Thyroid Equivalent Dose Research Articles

Influence of short-lived radioiodines other than 131I on screening direct thyroid measurements with TCS-172 NAI(TL) survey meters.

In a nuclear emergency, one of the actions taken for the sake of public is to monitor thyroid exposure to radioiodines. Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority recently published a report on such monitoring and proposed direct thyroid measurements with conventional NaI(Tl) survey meters (e.g. Hitachi model TCS-172) as a primary screening method. A previous study proposed screening levels (SLs) used in these simplified measurements as the net reading values of the TCS-172 device. Age-specific SLs were derived from a thyroid equivalent dose of 100mSv due to the inhalation intake of 131I. This study addressed the possible influence of short-lived iodine isotopes other than 131I on the simplified measurements. In preparation for such measurements, the responses of the device for 132I as an ingrowth component from 132Te, 133I, 134I and 135I in the thyroid were evaluated by numerical simulations using age-specific stylized phantoms in addition to those obtained for 131I in the previous study. The radioactivity ratios of the relevant isotopes were taken from the inventory data of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The results were used to predict the net readings of the device when 132Te-132I and 133I as well as 131I were inhaled at 24 or 72h after the shutdown of a nuclear power plant. In these cases, the signals from 132Te-132I and 133I become undetectable a couple of days after intake, which could lead to underestimations of the thyroid dose. To estimate the thyroid dose accurately from the simplified measurements, it is necessary to identify the exact time of intake after the shutdown and the actual physiochemical property of 132Te that affects the thyroid uptake of 132I.

Screening levels of TCS-172 NaI(Tl) survey meters used for direct thyroid measurements in nuclear disasters.

It is a challenging task to establish a feasible and robust method for the population monitoring of individuals' thyroid exposure following an accidental intake of radioiodines in a nuclear emergency, because of the time restriction. The authors previously proposed a method for such monitoring to obtain as many reliable human data as possible and one of the components is simplified measurements by conventional NaI(Tl) survey meters that are intended to be used for the initial triage to identify significantly exposed individuals and get an overall picture of the exposure levels in a target population in a timely manner. This study determined screening levels (SLs) for a conventional NaI(Tl) survey meter (model TCS-172, Hitachi, Japan) using the conversion factor (131I kBq in the thyroid per μSv h-1) that were obtained from experiments and simulations with age-specific phantoms. The results demonstrated that the derived SLs for 100mSv thyroid equivalent dose were as follows: 0.2μSvh-1 (SL1) for the age group≤5-y-olds, 0.5μSvh-1 (SL2) for the 10- and 15-y-old age groups and 1.0μSvh-1 (SL3) for adults. These SLs would be reasonably available within 1week after the intake of 131I on the safe side.

Radiation doses in extraoral bitewing radiography compared with intraoral bitewing and panoramic radiography

We compared the effective dose (E) and thyroid equivalent dose of 2 extraoral bitewing (EOBW) units and compared E with their respective panoramic (PAN) modes and with intraoral bitewing radiography (IOBW). Child and adult anthropomorphic phantoms with dosimeters were used to evaluate Orthophos SL, Rayscan α+, and 1 intraoral unit using rectangular and circular collimation. Extraoral bitewing thyroid equivalent dose was assessed without and with thyroid shielding. Child and adult E values of EOBW were lower with Orthophos (3.6 and 8.6 μSv) than with Rayscan (28.1 and 30.2 μSv). For IOBW, E was lower with rectangular vs circular collimation for child (7.0 vs 11.8 μSv) and adult (4.6 vs 14.2 μSv). E values of EOBW were lower than PAN for Orthophos. The IOBW E was lower than Rayscan EOBW for child (≤11.8 vs 28.1 μSv) and adult (≤14.2 vs 30.2 μSv). Adult E for rectangular IOBW (4.6 μSv) was lower than EOBW with Orthophos (8.6 μSv) and Rayscan (30.2 μSv). Thyroid shielding reduced EOBW thyroid equivalent dose with Rayscan in the adult from 190.7 to 89.0 μSv. Orthophos provides significantly lower EOBW E than Rayscan, thus EOBW recommendations must be unit specific. For children, Orthophos EOBW could be an alternative to IOBW, for which rectangular collimation is recommended. Thyroid shielding reduced adult Rayscan equivalent dose but added imaging artifacts.

