Data for Disaster Planning: Risk Factors for Internal Radiation Exposures after Fukushima

Factors determining how much radioactive material people take into their bodies after a major nuclear disaster have not been well defined. In this issue of EHP researchers from the University of Tokyo identify risk factors for contamination among residents near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident. They conclude that with the right precautions people might be able to live continuously in radioactively contaminated areas with limited risk of internal exposure. Studies of the 1986 Chernobyl accident suggested that internal radionuclide exposures from that disaster were due mainly to the ingestion of contaminated food products and inhalation of radioactive particles. Risks of dietary exposures may persist long after a nuclear accident, depending on the half-life of radioisotopes, whereas the risk