Chromosome aberrations in the radiation-exposed residents around Mayak Nuclear Facility in the Chelyabinsk region, Russia

• Published in: Environmental toxicology Vol. 14; no. 4; pp. 414 - 423
• Main Authors: Ilyinskikh, N. N., Ilyinskikh, I. N., Shakirov, N. N., Smirnov, B. V., Ilyinskikh, E. N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 1999; Wiley
• Subjects: biodosimetry; chromosome aberrations; radiation accident; radionuclides; tooth enamel ESR spectrometry
• ISSN: 1520-4081; 1522-7278
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1522-7278(1999)14:4<414::AID-TOX7>3.0.CO;2-8

Between 1949 and 1957 Mayak Nuclear Facility located in the Chelyabinsk region released some discharges of radiochemical production wastes into the Techa River and Lake Karachay which resulted in an extensive contamination of large territories with long‐lived radionuclides such as 90Sr, 137Cs, 239Pu. Between 1994 and 1996 our research team conducted both the chromosome analysis and the electron‐spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry of tooth enamel in the radiation‐exposed residents of four settlements in the Techa basin. We observed significantly increased levels of chromosome aberrations in the radiation‐exposed residents as compared to the controls. The ESR signal intensity and the chromosome aberration frequency in lymphocytes of the tooth donors showed a good correlation. Moreover, there was a good correlation between the level of whole‐body 90Sr activity detected by human radiation counter (HRC) and the frequency of chromosome aberrations among the radiation‐exposed residents. The data showed that 15% of the inhabitants of the Muslyumovo settlement received a radiation dose exceeding 100 cGy. A large increase of chromosome damage was observed in the people born between 1949 and 1957. Therefore, the accidents at Mayak Nuclear Facility (MNF) caused the serious radionuclide contamination of the Chelyabinsk region. We suppose that radionuclides incorporated in the body, particularly, in the bone marrow are responsible for the chromosome aberrations in the inhabitants. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 14: 414–423, 1999