Interpretation of FISH Results in the Case of Nonuniform Internal Radiation Exposure of Human Body with the Use of Model Approach

Russian Journal of Genetics - The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique allows for the estimation of the number of stable chromosomal aberrations (translocations) in human blood...     

Reconstruction of the contamination of the Techa River in 1949–1951 as a result of releases from the “MAYAK” Production Association

More accurate reconstruction of the radioactive contamination of the Techa River system in 1949–1951 has been made on the basis of refined data on the amounts and the rate of discharge of radionuclides into the Techa River from the Mayak Production Association; this has led to the development of a modified Techa River model that describes the transport of radionuclides through the up-river ponds and along the Techa River and deposition of radionuclides in the river-bottom sediments and flooded areas. The refined Techa River source-term data define more precisely the time-dependent rates of release and radionuclide composition of the releases that occurred during 1949–1951. The Techa River model takes into account the time-dependent characteristics of the releases and considers (a) the transport of radionuclides adsorbed on solid particles originally contained in the discharges or originating in the up-river ponds as a result of stirring up of contaminated bottom sediments and (b) the transport of radionuclides in soluble form. The output of the Techa River model provides concentrations of all source-term radionuclides in the river water, bottom sediments, and floodplain soils at different distances from the site of radioactive releases for the period of major contamination in 1950–1951. The outputs of the model show good agreement with historical measurements of water and sediment contamination. In addition, the river-model output for ⁹⁰Sr concentration in the river water is harmonized with retrospective estimates derived from the measurements of ⁹⁰Sr in the residents of the Techa Riverside villages. Modeled contamination of the floodplain soils by ¹³⁷Cs is shown to be in agreement with the values reconstructed from late measurements of this radionuclide. Reconstructed estimates of the Techa River contamination are being used for the quantification of internal and external doses received by residents of the Techa Riverside communities.     

Pilot study of the Urals population by tooth electron paramagnetic resonance dosimetry

During 1949–1956, about 76 × 10⁶ m³ of radioactive liquid waste containing a total activity of 10¹⁷ Bq was discharged into the Techa River by the first Russian industrial nuclear facility Mayak. As a consequence, the population living in the river valley received considerable internal and external radiation doses. The results of a first application of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of tooth enamel for a retrospective individual dose evaluation of the residents of the Techa riverside are presented. Three main contributions to the dose absorbed in tooth enamel have been considered: external exposure mainly from the Techa River sediments, internal exposure mainly due to ⁹⁰Sr; and background radiation including all other sources of exposure except the Techa River. The teeth of 86 inhabitants of the town Kamensk-Uralskii were analysed to determine the age-dependent contribution of the background radiation to the enamel dose. For 22 residents of the middle and lower Techa riverside, measurements of the ⁹⁰Sr whole-body content and EPR measurements of the absorbed dose in enamel were used to establish a correlation between these two quantities. Finally, absorbed doses in the enamel of five residents of the upper Techa riverside were determined by the EPR method. Contributions of the background radiation and the internal ⁹⁰Sr contamination were subtracted to determine the external exposure of the residents.     

Preliminary FISH-based assessment of external dose for residents exposed on the Techa River

This paper presents the results of a feasibility cytogenetic study using the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) translocation assay for residents of villages located on the Techa River (Southern Urals, Russia) contaminated with liquid radioactive wastes from the Mayak plutonium facility in 1949-1956. The study was conducted with two groups of donors that differed in their main pathways of exposure. The first group comprised 18 residents of the middle Techa region who were exposed predominantly from ingestion of radionuclides (mostly (89,90)Sr) via the river water and local foodstuffs. The second group included 20 residents of Metlino, the closest village to the site of releases, who were exposed to external γ radiation from the contaminated river bank and exposed internally from dietary intake of radionuclides. A significant linear dependence between the radiation-induced translocation frequency and individual red bone marrow dose from incorporated (89,90)Sr, calculated with the Techa River Dosimetry System (TRDS), was found in the first group of donors. This allowed us to take the contribution of (89,90)Sr to the total radiation-induced translocation frequency into account for the second group of donors and to analyze translocations resulting from external γ-ray exposure. Individual doses from external exposure derived from the corrected translocation frequency for the second group of donors (Metlino residents), using a linear dose-response coefficient of 0.015 translocation/cell/Gy recommended by Edwards et al. in 2005, were shown to vary up to 2.1 Gy, with an average value of 0.48 Gy, which was in agreement with TRDS-based external dose estimates for Metlino residents.     

