On protecting the inexperienced reader from Chernobyl myths

Health Impacts of Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation: Current Scientific Debates and Regulatory Issues

Health impacts of low-dose ionizing radiation are significant in important fields such as X-ray imaging, radiation therapy, nuclear power, and others. However, all existing and potential applications are currently challenged by public concerns and regulatory restrictions. We aimed to assess the validity of the linear no-threshold (LNT) model of radiation damage, which is the basis of current regulation, and to assess the justification for this regulation. We have conducted an extensive search in PubMed. Special attention has been given to papers cited in comprehensive reviews of the United States (2006) and French (2005) Academies of Sciences and in the United Nations Scientific Committee on Atomic Radiation 2016 report. Epidemiological data provide essentially no evidence for detrimental health effects below 100 mSv, and several studies suggest beneficial (hormetic) effects. Equally significant, many studies with in vitro and in animal models demonstrate that several mechanisms initiated by low-dose radiation have beneficial effects. Overall, although probably not yet proven to be untrue, LNT has certainly not been proven to be true. At this point, taking into account the high price tag (in both economic and human terms) borne by the LNT-inspired regulation, there is little doubt that the present regulatory burden should be reduced.

Who Is Afraid of Volume 1181 of the New York Academy of Sciences? Under Threat, the Nuclear Establishment Plays Dirty

Following decades of an internationally coordinated cover-up, critical information about the health consequences of the Chernobyl accident, worldwide but particularly in Western and Eastern Europe, was made available through Volume 1181 of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. The book also contains unique, valuable data from the 3 most affected counties, and it suggests that consequences of the Chernobyl accident are far more serious than has been acknowledged. Many health problems are worsening, including those resulting from irreversible genetic damage. Given the threat that such information represents to the nuclear establishment, it was predictable that Volume 1181, of far higher scientific quality than the United Nations' flagship report The Chernobyl Forum, would meet with violent criticism. Since its publication in 2009, it has been misrepresented and discredited by the nuclear establishment and international health establishment - to the extent of making the absurd and false claim that the New York Academy of Sciences has in some way disowned its own publication. The New York Academy of Sciences defends publication of Volume 1181 on the grounds of its commitment to open discussion of scientific material and publication of material of scientific value.

Touching the Grass: Science, Uncertainty and Everyday Life from Chernobyl to Fukushima

The Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011 raises profound questions, not only about the use of nuclear energy, but also about the way in which scientific knowledge is constructed and communicated. This article focuses particularly on the divergent ways in which the notion of ‘uncertainty’ is understood by scientists and scientific bodies engaged in studying the effects of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, and by the residents who are the main victims of these disasters. I argue that the approach to uncertainty and risk assessment developed by bodies like UNSCEAR and the Chernobyl Forum has been applied in Fukushima in ways that have widened the gap in understanding between academic scientists and local residents, but I also point to experiments in citizen science that have potential to help bridge this gap.

Non-cancer morbidity among Estonian Chernobyl cleanup workers: a register-based cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To examine non-cancer morbidity in the Estonian Chernobyl cleanup workers cohort compared with the population sample with special attention to radiation-related diseases and mental health disorders.

DESIGN

Register-based cohort study.

SETTING

Estonia.

PARTICIPANTS

An exposed cohort of 3680 men (cleanup workers) and an unexposed cohort of 7631 men (population sample) were followed from 2004 to 2012 through the Population Registry and Health Insurance Fund database.

METHODS

Morbidity in the exposed cohort compared with the unexposed controls was estimated in terms of rate ratio (RR) with 95% CIs using Poisson regression models.

RESULTS

Elevated morbidity in the exposed cohort was found for diseases of the nervous system, digestive system, musculoskeletal system, ischaemic heart disease and for external causes. The most salient excess risk was observed for thyroid diseases (RR=1.69; 95% CI 1.38 to 2.07), intentional self-harm (RR=1.47; 95% CI 1.04 to 2.09) and selected alcohol-related diagnoses (RR=1.25; 95% CI 1.12 to 1.39). No increase in morbidity for stress reactions, depression, headaches or sleep disorders was detected.

CONCLUSIONS

No obvious excess morbidity consistent with biological effects of radiation was seen in the exposed cohort, with the possible exception of benign thyroid diseases. Increased alcohol-induced morbidity may reflect alcohol abuse, and could underlie some of the higher morbidity rates. Mental disorders in the exposed cohort were probably under-reported. The future challenge will be to study mental and physical comorbidities in the Chernobyl cleanup workers cohort.

Population health and status of epidemiology: WHO European Region I

BACKGROUND

This article of the International Epidemiological Association commissioned paper series stocktakes the population health and status of epidemiology in 21 of the 53 countries of the WHO European Region. By United Nations geographical classification, these countries belong to Eastern Europe, Western Asia and South-Central Asia.

METHODS

Published data were used to describe population health indicators and risk factors. Epidemiological training and research was assessed based on author knowledge, information searches and E-mail survey of experts. Bibliometric analyses determined epidemiological publication outputs.

RESULTS

Between-country differences in life expectancy, amount and profile of disease burden and prevalence of risk factors are marked. Epidemiological training is affected by ongoing structural reforms of educational systems. Training is advanced in Israel and several Eastern European countries. Epidemiological research is mainly university-based in most countries, but predominantly conducted by governmental research institutes in several countries of the former Soviet Union. Funding is generally external and limited, partially due to competition from and prioritization of biomedical research. Multiple relevant professional societies exist, especially in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Few of the region's 39 epidemiological academic journals have international currency. The number of epidemiological publications per population is highest for Israel and lowest for South-Central Asian countries.

CONCLUSIONS

Epidemiological capacity will continue to be heterogeneous across the region and depend more on countries' individual historical, social, political and economic conditions and contexts than their epidemiologists' successive efforts. National and international research funding, and within- and between-country collaborations should be enhanced, especially for South-Central Asian countries.

Site-specific cancer risk in the Baltic cohort of Chernobyl cleanup workers, 1986-2007

OBJECTIVE

To assess site-specific cancer risk in the Baltic cohort of Chernobyl cleanup workers, 1986-2007.

METHODS

The Baltic cohort includes 17,040 men from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who participated in the environmental cleanup after the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in 1986-1991 and who were followed up for cancer incidence until the end of 2007. Cancer cases diagnosed in the cohort and in the male population of each country were identified from the respective national cancer registers. The proportional incidence ratio (PIR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate the site-specific cancer risk in the cohort. For comparison and as it was possible, the site-specific standardised incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated for the Estonian sub-cohort, which was not feasible for the other countries.

RESULTS

Overall, 756 cancer cases were reported during 1986-2007. A higher proportion of thyroid cancers in relation to the male population was found (PIR=2.76; 95%CI 1.63-4.36), especially among those who started their mission shortly after the accident, in April-May 1986 (PIR=6.38; 95%CI 2.34-13.89). Also, an excess of oesophageal cancers was noted (PIR=1.52; 95% CI 1.06-2.11). No increased PIRs for leukaemia or radiation-related cancer sites combined were observed. PIRs and SIRs for the Estonian sub-cohort demonstrated the same site-specific cancer risk pattern.

CONCLUSION

Consistent evidence of an increase in radiation-related cancers in the Baltic cohort was not observed with the possible exception of thyroid cancer, where conclusions are hampered by known medical examination including thyroid screening among cleanup workers.