Analysis of human hair and lung samples from contaminated and non-contaminated regions of Belorussia using the solid state nuclear track detection technique

Abstract

Five human hair and five lung samples, received towards the end of 1990 from supposedly contaminated and non-contaminated regions around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of April 1986, were analysed using the Solid State Nuclear Track Detection (SSNTD) technique. The samples, which included control specimens from the former Soviet Union as well as a British control hair sample, were prepared by ashing at 300°C, and were found to have levels of alpha-activity ranging from 21 to 62 Bq kg −1 for the hair samples, and from 3 to 66 Bq kg −1 for the solid lung tissue. These levels are broadly comparable to those expected in a normal healthy subject. Statistical analysis indicates that the 62 Bq kg −1 level for one of the hair samples is the only statistically significant result ( p < 0.01) showing high alpha-activity. These findings can, therefore, be said to corroborate the IAEA Report on Chernobyl (IAEA, 1991), which suggests that the ill effects found in the area are primarily due to factors other than abnormally high levels of radiation.