Estimation of children's thyroid equivalent doses in 16 municipalities after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident.

To elucidate the association between radiation dose and thyroid cancer after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) accident, it is essential to estimate individual thyroid equivalent doses (TEDs) to children. In a previous study, we reported a methodology for reconstructing TEDs from inhalation. That methodology was based on individual behavioral survey sheets of the Fukushima Health Management Survey (FHMS) combined with a spatiotemporal radionuclides database constructed by an atmospheric transport, diffusion, and deposition model (ATDM)-the Worldwide version of System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information (WSPEEDI) in seven municipalities. In the present study, we further refined our methodology and estimated the combined TEDs from inhalation and ingestion among children in 16 municipalities around the nuclear power station utilizing 3256 individual whereabouts questionnaire survey sheets. Distributions of estimated TEDs were similar to estimates based on direct thyroid measurements in 1080 children in Iwaki City, Kawamata Town, Iitate Village, and Minamisoma City. Mean TEDs in 1-year-old children ranged from 1.3mSv in Date City to 14.9mSv in Odaka Ward in Minamisoma City, and the 95th percentiles varied from 2.3mSv in Date City to 28.8mSv in Namie Town. In the future, this methodology can be useful for the epidemiological studies of thyroid cancer after the FDNPS accident.

Simulations of radioiodine exposure and protective thyroid blocking in a new biokinetic model of the mother–fetus unit at different pregnancy ages

In the case of nuclear incidents, radioiodine may be released. After incorporation, it accumulates in the thyroid and enhances the risk of thyroidal dysfunctions and cancer occurrence by internal irradiation. Pregnant women and children are particularly vulnerable. Therefore, thyroidal protection by administering a large dose of stable (non-radioactive) iodine, blocking radioiodide uptake into the gland, is essential in these subpopulations. However, a quantitative estimation of the protection conferred to the maternal and fetal thyroids in the different stages of pregnancy is difficult. We departed from an established biokinetic model for radioiodine in pregnancy using first-order kinetics. As the uptake of iodide into the thyroid and several other tissues is mediated by a saturable active transport, we integrated an uptake mechanism described by a Michaelis–Menten kinetic. This permits simulating the competition between stable and radioactive iodide at the membrane carrier site, one of the protective mechanisms. The Wollf–Chaikoff effect, as the other protective mechanism, was simulated by adding a total net uptake block for iodide into the thyroid, becoming active when the gland is saturated with iodine. The model’s validity was confirmed by comparing predicted values with results from other models and sparse empirical data. According to our model, in the case of radioiodine exposure without thyroid blocking, the thyroid equivalent dose in the maternal gland increases about 45% within the first weeks of pregnancy to remain in the same range until term. Beginning in the 12th pregnancy week, the equivalent dose in the fetal thyroid disproportionately increases over time and amounts to three times the dose of the maternal gland at term. The maternal and fetal glands’ protection increases concomitantly with the amount of stable iodine administered to the mother simultaneously with acute radioiodine exposure. The dose–effect curves reflecting the combined thyroidal protection by the competition at the membrane carrier site and the Wolff–Chaikoff effect in the mother are characterized by a mean effective dose (ED50) of roughly 1.5 mg all over pregnancy. In the case of the fetal thyroid, the mean effective doses for thyroid blocking, taking into account only the competition at the carrier site are numerically lower than in the mother. Taking into account additionally the Wolff–Chaikoff effect, the dose–effect curves for thyroidal protection in the fetus show a shift to the left over time, with a mean effective dose of 12.9 mg in the 12th week of pregnancy decreasing to 0.5 mg at term. In any case, according to our model, the usually recommended dose of 100 mg stable iodine given at the time of acute radioiodine exposure confers a very high level of thyroidal protection to the maternal and fetal glands over pregnancy. For ethical reasons, the possibilities of experimental studies on thyroid blocking in pregnant women are extremely limited. Furthermore, results from animal studies are associated with the uncertainties related to the translation of the data to humans. Thus model-based simulations may be a valuable tool for better insight into the efficacy of thyroidal protection and improve preparedness planning for uncommon nuclear or radiological emergencies.

