Individual Dose Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood and Adolescent Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima, Japan

Kato, Terumasa; Yamada, Kōsaku

doi:10.31487/j.cor.2022.02.02

Cited by 3 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Thyroid ultrasound screening was performed as part of the FHMS for all 367,649 residents aged ≤18 years at the accident and 115 and 71 confirmed or suspected cancer cases were detected among 300,473 and 270,511 examinees in the 1st (FY2011-2013) and 2nd (FY2014-2015) round screening, respectively [1,9]. In this paper, positive cases in fineneedle aspiration cytology were defined as cancer cases because 99.3% were confirmed to be malignant by surgery among 151 positive cases.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, positive cases in fineneedle aspiration cytology were defined as cancer cases because 99.3% were confirmed to be malignant by surgery among 151 positive cases. Individual dose dependence of thyroid cancer was studied based on the radiation dose data of 36 cancer cases in the FHMS report and the distribution of individual external dose of 108,980 examinees with external dose data estimated for the first four months after the accident [1,10]. Details of the thyroid ultrasound screening, dose estimation, and statistical analyses were described in [1].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In our preceding paper, thyroid cancer incidence in Fukushima residents exposed at ≤18 years of age and detected in the 2nd round of thyroid screening (FY2014-2015) of the Fukushima health management survey (FHMS), demonstrated a linear response to individual external dose in the 0.5-2.5 mSv range [1]. To see a rough response of the incidence to thyroid dose for 10-year-old-children estimated in the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) 2020/2021, the external dose (x/mSv) was converted to thyroid dose (y/Gy) by the linear regression formula y = 0.0067x [1,2]. A rough estimate of the excess relative risk per gray (ERR/Gy) was 213 (95%CI: 129, 297) for thyroid dose estimated in UNSCEAR 2020/2021.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Individual Dose Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood and Adolescent Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima II: Possibility of High I-131 Exposure as in Chernobyl

Kato¹,

Yamada²

2022

COR

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Background: Thyroid cancer incidence of individual dose groups in Fukushima residents exposed at ≤18 years of age demonstrated a linear response to thyroid dose estimated in the United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) 2020/2021. Increased childhood thyroid cancer in Fukushima was found to come dominantly from radiation exposure from the nuclear accident. The UNSCEAR 2020/2021 concluded that the apparent excess of thyroid cancers would not be expected at thyroid doses estimated by the UNSCEAR. The purpose of this paper is to solve the puzzle of the high childhood thyroid cancer incidence in Fukushima despite the estimated low thyroid dose. Methods: The conversion coefficient k connecting thyroid doses estimated in UNSCEAR 2020/2021 and doses based on direct thyroid dose measurements in Chernobyl: 1 GyUN2021 = k × 1 Gy (gray), was estimated by comparing incidences and dose dependences of thyroid cancers in Fukushima and Chernobyl after nuclear disasters. Results: The ratio of the observed cases /expected cases from cancer registry: of about 60 in Fukushima prefecture, was higher than the ratios observed after the Chernobyl accident. The thyroid doses estimated by UNSCEAR were corrected by adding a baseline dose to recover the severely underestimated ingestion dose. The conversion coefficients were: k =60~70 from the comparison of the excess absolute risks (EAR) and their dose dependences in Fukushima and in Chernobyl, and k =10~180 from the comparison of excess relative risk per gray (ERR/Gy) in Fukushima with those in Chernobyl. The thyroid doses might have been underestimated by about 1/50~1/100 in UNSCEAR 2020/2021. Conclusion: The dozens-fold increase of childhood thyroid cancer cases after the Fukushima nuclear accident was found to arise from radioactive iodine exposure comparable to that in Chernobyl.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Individual Dose Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood and Adolescent Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima II: Possibility of High I-131 Exposure as in Chernobyl

Kato¹,

Yamada²

2022

COR

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“…78 This conclusion is supported by a study published very recently that linked external radiation doses linearly to increases in thyroid cancers. 75 Coupled with these dose findings, thyroid cancer metastasis, aggressive growth and recurrence, it seems enhanced screenings are entirely appropriate as many of these cancers are clinically relevant. 79 Reprocessing: the dirty end of the nuclear fuel chain Reprocessing-the cutting up of irradiated reactor fuel rods in a chemical bath to extract plutonium and fissile uranium-involves the annual discharge of tens of millions of gallons of radioactively contaminated liquids and the release of radioactive gases such as krypton, xenon and carbon-14.…”

Section: Catastrophic Radioactive Waste Releasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health

Folkers¹,

Gunter²

2022

bmjpo

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Although radioactivity is released routinely at every stage of nuclear power generation, the regulation of these releases has never taken into account those potentially most sensitive—women, especially when pregnant, and children. From uranium mining and milling, to fuel manufacture, electricity generation and radioactive waste management, children in frontline and Indigenous communities can be disproportionately harmed due to often increased sensitivity of developing systems to toxic exposures, the lack of resources and racial and class discrimination. The reasons for the greater susceptibility of women and children to harm from radiation exposure is not fully understood. Regulatory practices, particularly in the establishment of protective exposure standards, have failed to take this difference into account. Anecdotal evidence within communities around nuclear facilities suggests an association between radiation exposure and increases in birth defects, miscarriages and childhood cancers. A significant number of academic studies tend to ascribe causality to other factors related to diet and lifestyle and dismiss these health indicators as statistically insignificant. In the case of a major release of radiation due to a serious nuclear accident, children are again on the frontlines, with a noted susceptibility to thyroid cancer, which has been found in significant numbers among children exposed both by the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine and the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. The response among authorities in Japan is to blame increased testing or to reduce testing. More independent studies are needed focused on children, especially those in vulnerable frontline and Indigenous communities. In conducting such studies, greater consideration must be applied to culturally significant traditions and habits in these communities.

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Area Dose–Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima Based on Thyroid Dose in UNSCEAR 2020/2021: High 131I Exposure Comparable to Chernobyl

Kato,

Yamada,

Hongyo

2023

Cancers

Self Cite

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The FMU and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) concluded that the high incidence of thyroid cancer after the Fukushima nuclear accident was not the result of radiation exposure, but rather might have been overdiagnosis based on the low thyroid dose estimated in the UNSCEAR 2020/2021 report. In this study, the origin of increased PTC in Fukushima was examined based on the thyroid dose estimated by UNSCEAR. The dose–response relationship of the incidence rate per person-years (PY) was analyzed for four areas in Fukushima prefecture via regression analysis. The linear response of the annual incidence rates to thyroid dose in the first six years showed that the dominant origin of childhood thyroid cancer was radiation exposure. Excess absolute risk (EAR) proportionally increased with thyroid dose, with an EAR/104 PY Gy of 143 (95%CI: 122, 165) in the second TUE (p < 0.001), which is approximately 50–100 times higher than the EAR/104 PY Gy ≒ 2.3 observed after the Chernobyl accident. This suggests an underestimation of the thyroid dose by UNSCEAR of approximately 1/50~1/100 compared with the thyroid dose for Chernobyl. The increased childhood thyroid cancer in Fukushima was found to arise from radioactive iodine exposure, which was comparable to that in Chernobyl.

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Individual Dose Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood and Adolescent Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima, Japan

Cited by 3 publications

References 11 publications

Individual Dose Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood and Adolescent Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima II: Possibility of High I-131 Exposure as in Chernobyl

Individual Dose Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood and Adolescent Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima II: Possibility of High I-131 Exposure as in Chernobyl

Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health

Area Dose–Response and Radiation Origin of Childhood Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima Based on Thyroid Dose in UNSCEAR 2020/2021: High 131I Exposure Comparable to Chernobyl

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