INDIVIDUAL DOSE DISTRIBUTION IN COHORT OF PEOPLE EXPOSED AS A RESULT OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION OF THE TECHA RIVER
Abstract and keywords
Abstract (English):
Purpose: Descriptive analysis of the distributions of organ/tissue doses for individuals exposed to radiation as a result of liquid waste releases into the Techa River by the Mayak Production Association (PA) in 1949–1956. Material and methods: The dosimetry system TRDS-2016D has been used to compute individual doses of external and internal exposures. TRDS-2016D databases include information on radionuclide intakes and dose rates in air for settlements located in the contaminated areas of the Techa River and the East Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT). Combining these village-average data with the residence history and age of a particular person, the system produces an individual scenario of external exposure and individual radionuclide intakes and then calculates corresponding external and internal doses from the Techa River and EURT. Available 90Sr-body-burden measurements and available information on individual household locations relative to the contaminated river have been used for refinement of individual dose estimates. Results: Individual doses have been calculated for 29,647 persons included in the Techa River Cohort (TRC). According to residence history data, 5,280 members of the TRC were additionally exposed due to residency in the EURT villages. The cohort-average dose for the majority of extra-skeletal tissues does not exceed 100 mGy, while for the red bone marrow (RBM) it is equal to 350 mGy. In addition to the doses from the Techa River and EURT, individual thyroid doses for TRC members exposed to the Mayak PA atmospheric 131I releases have been calculated in a separate computer program. The cohort–average thyroid dose is 210 mGy. Maximum doses (about 1 Gy to the majority of extra-skeletal tissues and over 7 Gy to the thyroid and RBM) are observed for the persons who lived in their childhood and adolescence in the upper Techa region at close distance to the Mayak PA. Conclusion: The TRC members were exposed to chronic radiation over a wide range of doses, but at low-to-moderate-dose rates. Estimates of absorbed doses can be used to analyze the dose dependences of the incidence of solid cancers and leukemias. This can make it possible to verify risk coefficients of low-dose-rate effects of ionizing radiation which can be used for radiation protection purposes.

Keywords:
dose reconstruction, Mayak Production Association, Techa river, East Urals Radioactive Trace, Strontium-90, Cesium-137, Iodine-131
References

1. Degteva MO, Shagina NB, Vorobiova MI, Shishkina EA, Tolstykh EI, Akleyev AV. Contemporary understanding of radioactive contamination of the Techa River in 1949-1956. Radiation Biology. Radioecology. 2016;56(5):523-34. DOI:https://doi.org/10.7868/S0869803116050039. (Russian).

2. Shagina NB, Vorobiova MI, Degteva MO, Peremyslova LM, Shishkina EA, Anspaugh LR, Napier BA. Reconstruction of the contamination of the Techa River in 1949-1951 as a result of releases from the “MAYAK” Production Association. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2012;51:349-66. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-012-0414-0.

3. Consequences of Radioactive Contamination of the Techa River. Akleyev AV (ed). Chelyabinsk: Kniga; 2016. 400 p. (Russian).

4. Davis FG, Krestinina LYu, Preston D, Epifanova S, Degteva M, Akleyev AV. Solid Cancer Incidence in the Techa River Incidence Cohort: 1956-2007. Radiat Res. 2015;184:56-65. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1667/RR14023.1.

5. Krestinina LYu, Davis FG, Schonfeld S, Preston DL, Degteva M, Epifanova S, AkleyevAV. Leukaemia incidence in the Techa River Cohort: 1953-2007. Brit J Cancer. 2013;109:2886-93. DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2013.614.

6. Schonfeld SJ, Krestinina LYu, Epifanova SB, Degteva MO, Akleyev AV, Preston DL. Solid cancer mortality in the Techa River Cohort (1950-2007). Radiat Res. 2013;179(2):183-9. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1667/RR2932.1.

7. Preston DL, Sokolnikov ME, Krestinina LYu, Stram DO. Estimates of radiation effects on cancer risks in the Mayak worker, Techa River and atomic bomb survivor studies. Radiat Prot Dosim. 2017;173(1):26-31. DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncw316.

