Debate over health effects of Chernobyl re-ignited.

1424 www.thelancet.com Vol 375 April 24, 2010 For the birth defects study see Pediatrics 2010; 125: 836–43 Calls have been made for comprehensive studies into the continuing health eff ects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster after a rise in birth defects was identifi ed in one of the regions most aff ected by the catastrophe. A study by Wladimir Wertelecki of the University of Southern Alabama, AL, USA, found above average rates of a number of birth defects in one province in Ukraine—where the devastated nuclear power plant, which exploded 24 years ago, remains encased in concrete. Wertelecki says that the rise could be linked to continuing exposure to low-level radiation doses. The fi ndings, published in Pediatrics, are in stark contrast with a major, but highly criticised, 2005 study by WHO and other groups, which suggested that there was no evidence of an increased risk of birth defects in areas contaminated by the accident. Wertelecki says that the results of his study show claims that birth defects are not linked to the disaster need to be re-evaluated. He told The Lancet: “The offi cial position is that Chernobyl and birth defects are not connected. That position needs to be reconsidered at the very least.” When unit number four of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in April, 1986, it caused the world’s worst nuclear disaster. WHO has estimated that the total radioactivity from Chernobyl was 200 times that of the combined releases from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The blast and following fi res