Study of beta-lactamase activity of staphylococci from different sources

The beta-lactamase activity of staphylococci isolated from the nasopharynx and skin of children with destructive affections of the lungs and from blood of patients with cardiovascular diseases subjected to surgical operations was determined with acidometric and microbiological procedures. Interrelation between synthesis of beta-lactamase by the staphylococcal strains and their resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics was demonstrated. No correlation of the antibiotic resistance and the taxonomic position of the staphylococcal strains was observed.     

On an evaluation of external dose values in the Techa River Dosimetry System (TRDS) 2000

Absorbed doses were determined by thermoluminescence (TL) measurements for bricks from a height of 6 m from the south-western wall of the former mill in Metlino that faced the Techa river. Measurements of the internal beta-radiation and alpha-radiation in the brick samples and of radionuclide activities in soil samples from the Techa river valley were performed. The absorbed dose in bricks due to the natural radiation was derived and subtracted from the total dose in order to obtain the absorbed dose in the bricks caused by anthropogenic sources. The results were combined with results from two previous studies. The absorbed dose in the bricks due to the radiation field after relocation of the Metlino population in 1956 was derived from dose rates in air measured in front of the sampling locations in 1996/1997. Based on these dose rates the dose to bricks was calculated by means of conversion factors from the literature. The absorbed dose accumulated in the bricks in the period 1949–1956 was nearly 80% of the total dose that had been determined by TL measurements. Previously derived conversion factors were applied to obtain an estimate of the gamma dose in air at the former shore of the Techa river. An uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was performed with the program package Crystal Ball. Care was taken to treat statistical and systematic uncertainties separately and to take parameter correlations into account. The resulting distribution for the gamma dose accumulated in the period 1949–1956 at the Techa river shore has a median value of 32 Gy with a 95% confidence interval of 21–45 Gy. This study confirms the corresponding value of 26.6 Gy that is used in the Techa River Dosimetry System (TRDS) 2000.     

Fetal dose assessment for the offspring of the Techa Riverside residents

Massive releases of fission products from the plutonium facility Mayak (Southern Urals, Russia) resulted in the contamination of the Techa river and its floodlands (1949–1956). The results of long-term studies of exposure populations have been used for different purposes of retrospective dosimetry. The riverside residents were exposed via various pathways and their progeny were exposed in utero both to external radiation and to internal radiation from radionuclides ingested by the mothers prior to conception and during pregnancy. Fetal doses due to ⁹⁰Sr from the maternal skeleton were estimated and compared with doses from other pathways. Individual red bone marrow (RBM) doses to the late fetuses were calculated on the basis of ⁹⁰Sr contents measured in the maternal skeleton and the ⁹⁰Sr transfer coefficients (TC) to the fetal skeleton were determined on the basis of the Techa river data. Two values of TC were assumed depending on the mothers’ maturation status in the period of maximum releases: TC=0.2 for group 1 (adulthood of mothers in 1950) and TC=0.02 for group 2 (mothers not yet in menarche age in 1950). Fetal doses in both groups that resulted from the different TC values varied by a factor of about 5–8. Furthermore, the fetal RBM doses due to ⁹⁰Sr from the maternal skeleton were found to depend on the distances from the site of release and the time after major ⁹⁰Sr intake. The average fetal RBM doses in the population of the upper, middle and lower Techa riverside regions were close to the ratio 3:2:1 and 20 years after the onset of contamination, the fetal doses have decreased by a factor of about 3–5. The distance from the site of release determined the relative contribution of different pathways to the fetal dose. For the settlements that are located closest to the site of release, the external exposure was of major concern up to the date of evacuation. For the non-evacuated settlements, the contribution of internal doses was higher and after 1956, external exposure is assumed to be negligible. From 1956 on, ⁹⁰Sr that has been transferred from the maternal skeleton was practically the single source of in utero exposure. Received: 8 December 2000 / Accepted: 1 July 2001