For example, the Chernobyl accident caused the deposition of radioisotopes over wide areas of the Northern Hemisphere, in particular in Europe ( Atlas of Caesium Deposition on Europe after the Chernobyl Accident, 1998), followed by protracted chronic exposure of some millions of people to external and internal radiation. You can see the map of radioactive contamination of Europe after the Chern...

The major tobacco manufacturers discovered that polonium was part of tobacco and tobacco smoke more than 40 years ago and attempted, but failed, to remove this radioactive substance from their products. Internal tobacco industry documents reveal that the companies suppressed publication of their own internal research to avoid heightening the public's awareness of radioactivity in cigarettes. To...

Contamination maps do not exist ; at best, strontium measurements are carried out sporadically by individual research groups. Furthermore, strontium is not at all looked for in the foodstuffsdatabase, which is used to calculate the radiation exposure of the population through taking in contaminated food. But it is known that relevant amounts of radioactive strontium were found in the teeth and ...

Consumption of seafoods containing radioactive elements is one of the main sources of natural radiation exposure. Therefore many countries and international organizations are concern about the safe consumption of marine food species. The present study investigated the accumulation pattern of Po-210 in marine cockle (Anadara granosa) collected from a cola burning power plant area. The study reve...

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 continu...

Introduction/Background Over the last 2 decades, significant technical advancements have improved the delivery of prostate brachytherapy. The transrectal ultrasound-guided implant technique is the backbone of modern prostate brachytherapy. Whether it is permanent or temporary, ie, low-dose-rate (LDR) or high-dose-rate (HDR), respectively, both use similar image-guided techniques for inserting s...

EFRACTORY anemia was omie of the first pathologic effects noted as a result of exposure to radioactive agents. Since the original description, published over forty-five years ago, a number of reports have appeared in the literature describing the occurrence of refractory anemia as a late effect of repeated exposures to x-rays or various radioactive materials.’ ‘ 2 , 3 The susceptibility of the ...

Doses due to external exposure of terrestrial biota are assessed using differential air kerma from radioactive sources in soil and energy-dependent 'absorbed dose-per-air kerma' conversion factors computed for spherical tissue-equivalent bodies. The presented approach allows computing average whole body absorbed dose for terrestrial organisms with body masses from 1 mg to 1,000 kg located at he...

The biochemical events underlying the ability of thrombin to enhance the metabolism of inositol phospholipids in human platelets have been investigated using platelets prelabeled with [3H]inositol. Thrombin treatment caused rapid formation of radioactive inositol monophosphate (IP), inositol bisphosphate (IP2), and inositol trisphosphate (IP3) with less marked and more variable changes in the l...

Graves' disease is a thyroid-specific autoimmune disorder in which the body makes antibodies to the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor leading to hyperthyroidism. Therapeutic options for the treatment of Graves' disease include medication, radioactive iodine ablation, and surgery. Radioactive iodine is absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy as exposure to I-131 to the fetal thyroid can resul...