Assessment of the radiation safety of the rural population of the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine in the remote period after the Chernobyl catastrophe

Abstract

In Ukraine, as a result of the Chernobyl disaster, 2,218 villages and cities with a population of about 2.4 million residents were in the zone of radioactive contamination. Pollution has undergone almost the entire territory of Polesia and a significant part of the Forest-Steppe. The population living in radioactively contaminated areas receives an additional more natural dose level of external and internal exposure. External irradiation is due to the high content of 137Cs in soils, with the decay of which increases the power of gamma radiation on the ground. Internal exposure is caused by the ingestion of 137Cs and 90Sr during the consumption of food products. The rural population with the consumption of products grown in household plots, receives significantly higher doses of radiation than the city. The activity of 137Cs and 90Sr in milk, meat, potatoes and other vegetable products is grown on the backyards of residents of the villages Osypivka and Tarasivka of the Bila Tserkva district of the Kyiv region, who have been subjected to radioactive contamination due to the Chernobyl disaster. The research results show that milk, meat and vegetable products grown in radioactively contaminated areas of the forest-steppe zone meet the radiation safety criteria for 137Cs and 90Sr. The internal exposure dose of the residents of the Osypivka village with the consumption of food products is 0.065 mSv/year, and that of the Tarasivka village - 0.028 mSv/year. Consumption of milk and potatoes makes the greatest contribution to the dose of internal exposure. The external radiation dose due to pollution of the territory of the settlement of 137Cs residents of the Osypivka village is 0.72 mSv/year, and that of the Tarasivka village – 0.27 mSv/year. The annual effective dose to residents of the Osypivka village – 0.78 mSv/year, and the residents of the Tarasivka village - 0.30 mSv/year, which does not exceed the dose of radiation established by current legislation at 1 mSv/year

Existing Risks of Forest Fires in Radiation Contaminated Areas: A Critical Review

“…While settling on the ground, 137 Cs accumulates in the upper soil layer and remains there for many years (Filipović-Vinceković et al, 1991). This is confirmed by studies of soil samples taken after Fukushima and Chernobyl (Hashimoto et al, 2012), although compared to the 1991 data, the level of soil contamination has decreased by half (Herasymenko et al, 2018).…”

“…Recent studies of the specific activity of 137 Cs and 90 Sr in vegetable crops grown in the territory of voluntary guaranteed resettlement and the territory of enhanced radiological control showed that the lowest 137 Cs activity in comparison with other vegetables was in potatoes, onions and cucumbers, in While in sweet peppers and zucchini the 137 Cs activity was twice as high, in carrots and tomatoes it was almost 4 times, in beets -almost 8 times, in beans -10 times. The lowest level of 90 Sr activity is in onions, in tomatoes and cucumberstwice as high, in sweet peppers -4 times higher, in potatoes and cabbage -almost 10 times higher (Herasymenko et al, 2018) In both territories, the activity of 137 Cs and 90 Sr was the highest in cow milk and pork meat. An interesting fact is that in the spring-summer period the activity of 137 Cs and 90 Sr in milk was two to three times higher than in the autumn-winter period (Herasymenko et al, 2018).…”

“…The lowest level of 90 Sr activity is in onions, in tomatoes and cucumberstwice as high, in sweet peppers -4 times higher, in potatoes and cabbage -almost 10 times higher (Herasymenko et al, 2018) In both territories, the activity of 137 Cs and 90 Sr was the highest in cow milk and pork meat. An interesting fact is that in the spring-summer period the activity of 137 Cs and 90 Sr in milk was two to three times higher than in the autumn-winter period (Herasymenko et al, 2018). This is due to the fact that in the spring and summer period, cows graze on natural pastures, where the level of soil pollution is much higher than on arable land.…”

“…Low activity of 137 Cs and 90 Sr was observed in poultry meat, which consumes mainly grain and concentrated feed, where the accumulation of radionuclides is low. In general, the authors found that the activity of 137 Cs and 90 Sr in vegetable products, milk, and meat of personal subsidiary farms does not exceed permissible levels (Herasymenko et al, 2018). In particular, work (Lihtarov et al, 2012) it was also reported that the concentration of 90 Sr activities in cow's milk and vegetables did not exceed the Ukrainian permissible levels.…”

“…Studies have shown that the dose of external exposure to the population decreased by more than an order of magnitude from the end of 1986 to 1993, mainly due to the physical decay of relatively short-lived radionuclides ( 106 Ru, 134 Cs). After this period, 137 Cs makes the main contribution to the external radiation dose, although it should be noted that for several years after the Chernobyl accident, the bioavailability and mobility of radioactive cesium in the environment decreased markedly (Hao et al, 2008;Herasymenko et al, 2018), which contributed to significant changes in food and vegetation contamination and surface waters (Hao et al, 2008).…”