Estimation of the Thyroid Equivalent Doses to Residents in Areas Affected by the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Due to Inhalation of 131I Based on Their Behavioral Data and the Latest Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion Model Simulation.

It has been challenging to obtain reliable estimates of thyroid equivalent doses (TEDs) to residents involved in the 11 March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident because of the shortage of direct human measurements associated with 131I, the largest contributor to the dose of concern. The present study attempted to perform the estimation of the TEDs by inhalation of 131I to residents from Namie-town, one of the most radiologically-affected municipalities, by means of the latest atmospheric transport and dispersion model (ATDM) simulations with the Worldwide version of System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information (WSPEEDI) ver. 2, coupled with personal behavioral data containing the history of the whereabouts of individuals shortly after the accident. We analyzed 1,637 residents who underwent direct measurements with whole-body counters several months after the accident and provided their personal behavioral data. We divided the subjects into two groups based on whether the distances between their locations and the FDNPP were >20 km as of 15:00 on 12 March in relation to the timepoint of the hydrogen explosion at the Unit 1 Reactor building. As a result, the 90th percentile TEDs of the 1,249 prompt evacuees and 388 late evacuees were 3.9 mSv (adult)-6.8 mSv (10-y-old) and 24.1 mSv (adult)-35.6 mSv (5-y-old), respectively, excluding 16 persons whose TEDs exceeded 50 mSv. The 90th percentile (median) TEDs to 1-y-old children (not included in the subjects) for the prompt and late evacuation groups were 8.1 (1.0) mSv and 36.3 (19.7) mSv, respectively. Additionally, this study provided the evidence to support the view that the explosive event at the Unit 1 Reactor building on the afternoon of 12 March 2011 could have caused the critical group among Namie-town's residents, whereas the largest release event on 15 March gave relatively small doses to the residents because their exposure took place mostly at sites that were distant from the FDNPP. However, the present dose estimation has potentially large uncertainty at the individual level; further validations are thus necessary.

Development of a new hand-held type thyroid monitor using multiple GAGG detectors for young children following a nuclear accident

One of the most important lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident is that direct (in vivo) measurements of thyroid exposure to radioiodine (mainly, 131I) in the affected populations should be initiated in a timely manner. Furthermore, the existing commercial detectors are not necessarily suitable for the measurement of young children, who are especially vulnerable to radiation exposure and therefore important to screen. This paper presents the development of a new thyroid monitor for such measurements and the results from phantom-based experiments. The monitor has two unique probes having multiple high-energy-resolution type Gd3(Al,Ga)5O12(Ce) (GAGG) detectors that can be placed directly on the young subject's anterior neck. The crystal size of the GAGG detector is 1 cm3, and a probe consisting of a 4 × 1 or 4 × 2 detector array can be selected depending on the subject's body size. The thickness of the 4 × 1 array probe is 24 mm, which is less than that for a conventional NaI(Tl) survey meter having a crystal 1 inch in diameter and 1 inch long (38 mm). Experimental and computational calibrations of the new monitor using existing and virtual phantoms allowed us to determine the full energy peak efficiency for the 131I thyroid contents of different age groups from 3-mo-old to 10-yr-old and minimum detectable activity (MDA) values under various conditions. As a result, the attainable MDA for subjects age ≤5 years under a normal background level (∼0.05 μSv h−1) was found to be ∼30 Bq, which was low enough to identify children with thyroid-equivalent doses over 10 mSv up to about 25 days after the 131I intake. Our new monitor would be useful in direct thyroid measurements for vulnerable young children following a large nuclear accident.