8. Ruhm W, Woloschak GE, Shore RE, Azizova TV, Grosche B, Niwa O, et al. Dose and dose-rate effects of ionizing radiation: a discussion in the light of radiological protection. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2015;54(4):379-401. DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-015-0613-6.

9. Degteva MO, Tolstykh EI, Vorobiova MI, Shagina NB, Shishkina EA, Bougrov NG, et al. Techa River Dosimetry System: Current status and future. Radiation Safety Issues. 2006;(1):66-80. (Russian).

10. Napier BA, Degteva MO, Shagina NB, Anspaugh LR. Uncertainty analysis for the Techa River Dosimetry System. Medical Radiology and Radiation Safety. 2013;58(1):5-28. (Russian).

11. Degteva MO, Tolstykh EI, Suslova KG, Romanov SA, Akleyev AV. Analysis of the results of long-lived radionuclide body burden monitoring in residents of the Urals region. Radiation Hygiene. 2018;11(3):30-9. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21514/1998-426X-2018-11-3-30-39. (Russian).

12. Tolstykh EI, Degteva MO, Peremyslova LM, Shagina NB, Shishkina EA, Krivoschapov VA, et al. Reconstruction of long-lived radionuclide intakes for Techa riverside residents: Strontium-90. Health Phys. 2011;101(1):28-47. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/HP.0b013e318206d0ff.

13. Shagina NB, Tolstykh EI, Degteva MO, Anspaugh LR, Napier BA. Age and gender specific biokinetic model for strontium in humans. J Radiol Prot. 2015;35(1):87-127. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0952-4746/35/1/87.

14. Tolstykh EI, Peremyslova LM, Degteva MO, Napier BA. Reconstruction of radionuclide intakes for the residents of East Urals Radioactive Trace (1957-2011). Radiat Environ Biophys. 2017;56(1):27-45. DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-016-0677-y.

15. Napier BA, Eslinger PW, Tolstykh EI, Vorobiova MI, Tokareva EE, Akhramenko BN, et al. Calculations of individual doses for Techa River Cohort members exposed to atmospheric radioiodine from Mayak releases. J Environ Radioact. 2017;178-179:156-67. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.08.013.

16. Tolstykh EI, Degteva MO, Peremyslova LM, Shagina NB, Vorobiova MI, Anspaugh LR, Napier BA. Reconstruction of long-lived radionuclide intakes for Techa riverside residents: 137Cs. Health Phys. 2013;104(5):481-98. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/HP.0b013e318285bb7a.

17. Degteva MO, Shagina NB, Shishkina EA, Vozilova AV, Volchkova AY, Vorobiova MI, et al. Analysis of EPR and FISH studies of radiation doses in persons who lived in the upper reaches of the Techa River. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2015;54:433-44. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-015-0611-8.

18. Akleyev AV, Krestinina LYu, Degteva MO, Tolstykh EI. Consequences of the radiation accident at the Mayak production association in 1957. J Radiol Prot. 2017;37:R19-R42. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6498/aa7f8d.

19. Degteva MO, Shagina NB, Tolstykh EI, Bougrov NG, Zalyapin VI, Anspaugh LR, Napier BA. An approach to reduction of uncertainties in internal doses reconstructed for the Techa River population. Radiat Prot Dosim. 2007;127:480-5. DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncm410.

20. Shishkina EA, Volchkova AYu, Degteva MO, Napier BA. Evaluation of dose rates in the air at non-uniform vertical distribution of gamma-emitting radionuclides in different types of soil. Radiation Safety Issues. 2016;(3):43-52. (Russian).

21. Hiller MM, Woda C, Bougrov NG, Degteva MO, Ivanov O, Ulanovsky A, Romanov S. External dose reconstruction for the former village of Metlino (Techa River, Russia) based on environmental surveys, luminescence measurements and radiation transport modelling. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2017;56(2):139-59. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-017-0688-3.

22. Degteva MO, Shishkina EA, Tolstykh EI, Vozilova AV, Shagina NB, Volchkova AYu, et al. Application of EPR and FISH methods to dose reconstruction for people exposed in the Techa River area. Radiation Biology. Radioecology. 2017;57:30-41. DOI:https://doi.org/10.7868/S0869803117010052. (Russian).

Login or Create
* Forgot password?