Whole-body counter surveys of over 2700 babies and small children in and around Fukushima Prefecture 33 to 49 months after the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident

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Abstract

BABYSCAN, a whole-body counter (WBC) for small children was developed in 2013, and units have been installed at three hospitals in Fukushima Prefecture. Between December, 2013 and March, 2015, 2707 children between the ages of 0 and 11 have been scanned, and none had detectable levels of radioactive cesium. The minimum detectable activities (MDAs) for ¹³⁷Cs were ≤3.5 Bq kg ⁻¹ for ages 0–1, decreasing to ≤2 Bq kg ⁻¹ for ages 10–11. Including the ¹³⁴Cs contribution, these translate to a maximum committed effective dose of ∼16 µSv y ⁻¹ even for newborn babies, and therefore the internal exposure risks can be considered negligibly small.

Analysis of the questionnaire filled out by the parents of the scanned children regarding their families’ food and water consumption revealed that the majority of children residing in the town of Miharu regularly consume local or home-grown rice and vegetables, while in Minamisoma, a majority avoid tap water and produce from Fukushima. The data show, however, no correlation between consumption of locally produced food and water and the children’s body burdens.

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Internal radiocesium contamination of adults and children in Fukushima 7 to 20 months after the Fukushima NPP accident as measured by extensive whole-body-counter surveys

Ryugo Hayano, Masaharu Tsubokura, Makoto Miyazaki … (2013)

The Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP accident contaminated the soil of densely-populated regions in Fukushima Prefecture with radioactive cesium, which poses significant risks of internal and external exposure to the residents. If we apply the knowledge of post-Chernobyl accident studies, internal exposures in excess of a few mSv/y would be expected to be frequent in Fukushima. Extensive whole-body-counter surveys (n = 32,811) carried out at the Hirata Central Hospital between October, 2011 and November, 2012, however show that the internal exposure levels of residents are much lower than estimated. In particular, the first sampling-bias-free assessment of the internal exposure of children in the town of Miharu, Fukushima, shows that the 137Cs body burdens of all children (n = 1,383, ages 6–15, covering 95% of children enrolled in town-operated schools) were below the detection limit of 300 Bq/body in the fall of 2012. These results are not conclusive for the prefecture as a whole, but are consistent with results obtained from other municipalities in the prefecture, and with prefectural data.

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Measurements of individual radiation doses in residents living around the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

Shigenobu Nagataki, Noboru Takamura, Kenji Kamiya … (2013)

At the outset of the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011, the radiation doses experienced by residents were calculated from the readings at monitoring posts, with several assumptions being made from the point of view of protection and safety. However, health effects should also be estimated by obtaining measurements of the individual radiation doses. The individual external radiation doses, determined by a behavior survey in the "evacuation and deliberate evacuation area" in the first 4 months, were <5 mSv in 97.4% of residents (maximum: 15 mSv). Doses in Fukushima Prefecture were <3 mSv in 99.3% of 386,572 residents analyzed. External doses in Fukushima City determined by personal dosimeters were <1 mSv/3 months (September-November, 2011) in 99.7% of residents (maximum: 2.7 mSv). Thyroid radiation doses, determined in March using a NaI (TI) scintillation survey meter in children in the evacuation and deliberate evacuation area, were <10 mSv in 95.7% of children (maximum: 35 mSv). Therefore, all doses were less than the intervention level of 50 mSv proposed by international organizations. Internal radiation doses determined by cesium-134 ((134)C) and cesium-137 ((137)C) whole-body counters (WBCs) were <1 mSv in 99% of the residents, and the maximum thyroid equivalent dose by iodine-131 WBCs was 20 mSv. The exploratory committee of the Fukushima Health Management Survey mentions on its website that radiation from the accident is unlikely to be a cause of adverse health effects in the future. In any event, sincere scientific efforts must continue to obtain individual radiation doses that are as accurate as possible. However, observation of the health effects of the radiation doses described above will require reevaluation of the protocol used for determining adverse health effects. The dose-response relationship is crucial, and the aim of the survey should be to collect sufficient data to confirm the presence or absence of radiation health effects. In particular, the schedule of decontamination needs reconsideration. The decontamination map is determined based on the results of airborne monitoring and the radiation dose calculated from readings taken at the monitoring posts at the initial period of the accident. The decontamination protocol should be reevaluated based on the individual doses of the people who desire to live in those areas.

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Limited Internal Radiation Exposure Associated with Resettlements to a Radiation-Contaminated Homeland after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

Masaharu Tsubokura, Shigeaki Kato, Masahiko Nihei … (2013)

Resettlement to their radiation-contaminated hometown could be an option for people displaced at the time of a nuclear disaster; however, little information is available on the safety implications of these resettlement programs. Kawauchi village, located 12–30 km southwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, was one of the 11 municipalities where mandatory evacuation was ordered by the central government. This village was also the first municipality to organize the return of the villagers. To assess the validity of the Kawauchi villagers’ resettlement program, the levels of internal Cesium (Cs) exposures were comparatively measured in returnees, commuters, and non-returnees among the Kawauchi villagers using a whole body counter. Of 149 individuals, 5 villagers had traceable levels of Cs exposure; the median detected level was 333 Bq/body (range, 309–1050 Bq/kg), and 5.3 Bq/kg (range, 5.1–18.2 Bq/kg). Median annual effective doses of villagers with traceable Cs were 1.1 x 10-2 mSv/y (range, 1.0 x 10-2-4.1 x 10-2 mSv/y). Although returnees had higher chances of consuming locally produced vegetables, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test showed that their level of internal radiation exposure was not significantly higher than that in the other 2 groups (p=0.643). The present findings in Kawauchi village imply that it is possible to maintain internal radiation exposure at very low levels even in a highly radiation-contaminated region at the time of a nuclear disaster. Moreover, the risks for internal radiation exposure could be limited with a strict food control intervention after resettlement to the radiation-contaminated village. It is crucial to establish an adequate number of radio-contaminated testing sites within the village, to provide immediate test result feedback to the villagers, and to provide education regarding the importance of re-testing in reducing the risk of high internal radiation exposure.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Proc. Jpn. Acad., Ser. B, Phys. Biol. Sci

Journal ID (publisher-id): PJAB

Title: Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Series B, Physical and Biological Sciences

Publisher: The Japan Academy (Tokyo, Japan )

ISSN (Print): 0386-2208

ISSN (Electronic): 1349-2896

Publication date (Print): 9 October 2015

Volume: 91

Issue: 8

Pages: 440-446

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

[2 ]Division of Social Communication System for Advanced Clinical Research, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

[3 ]Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.

[4 ]Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan.

[5 ]Hirata Radioactivity Inspection Center, Hirata Central Hospital, Hirata, Fukushima, Japan.

[6 ]Department of Radiation Protection, Iwaki Urological Clinic, Tokiwa Foundation, Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan.

Author notes

[† ]Correspondence should be addressed: R. S. Hayano, Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan (e-mail: hayano@ 123456phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp ).

(Communicated by Toshimitsu YAMAZAKI, M.J.A.)

Article

Publisher ID: pjab-91-440

DOI: 10.2183/pjab.91.440

PMC ID: 4729858

PubMed ID: 26460321

SO-VID: f7178619-f956-475e-975d-7e9a728399ca

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

History

Date received : 30 July 2015

Date accepted : 18 August 2015

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