohemia. Forty-six of them had worked at the uranium processing plant ‘MAPE Mydlovary' which was closed in 1991, and 52 men were controls from the same area. FISH using human pan-centromeric chromosome paint was employed to detect centromere-positive (CEN⁺) and -negative (CEN^-) MN. A total of 1,000 binucleated cells (BNC) per participant were analyzed after cytochalasin B treatment. All BNC with MN (CEN⁺ or CEN^-) were recorded. No differences were found between formerly exposed workers and the control group, neither in the total frequency of cells with MN per 1,000 BNC (mean levels ± SD, 9.1 ± 3.1 and 9.8 ± 2.5, respectively) nor in the percentage of CEN^- MN, which were equal (50 ± 18 and 49 ± 17, respectively). Also, there was no difference between individuals living in the 3 villages closest to the uranium processing plant and those living further away. Considering the fact that effective doses of the workers at MAPE Mydlovary were overall similar to those of former uranium miners in whom higher frequencies of CEN^- MN have been found more than 10 years after they had finished working underground, these results are somewhat surprising. A more detailed analysis of the exposures indicates that uranium miners received a greater percentage of their effective dose from the inhalation of radon and its daughters, whereas uranium processing workers received it from the incorporation of long-lived radioactive nuclides such as uranium. If, as has been suggested before, the higher level of DNA damage in miners is due to induced genomic instability, then this phenomenon may be related to radon exposure rather than exposure to uranium.

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Uranium in the Beginning of the Nuclear Age: Reflections on the Historical Role of Jáchymov and an Overview of Early and Present Epidemiological Studies

Sabol

2019

Uranium in Plants and the Environment

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A review of exposures to radon, long-lived radionuclides and external gamma at the Czech uranium mine

Cited by 11 publications

References 1 publication

Persistence of Genetic Damage in Lymphocytes from Former Uranium Miners

Persistence of Genetic Damage in Lymphocytes from Former Uranium Miners

Analysis of Genetic Damage in Lymphocytes of Former Uranium Processing Workers

Uranium in the Beginning of the Nuclear Age: Reflections on the Historical Role of Jáchymov and an Overview of Early and Present Epidemiological Studies

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