Chapter II. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for Public Health

Abstract

Problems complicating a full assessment of the effects from Chernobyl included official secrecy and falsification of medical records by the USSR for the first 3.5 years after the catastrophe and the lack of reliable medical statistics in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Official data concerning the thousands of cleanup workers (Chernobyl liquidators) who worked to control the emissions are especially difficult to reconstruct. Using criteria demanded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) resulted in marked underestimates of the number of fatalities and the extent and degree of sickness among those exposed to radioactive fallout from Chernobyl. Data on exposures were absent or grossly inadequate, while mounting indications of adverse effects became more and more apparent. Using objective information collected by scientists in the affected areas--comparisons of morbidity and mortality in territories characterized by identical physiography, demography, and economy, which differed only in the levels and spectra of radioactive contamination--revealed significant abnormalities associated with irradiation, unrelated to age or sex (e.g., stable chromosomal aberrations), as well as other genetic and nongenetic pathologies.

Telomere length in Chernobyl accident recovery workers in the late period after the disaster

“…Moreover, the CNPP clean-up workers have been examined thoroughly a number of times, which provided the opportunity to evaluate telomere length changes and possible associations with a range of health issues. As mentioned earlier, data on documented irradiation doses in the CNPP clean-up workers is limited and unreliable for assessment of radiation effects because they were assessed on site in an inaccurate way that didn't take into account internal exposure during their stay in Chernobyl [7, 34, 35]. Hence, for more precise assessment of the impact of irradiation on telomeres, CNPP accident recovery operators were divided into several subgroups according to the characteristics of their work in Chernobyl.…”

“…In other words, a tendency for elongation of telomeres was found in people who were more heavily exposed to ionising radiation. During their stay in Chernobyl, a certain level of radioactive substances accumulated in the body of recovery workers through inhaling the dust, ingesting local food and drinking contaminated water [7]. Workers who performed decontamination and digging tasks had a greater probability of incorporating larger amounts of radioactive isotopes into their bodies as a result of closer contact with contaminated objects.…”

“…The half-life of some radionuclides released into the environment after the Chernobyl disaster (such as 137 Cs and 90 Sr) is ∼30 years [7], and of others can be > 20 000 years [39]. Some of these radionuclides accumulate in bones (e.g.…”

“…25th and 75th percentiles) was 89–190 mSv. Considering the inaccuracy in the radiation dose assessment in Chernobyl (only external irradiation was measured for calculations of documented doses [7, 34, 35]; internal irradiation was not evaluated), documented doses were considered unreliable. Therefore, participation time and tasks performed during stay in Chernobyl were employed for the evaluation of radiation exposure in the CNPP clean-up workers.…”

“…Many of these diseases are aging-associated. Some signs of premature aging have been shown in studies of people exposed to radiation [7, 8], but the precise mechanisms for this probable acceleration of aging processes still remain unclear.…”