Development and Validation of a New Domestic Software for Dose Assessment during Normal and Accident Conditions in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPS).

In this research, a comprehensive code called KIANA is developed based on the Gaussian plume model to simulate and predict the radiological consequences received through all the possible, reasonable, probable, and standard exposure pathways for NPPs and chemical facilities. To validate the KIANA code, a case study is modeled for Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant Unit One (BNPP-1), and the KIANA code results are compared with the results of the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR-2017) data of BNPP-1. To assess the performance of the KIANA code, the total dose due to the airborne pathway in accident conditions including small break LOCA (SBLOCA), large break LOCA (LBLOCA), and equivalent exposure dose for the thyroid gland of a group of infants and children age 1 to 8 y at BNPP-1, are investigated. The KIANA code results show that the total effective doses do not exceed the regulatory limit of 5 mSv for external and internal exposures and the regulatory limit of 50 mSv for thyroid equivalent dose. The KIANA code results indicate good agreement with the results of FSAR-2017.

Background correction method for portable thyroid dose monitor using gamma-ray spectrometer developed at JAEA in high dose rate environment

A portable thyroid dose monitoring system has been developed at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) to assess the thyroid equivalent dose for workers and members of the public in a high dose rate environment. The background (B.G.) photon correction is required for an accurate measurement in a high dose rate environment at an early stage after a nuclear accident. The responses of the system to the B.G. photons were calculated with the simplified cylindrical phantoms made of PMMA or the voxel phantoms using the PHITS code. Then they were compared each other among the respective age groups. It was found that the cylindrical phantom with an appropriate size and properly arrangement can mimic the human body in the high dose rate caused by 131I sources. As such we successfully developed the B.G. photon correction method using the cylindrical phantoms; one of those is used as an effective way to calibrate the monitoring system by inserting a133Ba point source into it. As an additional phantom is not required, this method has a great advantage in the practical operation of the B.G. photon correction.

131I thyroid activity and committed dose assessment among family members of patients treated with radioactive iodine

The main goal of the present study was estimation of an internal contamination of 131I among family members of patients treated with radioactive iodine. Thyroid activity measurements of 131I in examined volunteers were performed using a whole-body spectrometer at the institute of nuclear physics, Polish academy of sciences. During this research, 20 relatives of patients treated with 131I were examined: eight women and 12 men with an age in the range from 3 to 72 years. In the case of nine individuals, the activity of 131I in the thyroid was below the detection limit, but among the remaining 11 individuals, the activity varied from (9 ± 3) Bq up to (1140 ± 295) Bq. Subsequently, based on the measurements of thyroid 131I activities, the corresponding doses were assessed. The highest estimated effective dose reached 218 μSv, while the thyroid equivalent dose was 2.4 mSv. In addition, the experimental data obtained were statistically analysed together with the results of surveys of the individuals participating in the study by means of correspondence analysis and nonparametric tests: Mann–Whitney, gamma, χ2 and Yule Phi coefficient. These analyses revealed relationships between 131I activities in the thyroids of the examined individuals and their housing conditions as well as consumption of meals prepared by the patients.

Prototype test of a portable thyroid dose monitoring system using gamma-ray spectrometers

In case of a severe nuclear accident, radioiodine monitoring of the thyroid must be carried out for a large number of residents and emergency workers. In the present study, we developed a portable thyroid dose monitoring system consisting of two independent gamma-ray spectrometers and a radiation shield, which could be used under high background radiation conditions. Two types of prototype thyroid monitors were realized; one utilizing CdZnTe detectors for emergency workers and the other employing LaBr3(Ce) detectors for members of the public. As a result of the performance test, it was confirmed that both monitors effectively assess thyroid equivalent doses of <10 mSv during a 150 s measurement, even under high background radiation conditions.

