Radioactive contamination. Italian programme to monitor the radiocesium levels in the urine and thyroid status of exposed children from Chernobyl

Since 1995, following the accident at Chernobyl, the Italian Red Cross has hosted about 2,000 children from the contaminated zones of Belorussia and the Ukraine. The purpose of the project was to ensure, by temporary removal of the children from the contaminated areas, an improvement in their general well-being with both physical and psychological benefits. In the current work, in particular, the results reported are of a study carried out in order to evaluate radioactive contamination levels and the medical surveillance of the thyroid status of the exposed children after the fall-out of the accident at Chernobyl. During the course of the research 400 children were examined, masculine and feminine, between the ages of 6 and 16. The children from Belorussia were hosted by families in Tuscany and the children from the Ukraine were hosted in the Corpomiles Center of the Italian Red Cross in Lazio. The children were hosted for a period of 30 days in our country and many have returned since then and we have repeated the same analyses. In the current work a radiometric analysis was carried out on the children's urine samples to find Cs-137 and Cs-134. The concentration of the two radionuclides was measured at the beginning and end of the children's stay in Italy. The two radionuclides were collected over a period of 24 hours. Moreover, a scan of the thyroid was carried out on the same children to discover the potential presence of a glandular tumour of pathological form caused by I-131. The results of the spectrometric analyses give indications as to the degree of radioactivity contamination in the children relative to their different home countries. The results confirm the existence of a chronic radioactive contamination due to a balanced diet of contaminated food. The analysis of the thyroid also demonstrated small to medium lymphadenopaties latero cervical. In conclusion, data collected from our present multidisciplinary work shows a decrease of around 30% in Cs-137 levels from the time of arrival in Italy until the children's departure. This indicates that even a brief visit to an uncontaminated environment is beneficial to the children's health. Furthermore, the possible correlation between the concentration of Cs-137 in the children's urine and the environmental contamination of the same radionuclide in the children's place of origin was verified. As for the enquiry into the state of the thyroid, results demonstrated an absence of tumour pathology. Values remained constant in different years. (author)