Chernobyl effects

Abstract

In the May 6 news item1Kapp C Chernobyl effects worsening, says UN report.Lancet. 2000; 355: 1625Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar by Clare Kapp a report by the United Nations (UN) Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) entitled “Chernobyl—a continuing (and forgotten) catastrophe” was quoted.2United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)Chernobyl—a continuing (and forgotten) catastrophe. United Nations, New York and Geneva2000Google Scholar That report is full of unsubstantiated statements that have no support in scientific assessments. I would like to draw your attention to the findings of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), which has just concluded its 49th session in Vienna. UNSCEAR is the body within the UN system with a mandate from the General Assembly to assess and report levels and health effects of exposure to ionising radiation that have resulted from the radiological consequences of the Chernobyl accident. UNSCEAR has just adopted its 2000 report to the General Assembly3United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. Sources, effects and risks of ionizing radiation. New York and Geneva: United Nations (in press).Google Scholar with scientific annexes, one of which is specifically dedicated to an assessment of the radiological consequences of the Chernobyl accident. The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident caused the deaths, within a few days or weeks, of 30 workers and radiation injuries to hundreds of others. The accident caused the immediate evacuation of about 116 000 people and the permanent relocation of about 220 000 people. The accident caused social and psychological disruption, but apart from the 1800 thyroid cancers that have been reported in inidividuals exposed in childhood, there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure 14 years after the accident. No increase in overall cancer incidence or mortality has been observed that could be attributed to radiation exposure. The risk of leukaemia does not appear to be raised, even among the hundreds of thousands of recovery workers sent to clean up the environmental contamination. Neither is there any scientific evidence of other non-malignant disorders associated with radiation exposure. In 1996, the UN; UNSCEAR; the United Nations educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); and the Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations (FAO), as well as WHO, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the European Commission, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development cooperated in the organisation of the international conference—one decade after Chernobyl. The UNSCEAR 2000 report updates the findings of that conference and confirms its general conclusions. The OCHA report claims that “very little is known about the long-term health effects of exposure to radiation because it is a relatively new phenomenon”. This is a remarkably inaccurate statement. More is known about radiation than for almost any other carcinogen, and other radiation-associated health effects also have been well documented. UNSCEAR has, since its establishment in 1955, reported every year to the General Assembly on the risk of harm to health and the environment attributable to radiation exposure. The Committee has also every 4 or 5 years submitted reports to the General Assembly with detailed scientific annexes. The UN system has thus had a steady stream of scientific information regarding the levels and effects of radiation over the past 45 years.