Efficiency of bio-indicators for low-level radiation under field conditions

Title: Efficiency of bio-indicators for low-level radiation under field conditions

Author: Anders Pape Møller, Timothy A. Mousseau

Ссылка: Ecological Indicators, Volume 11, Issue 2, March 2011, Pages 424–430

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.06.013

Keywords: Bio-indicators; Chernobyl; Low-level radiation; Radiation; Radioactive contamination

Abstract: Relatively little is known about biological consequences of natural variation in background radiation, and variation in exposure due to nuclear accidents, or even the long term consequences to human health stemming from the over-use of nuclear medicine and imaging technologies (i.e. CAT scans). This realization emphasizes the need for assessment and quantification of biological effects of radiation on living organisms. Here we report the results of an environmental analysis based on extensive censuses of abundance of nine animal taxa (spiders, dragonflies, grasshoppers, bumblebees, butterflies, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) around Chernobyl in Ukraine and Belarus during 2006–2009. Background levels of radiation explained 1.5–26.5% of the variance in abundance of these nine taxa, birds and mammals having the strongest effects, accounting for a difference of a factor 18 among taxa. These effects were retained in analyses that accounted for potentially confounding effects. Effect size estimated as the amount of variance in abundance explained by background level of radiation was highly consistent among years, with weaker effects in years with low density. Effect sizes were greater in taxa with longer natal dispersal distances and in taxa with higher population density. These results are consistent with the hypotheses that costs of dispersal (i.e. survival) were accentuated under conditions of radioactive contamination, or that high density allowed detection of radiation effects. This suggests that standard breeding bird censuses can be used as an informative bio-indicator for the effects of radiation on abundance of animals.

ＵＲＬ：http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X10001172

Trends in the human sex odds at birth in Europe and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident

Title: Trends in the human sex odds at birth in Europe and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident

Author: Hagen Scherb, Kristina Voigt

Reference: Reproductive Toxicology, Volume 23, Issue 4, June 2007, Pages 593–599

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2007.03.008

Keywords: Analytical ecological study; Exposure–response relation; Low-level ionizing radiation; Male proportion; Radiation epidemiology; Radiation-induced genetic effects; Sex ratio; Spatial–temporal logistic regression

Abstract: To investigate trends in the sex odds before and after the Chernobyl accident, gender-specific annual birth statistics were obtained from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland, and Sweden between 1982 and 1992. For parts of Germany, annual birth statistics and fallout measurements after Chernobyl are available at the district level. Trend models allowing for discontinuities of the male birth proportions are suggested. Superimposed on a downward trend in male proportions there was a jump in 1987 with a sex odds ratio of 1.0047 (95%-confidence interval: 1.0013–1.0081, p = 0.0061). A positive association of the male proportion in Germany between 1986 and 1991 with radioactive exposure at the district level is reflected by a sex odds ratio of 1.0145 per mSv/a (1.0021–1.0271, p = 0.0218). These findings suggest a possible long-term chronic influence of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident on the human sex odds at birth in several European countries.

ＵＲＬ：http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890623807000445

Radiosensitivity to low doses of ionizing radiation of children as a basis for the development of somatic diseases

Author: A.E. Sipyagina

Reference: Abstract, Moscow 2003 WAC Russia 14.00.09

Keywords: radiosensitivity, remote period, preventive measures

Abstract: The purpose of the study is to prove the existence of radiosensitivity, to develop its diagnostic criteria and show the value in the formation of long-term (remote) radiation-induced effects (diseases); to justify system of dispensary and preventive measures aimed at correcting changes and preventing progression of disease in children exposed to low-intensity-radiation impact as result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Dissertation materials are used in the preparation for the orders of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation № 171 dated 26.07.1993 “On the procedure of specialized medical examination for persons exposed to radiation as result of the Chernobyl catastrophe», № 100 dated 04.08.1997 “On the diagnosis and treatment of patients with thyroid cancer, born between 1968 to 1987, exposed to radiation as result of the Chernobyl accident. ”
URL: http://medical-diss.com/medicina/radiochuvstvitelnost-k-malym-dozam-ioniziruyuschego-izlucheniya-u-detey-kak-osnova-razvitiya-somaticheskih-zabolevaniy

Melatonin protection from chronic, low-level ionizing radiation

Title: Melatonin protection from chronic, low-level ionizing radiation
Author: Reiter, Russel J. / Korkmaz, Ahmet / Ma, Shuran / Rosales-Corral, Sergio / Tan, Dun-Xian

Reference: Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research, 751 (1), p.7-14, Jul 2012

doi: 10.1016/j.mrrev.2011.12.002

Keywords: Chronic radiation exposure; Radioisotopes; Lingering radioactivity; Melatonin

Abstract: In the current survey, we summarize the published literature which supports the use of melatonin, an endogenously produced molecule, as a protective agent against chronic, low-level ionizing radiation. Under in vitro conditions, melatonin uniformly was found to protect cellular DNA and plasmid super coiled DNA from ionizing radiation damage due to Cs¹³⁷ or X-radiation exposure. Likewise, in an in vivo/in vitro study in which humans were given melatonin orally and then their blood lymphocytes were collected and exposed to Cs¹³⁷ ionizing radiation, nuclear DNA from the cells of those individuals who consumed melatonin (and had elevated blood levels) was less damaged than that from control individuals. In in vivo studies as well, melatonin given to animals prevented DNA and lipid damage (including limiting membrane rigidity) and reduced the percentage of animals that died when they had been exposed to Cs¹³⁷ or Co⁶⁰ radiation. Melatonin’s ability to protect macromolecules from the damage inflicted by ionizing radiation likely stems from its high efficacy as a direct free radical scavenger and possibly also due to its ability to stimulate antioxidative enzymes. Melatonin is readily absorbed when taken orally or via any other route. Melatonin’s ease of self administration and its virtual absence of toxicity or side effects, even when consumed over very long periods of time, are essential when large populations are exposed to lingering radioactive contamination such as occurs as a result of an inadvertent nuclear accident, an intentional nuclear explosion or the detonation of a radiological dispersion device, i.e., a “dirty” bomb.

…lower the frequency of cancer initiation. Furthermore, if cancer is initiated, melatonin…Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima [67…increasing the risk of cancer because of its ability…concentrates in the thyroid gland since four atoms…

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1383574211001001

Concerns With Low-Level Ionizing Radiation * * Based on a Grand Rounds presentation at the Mayo Clinic on Sept. 16, 1992.

Title: Concerns With Low-Level Ionizing Radiation * * Based on a Grand Rounds presentation at the Mayo Clinic on Sept. 16, 1992.
Author: YALOW, ROSALYN S.

Reference: Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 69 (5), p.436-440, May 1994
doi: 10.1016/S0025-6196(12)61639-5

Keywords: LET, linear energy transfer, Low-Level Ionizing Radiation

Abstract: …of radiation-induced thyroid nodules is higher than the risk of radiation-induced thyroid cancer. Therefore, as part of the International Chernobyl Project in 1990, data…obtained about the nature of thyroid nodules in the population…

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025619612616395