Effect of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident on radioiodine (131I) content in human breast milk

Title: Effect of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident on radioiodine (¹³¹I) content in human breast milk

Author: Nobuya Unno, Hisanori Minakami, Takahiko Kubo, Keiya Fujimori, Isamu Ishiwata, Hiroshi Terada, Shigeru Saito, Ichiro Yamaguchi, Naoki Kunugita, Akihito Nakai, Yasunori Yoshimura

Reference: Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research, Volume 38, Issue 5, pages 772–779, May 2012

Keywords: human breast milk; Iodine-131; nuclear power plant accident; radioiodine

Abstract: Environmental pollution with radioiodine (iodine-131, ¹³¹I) occurred after an accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant (FNP) on March 11, 2011, in Japan. Whether environmental pollution with ¹³¹I can contaminate human breast milk has not been documented. The ¹³¹I content was determined in 126 breast milk samples from 119 volunteer lactating women residing within 250 km of the FNP, between April 24 and May 31, 2011. The degree of environmental pollution was determined based on the data released by the Japanese government.

URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1447-0756.2011.01810.x/abstract

Radiation hazards in children – Lessons from Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima

Title: Radiation hazards in children – Lessons from Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima

Author: Fushiki, Shinji

Reference: Brain and Development, 35 (3), p.220-227, Mar 2013

doi: 10.1016/j.braindev.2012.09.004

Keywords: Ionizing radiation; Health effects; Children; Developing brain; Nuclear power plant accident

Abstract: On March 11, 2011, Japan was hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake followed by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster. Firstly, this review focuses on what happened after the accidents at the Three Mile Island nuclear power station in 1979 and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986, in terms of the effects of these incidents on health. The most critical issue when considering the effects of radiation on the health of children was the increase of thyroid cancer, as clearly demonstrated among people who were children or adolescence at the time of the Chernobyl accident….

URL:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0387760412002264