Radiation Dose to Post-Chernobyl Cleanup Workers
DCEG investigators from the Radiation Epidemiology Branch (REB) are assessing radiation dose estimates to post-Chernobyl cleanup workers in Ukraine, whose external radiation exposure was mainly due to fallout. Bone marrow doses were estimated by the RADRUE dose reconstruction method (pdf, 356 KB) for the subjects of the case-control study of leukemia among the Ukrainian cleanup workers. These bone marrow doses among the 1,000 subjects averaged 92 mGy ranging from essentially zero to 3,260 mGy.
NCI investigators and Ukrainian collaborators are also conducting a study of thyroid cancer among the Ukrainian cleanup workers. They have estimated thyroid doses from external irradiation using the RADRUE approach. In addition, they calculated thyroid doses due to intake of 131I via inhalation at the Chernobyl site and/or ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs. The thyroid dose from all exposure pathways among 608 study subjects averaged 190 mGy, ranging from 0.14 to 8,300 mGy. For almost half of the subjects, the internal dose due to 131I intake was greater than the dose due to external irradiation. There was no correlation between external and internal doses.
For more information, contact Dr. Vladimir Drozdovitch.