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U.S. Department of Energy
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Radiocesium in children from Belarus

Journal Article · · Health Physics
; ;  [1]
  1. Bureau of Radiation and Medical Devices, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

The body burdens of {sup 137}Cs were measured in 74 children from Belarus who had been exposed to fallout from the Chernobyl accident. The children were between the ages of 8 and 12 y old and were visiting the Ottawa area during the summers of 1991 and 1992. The body burdens varied from 0.04-2.25 kBq, which are less than or comparable to the amount of natural {sup 40}K in the children`s bodies. There was no apparent dependence on age or sex. The body burdens were related, to some extent, with recorded fallout levels in the region of origin but did not appear to change significantly from 1991 to 1992. During their stay in Canada, radiocesium was being cleared from the children`s bodies with a mean halftime of 33 d (range = 12-77 d). The highest intake rate of {sup 137}Cs was estimated to be 18 Bq d{sup -1} and the highest dose rate was 0.13 mSv y{sup -1}. 12 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
258988
Journal Information:
Health Physics, Journal Name: Health Physics Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 66; ISSN HLTPAO; ISSN 0017-9078
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English