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The development of field-based measurement methods for radioactive fallout assessment.

An overview is provided on the development of field equipment, instrument systems, and methods of analyses that were used to assess the impact of radioactive fallout from atmospheric weapons tests. Included in this review are developments in fallout collection, aerosols measurements in surface air, and high-altitude sampling with aircraft and balloons. In addition, developments in radiation measurements are covered in such areas as survey and monitoring instruments, in situ gamma-ray spectrometry, and aerial measurement systems. The history of these developments and the interplay with the general advances in the field of radiation and radioactivity metrology are highlighted. An emphasis is given as to how the modifications and improvements in the instruments and methods over time led to their adaptation to present-day applications to radiation and radioactivity measurements.

History, 20th Century↗

After Chernobyl--how U.S. physicians respond to radioactive fallout.

On April 26, 1986, a reactor unit at the Soviet Union's Chernobyl Power Station exploded, and substantial amounts of radioactive material were released. Fallout from this incident was deposited in the United States and elsewhere. Radioactive fallout is a major concern for obstetricians and pediatricians; their patients are the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of radiation. This study addresses the question: What are these physicians' perceptions and beliefs about fallout and its effects on their patients? A questionnaire was developed to measure these perceptions and beliefs. This instrument was mailed in November 1986 to all obstetricians and pediatricians listed in the telephone directory for western Massachusetts. A factor analysis of the physicians' responses yielded five factors: concern for patients, management of risk, effect of fallout, physicians' role in prevention, and guidance on advising patients. The physicians' responses to patients' inquiries were categorized as giving information, reassurance, and prescription. The authors recommend that the study be replicated with a more representative sample, that professional medical groups provide reliable information to members, and that physicians ask their professional organizations to address the issue of physician participation in the national planning process relevant to their concerns about radioactive fallout.

Accidents↗

Modelling the Chernobyl radioactive fallout (I): A fractal approach in northern Italy.

This paper deals with the 137Cs airborne radioactive concentration measured in Northern Italy after the Chernobyl accident. We devised a fractal model to aid in describing the space-time distribution of radioactivity. The model is based on the Fractal Sum of Pulses theory, involving additive stochastic processes. We use, as input source of information, the parametrization of the time trend of radioactive concentration in a few Italian Provinces we calculated in previous work. The results look promising, since realistic scenarios of environmental pollution are produced.

Air Pollutants, Radioactive↗

Radioactive fallout reconstruction from contemporary measurements of reservoir sediments.

The temporal history of atmospheric deposition to a watershed area can be preserved in the sediment of a lake or reservoir that is supplied by the watershed. The 137Cs and isotopic Pu concentrations with depth were determined in the sediments of two reservoirs, Enterprise and Deer Creek, which are located in widely separated regions of the state of Utah. Our data not only reconstruct the history of the total radioactive fallout in the area, but also permit estimating the contributions from global sources and from the Nevada Test Site detonations in the 1950s.

Cesium Radioisotopes↗

Toxoplasma antibodies and retinochoroiditis in the Marshall Islands and their association with exposure to radioactive fallout.

Nearly universal serologic evidence of Toxoplasma gondii infection was found to have occurred by adulthood in 517 Marshallese tested in 1981-1982. The prevalence and incidence of retinal lesions compatible with toxoplasmosis were 3.9% and 273 cases/year/100,000 seropositive persons, respectively, thus indicating a significant public health problem. Seronegativity was significantly more common in a subgroup of Marshallese that had received 110-190 rads of total-body gamma radiation as a consequence of accidental exposure to radioactive fallout in 1954. Despite this finding there was no evidence of an increase in clinically significant lesions in exposed persons.

Adolescent↗

Mortality from motor neuron disease in Japan, 1950-1990: association with radioactive fallout from atmospheric weapons testing.

Motor neuron disease (MND) is a progressive and invariably fatal disease affecting the nuclei of the pyramidal tract and anterior horn cells. Despite intensive research into environmental agents associated with the onset or course of the disease, there is no single factor that can be confidently linked over time with regional, national or international variations in mortality rates. However, unusual variations in MND mortality rate in Japan from 1950-1990 were found to correlate highly significantly with variations in radioactive fallout released by atmospheric weapons testing in the Pacific. This association could be explained by the ingestion of alpha-emitting radionuclides acting upon a pre-existing susceptible subpopulation, a hypothesis which is consistent with recent research on the epidemiology and pathology of MND. However, it is likely that radiation is only one of many factors that act singly or in combination to accelerate the condition in subpopulations susceptible to MND.

Adult↗