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The Long-Term Impact of Chernobyl: Risk of Low-Level Radiation

This article explores the long-term consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, including the rise in cancer and non-cancer diseases, genetic effects, and adverse effects on the brain. It also highlights the challenges in assessing the true dimension of the catastrophe and the withholding of information by international bodies and the former USSR.

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The Long-Term Impact of Chernobyl: Risk of Low-Level Radiation

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  1. Risk of low-level radiation 30 years living with Chernobyl – its long term impact Dr. Angelika Claussen, IPPNW Europe

  2. The long term impact of Chernobyl The burning reactor Source: Tschernobyl Interinform The exploded Reactor Foto taken by Igor Kostin 12 hours after the explosion

  3. The long term impact of Chernobyl • - The largestnuclear • catastrophe in the 20th century • - „Radioactivityrelease 200 timesthatfrom Hiroshima und Nagasaki (WHO/IPHECA 1995) • - Hans Blix 1986, IAEO: „The nuclearindustrycantake a catastropheChernobyl onceeveryyear.“

  4. The longterm impact of Chernobyl

  5. The long term impact of Chernobyl

  6. The long term impact of Chernobyl • Problems in describing the true dimension of the catastrophe • Information to assess the dimension of the health effects were kept secret or were falsified (USSR) during the first 5 years • The international bodies, IAEO and the Chernobyl Forum (200 Western and 500 Russian scientists, also withhelt and falsified important findings: 1991 no mentioning of the rise of Thyroid cancer in children although it was proved. • “No health problem can directly be attributed to the radiation dose of Chernobyl.“ • 1991 the Soviet Union fell apart, the health system and the social system declined, the three republics Russia, Belarus and Ukraine hat to cope with the health and the social effects on their own • Medical discussion on the effects of low dose radiation

  7. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Chernobyl health impacts: • Rise of cancer, not only thyroid, but also leukemia, breast cancer and other cancers • Rise of non-cancer diseases (exceeds the cancer cases) - blood system, stroke and heart attack, thyroid – endocrinological diseases, (Basedow, Hashimoto, Diabetes), lens diseases • Genetic effects: congenital malformations, rise in perinatal mortality, rise of stillbirth

  8. Source. E. Lengfelder, Universität München Thyroid Cancer Rise Belarus

  9. Source Prof. A. Njagu, Inst. Radiation Medicine Kiev, BFS-workshop 2006 Thyroid cancer rise incidence Ukraine

  10. Thyroid cancer rise in Adults • Studies show specific rise in female thyroid cancer • Ukraine: M. Fuzik + A. Prysyazhnyuk (2011) • Russia: Ivanov, V.K. et al (2012) • Belarus: Frenzel, C. + Lengfelder, E. (2011) • Czech Republic: Mürbeth et al. (2004) • Specific epidemiologic studies should be undertaken in other highly contaminated areas in Middle and Western Europe: Austria, Bavaria, Estonia, Romania

  11. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Chernobyl-related cancers: • Clean-up workers: increase in cancer by 20 % (Okeanov,2004) increase in acute and of chronic lymphatic leukemia (Zablotska et al, 2012), increase in thyroid cancer (Kesmiene et al, 2012) • Gomel region, Belarus: increase in cancer rate by 55,9 % • Belarus overall: 40% (Okeanov et al. 2004) • Increase in breast cancer in contaminated areas Gomel + Mogilov (Belarus) and Chernigov, Kiev, Zhytomir (Ukraine), (Pukkala et al. 2006) • Increase in leukaemia (children) in contaminated areas of Ukraine: Significant if the contamination is higher than 10 mSv (Noshenko, 2010) and Belarus (A. Körblein 2013) for babies in the first year after Chernobyl Increase in number of brain tumours for children under 6 years (Ukraine) 5,8 fold (Orlov, Sharevsky, 2002)

  12. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Chernobyl, non-cancer diseases: • Prysyazhnyuk et al: in-utero radiated children: • Risk of cardiovascular diseases increased compared to non-radiated children: (57.8% vs. 31.8%, p < 0.05) • Prysyazhnyuk, A. Ye. Et al (2002). Review of epidemiological finding in the study of medical consequencesof the Chernobyl accident in Ukrainian population. In: Imanaka, T. (Ed.), Recent Research Activities on the Chernobyl NPP Accident in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, KURRI-KR-79 (Kyoto University, Kyoto), pp. 188–287.

  13. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Non-cancer diseases: Chernobyl shows adverse effects on childrens‘ bloodcells • Study of 1,251 children from 1993 -1998 in the region of Narodichevsky/Shitomir - Ukraine • Data show a statistically significant reduction in red and white blood cell counts, platelet counts and haemoglobin with increasing residential 137Cs soil contamination • Stepanova et al Environmental Health 2008, 7:21

  14. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Chernobyl non-cancer diseases: • Radiation severely affects the human brain • Dose-related cognitive and neurophysiological abnormalities among prenatally exposed children after the Chernobyl accident . • Gestation ages of +8 weeks at >20 mSv on the fetus and >300 mSv on the thyroid in utero; • Gestation ages at 16–25 weeks, abnormalities at Doses >10 mSv and >200 mSv, respectively. • K. Loganovsky, Kiew, Ukraine:Do low doses of ionizing radiation affext the human brain?

  15. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Brain effects on adults: liquidators‘ health • Radiation-associated cerebrovascular effects (stroke) were obtained at >150 -250 mSv. • Dose-related neuropsychiatric,neurophysiological, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging abnormalities following exposure to >300 mSv • neurophysiological and neuroimaging radiation markers at doses >1000 mSv were revealed • (source: K. Loganovsky 2009, 2015)

  16. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Non-cancer diseases: liquidators‘ health • Main cause of death: stroke, heart attack • second cause of death: cancer • Yablokov (2009) looked at studies on liquidators from the health registries in Obninsk and in Kiev; estimates that out of 830,000 liquidators • 112,000 –125,000 have died

  17. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Genetic and teratogen effects on reproductive health • Increase of stillbirth in Southern Bavaria • Increase of stillbirth in Eastern European countries (Greece, Hungary, Poland, Sweden). Effects not so clear in central Europe (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland) • Sources: Scherb et al (1999) European stillbirth proportions before and after Chernobyl accident H. Scherb, E. Weigelt: Spatial-temporal logistic regression of the cesium contamination and the time trend in annual stillbirth proportions on a district level in Bavaria, 1980 to 1993

  18. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Increase in perinatal mortality in Germany and Poland corresponding to 137Cs contamination • Increase in congenital malformations in Belarus, Ukraine, Bavaria corresponding to 137Cs soil contamination • Sources: D. Lazjuk et al (1997), W. Wertelecki (2010, 2014), Scherb +Weigelt, 2003 • http://www.alfred-koerblein.de/chernobyl/english/index.htm

  19. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Genetic effects: • - Down Syndrom in Berlin: (Sperling et al 1993, 2012) • - Chromosomal aberrations in children of liquidators (Yablokov 2009) • - Changes in the birth ratio of male/female newborns (Hagen Scherb et al 2007 ff)

  20. The long term impact of Chernobyl • Lessons from Chernobyl to Fukushima: • - Prerequisite for elaborated epidemiological studies is good data from all the contaminated population and workers. • - Without having data one cannot find anything.

  21. The longtermimpactofChernobyl • Lessons for Fukushima • Systematic health check-ups needed for: • All clean-up workers • All evacuees, adults and children • All the population remaining in the contaminated zones and provinces

  22. The longtermimpactofChernobyl Thank you for your attention

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