Behavior and food consumption pattern of the population exposed in 1949–1962 to fallout from Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The relationship between radiation exposure from nuclear weapons testing fallout and thyroid disease in a group of 2,994 subjects has been the subject of study by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. In that study, radiation doses to the thyroid were estimated for residents of villages in Kazakhstan possibly exposed to deposition of radioactive fallout from nuclear testing conducted by the Soviet Union at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1962. The study subjects included individuals of both Kazakh and Russian origin who were exposed during childhood and adolescence. An initial dose reconstruction used for the risk analysis of Land et al. (2008) was based on individual information collected from basic questionnaires administered to the study population in 1998. However, because data on several key questions for accurately estimating doses was not obtained from the 1998 questionnaires it was decided to conduct a second data collection campaign in 2007. Due to the many years elapsed since exposure, a well developed strategy was necessary to encourage accurate memory recall. In our recent study, a focus group interview data collection methodology was used to collect historical behavioral and food consumption data. The data collection in 2007 involved interviews conducted within four eight-person focus groups (three groups of women and one group of men) in each of four exposed villages where thyroid disease screening was conducted in 1998. Population-based data on relevant childhood behaviors, including time spent in- and outdoors and consumption rates of milk and other dairy products were collected from women’s groups. The data were collected for five age groups of children and adolescents ranging from less than 1 year of age to 21 years of age. Dairy products considered included fresh milk and other products from cows, goats, mares, and sheep. Men’s focus group interviews pertained to construction materials of houses and schools, and animal grazing patterns and feeding practices. The response data collected are useful for improving estimates of thyroid radiation dose estimates for the subjects of an ongoing epidemiological study.

Epitopes specificity of antibodies to thyroid peroxidase in patients with Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and overlap-syndrome

“…Thyroid disorders, including TAIDs, are prevalent in Kazakhstan and their significance cannot be underestimated due to the activity of the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site – the largest Soviet nuclear weapons testing ground located in Eastern Kazakhstan, from where most of the study participants were enrolled [25] . Also, from 2010 to date Kazakhstan is the leading global producer of uranium ore and many mines are situated at the territory of Eastern Kazakhstan [26] .…”

Behavior and Food Consumption Pattern of the French Polynesian Population in the 1960s –1970s

“…The focus-group methodology was successfully used to collect quantitative and qualitative data on lifestyle and occupational habits for the purposes of retrospective dose reconstruction for radiation epidemiology studies of population exposed in 1949-1962 to fallout from Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan population (Drozdovitch et al, 2011;Schwerin et al, 2010) and nuclear medicine technologists who diagnostic radioisotope procedures in the 1950s-mid 1970s (Drozdovitch et al, 2014).…”

Accounting for Shared and Unshared Dosimetric Uncertainties in the Dose Response for Ultrasound-Detected Thyroid Nodules after Exposure to Radioactive Fallout

“…Men's focus group interviews were also conducted and pertained to construction materials of houses and schools, and animal grazing patterns and feeding practices. The data collection is described by Schwerin (23, 24), and findings are discussed in greater detail in Drozdovitch et al (25). …”

“…The temporal dependence of the exposure rate, discussed by Simon et al (19), is modeled by a ten-term exponential equation fitted to actual data and represents an improvement of the previous well known power function model of t –1.2 (26). The number of hours spent indoors by persons of each age and ethnicity was approximately determined from focus group interviews discussed by Drozdovitch et al (25). The shielding qualities of wooden homes (typical of those in predominantly Russian villages), adobe homes (typical of those in predominantly Kazakh villages) and in public schools have been described by Gordeev et al (21).…”

“…Intake rates of each type of dairy product for Kazakhs and Russians, according to age group of children and for women during pregnancy and breastfeeding, were described by Drozdovitch et al (25). Internal dose to infants during breastfeeding was estimated based on published transfer coefficients for healthy women (29).…”