Reconstruction of residents\u2019 thyroid equivalent doses from internal radionuclides after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station accident

There is concern among residents that their children might suffer from thyroid cancer in the near future after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station (FDNPS) accident. However, the demographic and geographical distribution of thyroid equivalent doses was not thoroughly evaluated, and direct thyroid measurements were conducted only for 1,200 children, whose individual thyroid doses were assessed on the basis of those measurements accounting for the dynamics of radioiodine intake. We conducted hierarchical clustering analyses of 100 or 300 randomly sampled behavioural questionnaire sheets of children from each of seven municipalities in the evacuation area to reconstruct evacuation scenarios associated with high or low exposures to plumes. In total 896 behaviour records in the Fukushima Health Management Survey were analysed to estimate thyroid equivalent doses via inhalation, using a spatiotemporal radionuclides concentration database constructed by atmospheric dispersion simulations. After a decontamination factor for sheltering and a modifying factor for the dose coefficient—to reflect lower iodine uptake rate in Japanese—were applied, estimated thyroid equivalent doses were close to those estimated from direct thyroid measurement. The median and 95th percentile of thyroid equivalent doses of 1-year-old children ranged from 0.6 to 16 mSv and from 7.5 to 30 mSv, respectively. These results are useful for future epidemiological studies of thyroid cancer in Fukushima.

Estimation of internal dose from tap water after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident using newly obtained data.

Massive release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere occurred due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS) accident in March 2011. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) reported the results of dose estimation to assess the health effect of the accident and both reports state that their assessments of internal and external exposure doses contain certain uncertainties due to uncertainties inherent to the basic data. Therefore, estimation of the internal dose from tap water was conducted in this study by utilizing a database of deposition calculated by an atmospheric transfer, dispersion and deposition model (ATDM) in conjunction with the newly obtained data on the volume of daily water intake obtained by a web-based survey. The median mean and 95-percentile of thyroid equivalent doses were estimated for 1-year and 10-year children and adults in 12 municipalities in the evacuation area in Fukushima prefecture. The present mean thyroid dose estimations for 1-year children (0.4–16.2 mSv) are smaller than the corresponding values in the UNSCEAR 2013 report (1.9–49 mGy). Dose-modifying factors in the Japanese or local community are discussed.

Large-scale individual monitoring of internal contamination by gamma-emitting radionuclides in nuclear accident scenarios

The results obtained in a measurement campaign concerning internal contamination by the gamma-emitting radionuclides of a large number of individuals are presented in this work. The aim is to assess the effectiveness of the spectrometric method in an emergency response following a nuclear power plant accident or a spread of radionuclides in the atmosphere due to an act of terrorism. An HPGe portable spectrometer, deployed in a collective protection apparatus, was used for both whole-body and thyroid measurements. An adult bottle mannequin absorption (BOMAB) and thyroid phantoms were used to evaluate the detector performance. The BOMAB phantom was provided by the Italian Institute of Ionizing Radiation Metrology (INMRI) for the ENEA intercomparison exercise. Thyroid phantoms were provided by the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre for the ‘Child and Adult Thyroid Monitoring After Reactor Accident’ European intercomparison exercise. The instrument performance was further evaluated by collecting spectral data from healthy volunteers, using acquisition times of 180 s and 100 s, respectively, for the whole-body and thyroid measurements. The detector showed good accuracy in quantifying radionuclide activities in the adult BOMAB and in the thyroids of persons of all ages. The proposed method allows us to detect in vivo activity leading to a committed effective dose E(50) and committed thyroid equivalent doses HT greater than 2 mSv due to all gamma-emitting fission products, if the scan is performed within five days after intake. Assuming, for instance, an acute inhalation of 137Cs and 131I, the obtained detection limit values for adults lead to a E(50) value equal to 0.08 mSv and an HT value of 0.27 mSv. The E(50) and HT values show that the proposed method can be successfully used when the dose assessment must be rapidly performed for a large number of individuals in the eventuality of the scenarios previously mentioned.

