Temporal Change in Radiocesium Intake for USSR Residents. Estimation from the Body Burdens of Both Visitors and Japanese Returnees from the USSR, Measured Using a Whole-Body Counter in Japan.

Abstract

The body burden of 137Cs in individuals from the USSR who visited Japan and Japanese who returned from the USSR after various periods of stay there, was measured with a whole-body counter at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences. A compartment model was used to describe the temporal change in radiocesium body burden following the continuous ingestion of radiocesium. The daily amount of radiocesium intake in mBq per kg of body weight was estimated to have decreased with a half-time ranging from 391 to 920 days for adults in Kiev Ukraine after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Countermeasures against the consequences of the accident appear to have exempted the inhabitants from aggregation of radiocesium in their bodies. Differences in foodstuffs consumed should be taken into account when radiation health risks are compared with different age groups.