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Individual whole-body concentration of 137Cesium is associated with decreased blood counts in children in the Chernobyl-contaminated areas, Ukraine, 2008–2010

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 25, pages 334–342 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Narodichesky region, Zhitomir Oblast, Ukraine, is situated ∼80 km from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which exploded in 1986 and polluted the environment. A previous study found that children living in villages with high activity of 137Cesium (Cs) in the soil had decreased levels of hemoglobin, erythrocytes and thrombocytes. These findings motivated the present study that used a more comprehensive exposure assessment, including individual whole-body concentrations (WBC) of 137Cs (Bq/kg). This cross-sectional sample examined between 2008–2010, included 590 children in the age 0–18 years. Children with higher individual log(WBC) activity in the body had significantly decreased hemoglobin, erythrocyte and thrombocyte counts. The effect of log(WBC) on decreased thrombocyte count was only seen in children older than 12 years. The average village activity of 137Cs (kBq/m2) in soil was associated with decreased blood counts only indirectly, through 137Cs in the body as an intermediate variable. Children in this study were born at least 4 years after the accident and thus exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation from 137Cs. This cross-sectional study indicates that low levels may be associated with decreased blood counts, but we cannot exclude that these results are due to residual confounding factors.

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Acknowledgements

Anna Lindgren received a scholarship from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) (2011–1769), for conducting research at Arnold School of Public Health. Financial support for the health screenings was provided by the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine. This research was partially supported by a Grant from the United States Civilian Research and Development Foundation (UKB1–2929-KV-08). The study was approved by the Committee on Bioethics of the Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Report no. 1, 31 August 2007) and by the Office of Research Compliance at the University of South Carolina.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Anna Lindgren

  2. Department of Radiation Pediatrics, Congenital and Hereditory Pathology, Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

    Eugenia Stepanova, Vitaliy Vdovenko, Oksana Litvinetz & Elena Leonovich

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

    Daria McMahon

  4. Division of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

    Wilfried Karmaus

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Correspondence to Wilfried Karmaus.

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Lindgren, A., Stepanova, E., Vdovenko, V. et al. Individual whole-body concentration of 137Cesium is associated with decreased blood counts in children in the Chernobyl-contaminated areas, Ukraine, 2008–2010. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 25, 334–342 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.60

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