Reassessment of Internal Thyroid Doses to 1,080 Children Examined in a Screening Survey after the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster.

The dose reconstruction of populations potentially affected by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 is of great importance. However, it has been difficult to assess internal thyroid doses to Fukushima residents (mainly from their intake of I) due to the lack of direct measurements. For the residents, only about 1,300 data points related to I are available, and 1,080 of the data points were obtained from the screening campaign that was conducted by the Nuclear Emergency Response Local Headquarters at the end of March 2011 in Kawamata Town, Iwaki City, and Iitate Village. Here, we reassessed thyroid doses to 1,080 subjects aged ≤15 y old using new age-specific conversion factors to determine I thyroid contents from net signals of the devices used, with consideration for the possible uncertainty related to the measurements. The results demonstrated that thyroid equivalent doses to the subjects were <30 mSv (excluding outliers). We also demonstrate dose distributions of each age group from the above three municipalities and those of subjects from Minamisoma City and Fukushima City. One of the findings was that the I intake was similar among different age groups in each of the three municipalities. This was consistent with the assumption that ingestion was a dominant route of intake rather than inhalation. The range of thyroid doses to Iitate Village residents was similar to that to Iwaki City residents even though the I concentration in tap water was much higher in Iitate Village than Iwaki City. The range of thyroid doses to Minamisoma City residents was similar to that to Iitate Village and Iwaki City residents, and the range for Fukushima City residents was smallest among the five municipalities. Since the major route of intake has remained unclear, this paper presents the plausible upper and lower thyroid doses, between which the actual doses are thought to mostly exist, based on two intake scenarios: single inhalation and repeated ingestion. Further research is thus necessary to extract useful evidence from the individual evacuation behaviors for improving the present internal thyroid dose assessment.

Estimated Thyroid Inhalation Doses Based on Body Surface Contamination Levels of Evacuees After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident.

Doses of inhaled radionuclides received during evacuation might be correlated with amounts of those radionuclides on an evacuee's body surface. The purpose of the present study was to estimate thyroid equivalent doses based on body surface contamination measured with a Geiger-Mueller survey meter on 2,087 evacuees from Tomioka, Okuma, Futaba, Naraha, Namie, Minamisoma, and other municipalities in Japan. The measurement value in cpm was translated into Bq cm according to the radionuclide composition obtained by germanium gamma-spectrometry analyses of two persons' clothing. Thyroid equivalent dose by inhalation was estimated by two-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation based on the distribution of body surface radionuclide concentration and a uniform distribution of deposition velocity. For evacuees exposed twice on 12 and 15 March, the mean, median, and 90th percentile of inhalation thyroid equivalent dose for 1-y-old children were 21.4 mSv, 4.7 mSv, and 40.1 mSv for the Namie group; 7.3 mSv, 5.1 mSv, and 14.8 mSv for the Minamisoma group; and 2.3 mSv, 0.5 mSv, and 4.0 mSv for the group comprising Tomioka, Okuma, Futaba, and Naraha. These estimates are smaller than estimates in the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation 2013 report but closer to estimates based on direct thyroid I measurement or indirect estimates based on Cs measurements made with a whole-body counter under the assumption that the ratio of I to Cs is 3.8.

THE STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION MODEL ON ACCIDENT SCENARIO OF RESEARCH REACTOR G. A. SIWABESSY USING HOTSPOT CODES AS A NUCLEAR EMERGENCY DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

