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Reconstruction and forecast of doses due to ingestion of 137Cs and 90Sr after the Chernobyl accident

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Abstract

The assessment doses due to ingestion of 137Cs and 90Sr for the population suffering from the Chernobyl accident was performed on the basis of the new mechanistic ecological model for assessment of radiological consequences of agricultural lands contamination (EMARC). The EMARC model allows estimation of internal doses based on ecological factors influencing the contamination of foodstuff, for the post-accidental years in the countries of the former Soviet Union. The EMARC model allows estimation of all quantities required in radiation hygiene practice. For example, the proposed analytical method may be used for both retrospective dose reconstruction and prospective estimates of annual dose and integrated “life-time” dose, for different age intervals. According to the EMARC model, estimated reference “life-time” doses for adults are between 7 and 269 μSv kBq−1 m2 for 137Cs, and between 25 and 235 μSv kBq−1 m2 for 90Sr. Maximal doses were estimated for persons who were 3, 9 and 11 years old, at the time of the accident and these doses exceed those for adults by a factors of 1, 5 for 90Sr, and 1.4 for 137Cs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the National Commission of Radiation Protection of the Population and by the Ministry of Ukraine on Emergency Affairs and Protection of the Population from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe. Major parts of this work were supported by the National Program of mitigation of Chernobyl accident consequences (1991–1996) and by the President’s Project “GRANIT”(1993–2003) that was dedicated to radiation technologies’ risk assessment.

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  1. National Academy of Science of Ukraine, Department of Radiobiology, Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering, Vasilcovskaya st. 31/17, Kiev, 03022, Ukraine

    A. P. Kravets & Yu. A. Pavlenko

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  1. A. P. Kravets
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  2. Yu. A. Pavlenko
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Correspondence to A. P. Kravets.

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Kravets, A.P., Pavlenko, Y.A. Reconstruction and forecast of doses due to ingestion of 137Cs and 90Sr after the Chernobyl accident. Radiat Environ Biophys 47, 213–223 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-008-0156-1

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