Exposure Worry: The Psychological Impact of Perceived Ionizing Radiation Exposure in British Nuclear Test Veterans

Collett, George; Young, William R.; Martin, Wendy; Anderson, Rhona M.

doi:10.3390/ijerph182212188

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Because of this, they characterise insecurity as a state of ignorance, a lack of control, and the inability to take precautions against elements that could jeopardise an individual or group or render them defenceless (Sulestarini et al, 2020). Insecurity, according to Collett et al, (2021), is "the condition of worry or anxiety resulting from a real or perceived absence of protection." It alludes to a lack of or insufficient freedom from risk.…”

Section: New Media and Insecuritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilisation of new media in communicating insecurity in Southeast Nigeria

Jumbo,

Asemah,

Anyanwu

et al. 2023

J. Commun.

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This paper aims to describe how in recent times, the issue of insecurity in the southeast of Nigeria is alarming. People are no longer safe as they have become targets for the perpetrators of insecurity within the region. In all of these cases, people must be fully aware of the level of insecurity in a specific location in order to determine the next course of action. In order to achieve this, this study examined the use of new media to communicate insecurity in Southeast Nigeria. The study was founded on the premise of technological determinism. In this research, a survey research approach was used. Using the Wimmer and Dominick sample size calculator, a sample of 384 was generated from the study's population of 22,012,828. A questionnaire was utilised as a data collection tool. Meanwhile, the multistage sampling procedure was used. Data was analysed with the use of descriptive statistics and pie chart. The finding showed that 51.0% of respondents had been exposed to insecurity messages via new media to a very large extent. It was also revealed that on an average of 74.8% (N=367), new media has been used in communicating insecurity among residents in southeastern Nigeria to a very large extent. It was recommended that new media users should be sensitized on the need to use the platform appropriately or with a sense of responsibility instead of using it to fuel more security problems within the southeastern region of Nigeria.

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Section: New Media and Insecuritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilisation of new media in communicating insecurity in Southeast Nigeria

Jumbo,

Asemah,

Anyanwu

et al. 2023

J. Commun.

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“…Epidemiological studies examining mortality and cancer incidence in test veterans, carried out up to 1998, showed limited evidence of any detectable effect although this has since been revised to show a small excess in mortality (RR = 1.02, 90% CI 1.00-1.05, p = 0.04), associated with similar increased risks for both cancer and non-cancer diseases [2][3][4]. Despite this, questions as to whether veterans could have received sufficient radiation exposure to cause harm and, worry about potential genetic risk to future generations of any historical radiation exposure, persist [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The primary health concern for individuals exposed to low-moderate doses is cancer although the debate for non-cancer diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cataracts arising after doses of less than 500 mSv, is ongoing [7]. The psychological impact of real and/or perceived low dose exposure is also of concern [5,8]. In total, 759 NT veterans were identified by the UK MoD as potentially receiving higher doses to that recorded and categorized into 'special groups' , such as those veterans who were involved in air plume sampling, cleaning of 'sampling' aircraft or, crew of HMS Diana who were tasked to sail through a nuclear plume [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

M-FISH evaluation of chromosome aberrations to examine for historical exposure to ionising radiation due to participation at British nuclear test sites

Lawrence,

Scholze,

Seixo

et al. 2024

J. Radiol. Prot.

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Veterans of the British nuclear testing programme represent a population of ex-military personnel who had the potential to be exposed to ionising radiation through their participation at nuclear testing sites in the 1950s and 1960s. In the intervening years, members of this population have raised concerns about the status of their health and that of their descendants, as a consequence. Radiation dose estimates based on film badge measurements of external dose recorded at the time of the tests suggest any exposure to be limited for the majority of personnel, however, only ∼20% of personnel were monitored and no measurement for internalised exposure are on record. Here, to in-part address families concerns, we assay for chromosomal evidence of historical radiation exposure in a group of aged nuclear test (NT) veterans, using multiplex in situ hybridisation (M-FISH), for comparison with a matched group of veterans who were not present at NT sites. In total, we analysed 9379 and 7698 metaphase cells using M-FISH (24-colour karyotyping) from 48 NT and 38 control veteran samples, representing veteran servicemen from the army, Royal Airforce and Royal Navy. We observed stable and unstable simple- and complex-type chromosome aberrations in both NT and control veterans’ samples, however find no significant difference in yield of any chromosome aberration type between the two cohorts. We do observe higher average frequencies of complex chromosome aberrations in a very small subset of veterans previously identified as having a higher potential for radiation exposure, which may be indicative of internalised contamination to long-lived radionuclides from radiation fallout. By utilising recently published whole genome sequence analysis data of a sub-set of the same family groups, we examined for but found no relationship between paternal chromosome aberration burden, germline mutation frequency and self-reported concerns of adverse health in family members, suggesting that the previously reported health issues by participants in this study are unlikely to be associated with historical radiation exposure. We did observe a small number of families, representing both control and NT cohorts, showing a relationship between paternal chromosome aberrations and germline mutation sub-types which should be explored in future studies. In conclusion, we find no cytogenetic evidence of historical radiation exposure in the cohort of nuclear veterans sampled here, offering reassurance that attendance at NTs sites by the veterans sampled here, was not associated with significant levels of exposure to radiation.

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“…Epidemiological studies carried out up to 1998 show no evidence of a detectable effect on overall life expectancy or risk of cancer 22 , however this has recently been revised whereby a small excess in mortality (RR = 1.02, 90% CI 1.00–1.05, p = 0.04) associated with similar increased risks for both cancer and non-cancer diseases, compared to non-test veteran controls, is reported 23 . Throughout the intervening decades, questions as to whether veterans could have received sufficient radiation exposure to cause harm and, worry about potential genetic risk of any historical radiation exposure, persist 24 , 25 . We show elsewhere an over-representation of nuclear test families self-reporting congenital anomalies among their children or grandchildren compared to control families 26 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No evidence of increased mutations in the germline of a group of British nuclear test veterans

Moorhouse

Scholze

Sylvius

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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The potential germline effects of radiation exposure to military veterans present at British nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific is of considerable interest. We analyzed germline mutations in 60 families of UK military personnel comprising 30 control and 30 nuclear test veterans (NTV). Using whole-genome sequencing we studied the frequency and spectra of de novo mutations to investigate the transgenerational effect of veterans’ (potential) exposure to radiation at nuclear bomb test sites. We find no elevation in total de novo single nucleotide variants, small insertion-deletions, structural variants or clustered mutations among the offspring of nuclear test veterans compared to those of control personnel. We did observe an elevated occurrence of single base substitution mutations within mutation signature SBS16, due to a subset of NTV offspring. The relevance of this elevation to potential exposure of veteran fathers and, future health risks, require further investigation. Overall, we find no evidence of increased mutations in the germline of a group of British nuclear test veterans. ISRCTN Registry 17461668.

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Exposure Worry: The Psychological Impact of Perceived Ionizing Radiation Exposure in British Nuclear Test Veterans

Cited by 8 publications

References 63 publications

Utilisation of new media in communicating insecurity in Southeast Nigeria

Utilisation of new media in communicating insecurity in Southeast Nigeria

M-FISH evaluation of chromosome aberrations to examine for historical exposure to ionising radiation due to participation at British nuclear test sites

No evidence of increased mutations in the germline of a group of British nuclear test veterans

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