G.A. Siwabessy Multipurpose Reactor (RSG-GAS) is a research reactor with thermal power of 30 MW located in the Serpong Nuclear Area (KNS), South Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia. Nuclear emergency preparedness of RSG-GAS needs to be improved by developing a decision support system for emergency response. This system covers three important aspects: accident source terms estimation, radioactive materials dispersion model into the atmosphere and radiological impact visualization. In this paper, radioactive materials dispersion during design basis accident (DBA) is modeled using HotSpot, by utilizing site-specific meteorological data. Based on the modelling, maximum effective dose and thyroid equivalent dose of 1.030 mSv and 26 mSv for the first 7 days of exposure are reached at distance of 1 km from the release point. These values are below IAEA generic criteria related to risk reduction of stochastic effects. The results of radioactive dispersion modeling and radiation dose calculations are integrated with Google Earth Pro to visualize radiological impact caused by a nuclear accident. Digital maps of demographic and land use data are overlayed on Google Earth Pro for more accurate impact estimation to take optimal emergency responses.Keywords: G.A. Siwabessy research reactor, Nuclear emergency, Atmospheric dispersion model, Decision support system, HotSpot codes

Japanese food data challenge the claimed link between Fukushima’s releases and recently observed thyroid cancer increase in Japan

Internal, high-dose exposure with radioiodine is known to increase the risk for thyroid cancer in children and adolescents. Ingestion of contaminated food is generally regarded a dominant route of internal exposure. We analyzed the huge data set of the post-Fukushima food monitoring campaign and deployed a conservative model for the estimation of the doses to the general public in a worst-case scenario. Our data suggest that the committed equivalent ingestion doses to the thyroids of the affected Japanese public, even in the utmost conservative approach, remained below the limit on ingestion of radioiodine in foodstuffs and beverages of 50 mSv (as thyroid equivalent dose). This level of 50 mSv is also the intervention level for the administration of stable iodine, mainly after inhalation. Our study hence suggests that, based on the food data, the internal exposure of Japanese residents was too low to cause a statistically discernible increase in thyroid cancer, even if the contribution from inhalation is taken into account. The data also indicate that the governmental efforts in the food monitoring campaign were successful and cut the thyroid doses to the public by a factor of approximately 3 compared to a scenario without any monitoring.

Thyroid equivalent doses for evacuees and radiological impact from the Fukushima nuclear accident

The present paper summarizes the scientific activities of the authors which have been focused on environmental monitoring and estimating thyroid dose for evacuees of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident. The radionuclide components of the absorbed dose rates in air obtained by a gamma-ray spectrometer depend on the radioactive plume behavior. Furthermore, continuous measurements by a car-borne survey are important to know the radioactive plume behavior. A few thyroid dose estimations have been obtained by different techniques. Direct measurements by the authors were in agreement with these published estimations. However, the dose from 132I was not taken into account in the previously published thyroid dose estimation due to the lack of information. After a nuclear accident, prompt thyroid measurements are required, and a standard technique for the measurement of activity in thyroid should be established.

Effectiveness of an Imaging Plate System in Emergency 131I Thyroid Monitoring.

The effect of temperature and shielding on the lower detection limit of a thyroid I monitoring system was investigated in an anthropomorphic thyroid-neck phantom fitted with an imaging plate. The phantom was loaded with an I aqueous solution and monitored with the imaging plate for 10 min. After exposure, the plates were incubated with or without the shield at 0, 10, 20, 25, 30, or 40°C. The latent image was read out at 0 min to 7 d after exposure. The thyroid equivalent doses corresponding to the detection limit were calculated in six age categories, using the inhalation equivalent dose coefficients recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The detection limit was distributed between 0.13 and 4.2 kBq, and depended on the age of subjects, elapsed time, temperature, and shielding provision. The maximum detection limit of 4.2 kBq was below the emergency screening level of 30 kBq in Japan. The thyroid equivalent dose corresponding to the detection limit ranged from 0.17 to 46 mSv. From the maximum equivalent dose of 46 mSv, the effective dose was estimated as 1.8 mSv, lower than the annual effective dose limit of 20 mSv for radiation workers. At 2 d after exposure, the measured dose was below the annual effective dose limit of 1 mSv for the public, regardless of age, temperature, and shielding provision. The imaging plate system effectively monitors the I thyroid levels in emergency situations.