Concentration of radioactive isotopes in honey constitutes an important bioindicator of environmental radiation. One hundred six honey samples were collected from hives and from bottled honey provided by beekeepers from north-eastern Poland in 2010, before the Fukushima accident, and during the two-year period directly following this catastrophe (2011-2012). Cesium-137 (Cs-137) and potassium-40...

How does exposure to low-level radiation affect a person’s risk of developing cancer or other health problems? Is there a threshold below which there is no effect at all? Can we really understand the effects of prolonged low-level exposure by applying what we’ve learned from one-time blasts like the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs? Following the reactor fuel meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima D...

The nuclear accident occurred at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) (March 11, 2011) similarly to the accident at the Chernobyl NPP (April 26, 1986) is related to the level 7 of the INES. It is of interest to make an analysis of the radionuclide composition of the fallout following the both accidents. The results of the spectrometric measurements were used in that comparative analysis...

The increase in risk for late-onset thyroid cancer due to radiation exposure is a potential health effect after a nuclear power plant accident mainly due to the release of radioiodine in fallout. The risk is particularly elevated in those exposed during infancy and adolescence. To estimate the possibility and extent of thyroid cancer occurrence after exposure, it is of utmost importance to coll...

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake led to a subsequent nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In its wake, we sought to examine the association between external radiation dose and thyroid cancer in Fukushima Prefecture. We applied a cross-sectional study design with 300,476 participants aged 18 years and younger who underwent thyroid examinations between October 2011 a...

After the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, little information has been available on individual doses from external exposure among residents living in radioactively contaminated areas near the nuclear plant; in the present study we evaluated yearly changes in the doses from external exposure after the accident and the effects of decontamination on external exposure. This stud...

BACKGROUND A special report, 'The Fukushima Accident', was delivered at the 35th Annual Meeting of the European Thyroid Association in Krakow on September 11, 2011, and this study is the follow-up of the special report. OBJECTIVES To present a preliminary review of potential thyroid consequences of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor accident. METHODS Numerous new data have been presented in...

In an unprecedented food monitoring campaign for radionuclides, the Japanese government took action to secure food safety after the Fukushima nuclear accident (Mar. 11, 2011). In this work we analyze a part of the immense data set, in particular radiocesium contaminations in food from the first year after the accident. Activity concentrations in vegetables peaked immediately after the campaign ...

Radioactive caesium pollution resulting from Fukushima Dai-ichi and Chernobyl nuclear plant accidents involves strong interactions between Cs+ and clays, especially vermiculite-type minerals. In acidic soil environments, such as in Fukushima area, vermiculite is subjected to weathering processes, resulting in aluminization. The crystal structure of aluminized clays and its implications for Cs+ ...

Department of Pathology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980–8575, Japan Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University, 2 Asashiro-Nishi, Kumatori-cho, Sennan-gun, Osaka 590–0494, Japan *Corresponding author. Department of Pathology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 98...