Cesium in Biology, Pancreatic Cancer, and Controversy in High and Low Radiation Exposure Damage—Scientific, Environmental, Geopolitical, and Economic Aspects

Abstract

Radionuclide contamination in terrestrial ecosystems has reached a dangerous level. The major artificial radionuclide present in the environment is cesium-137 (137-Cs). In humans, animals, and plants cesium ion (Cs+) behaves like potassium ion (K+) and it is localized mainly inside the cells. Pancreas and salivary glands secrete Cs in the intestine thus eliminating about 14% of ingested Cs with the feces, the remaining 86% is eliminated by the kidney with the urine. Ingested radiocesium can also cause in humans several cases of pancreatitis with secondary diabetes (type 3c), which are both on the rise in the world. The Author studied the correlation between the geographical map of mortality from pancreatic cancer (PC) and the map of nuclear plant accidents, atomic bomb testing, and radioactive fallout. The worldwide death rate of PC is increasing, but the exact cause is still not known. Published data in medical literature at World, European and Italian levels are reviewed and compared. 137-Cs, with a half-life of about 30 years, is still present in the environment for about 300–600 years. Autoradiographic studies in mice have shown that 137-Cs is concentrated in greater quantity in the pancreas, particularly in exocrine cells, where most malignant PCs originate. Some methods of radiocesium removal and PC prevention are also suggested. But there is still a persistent, and not entirely disinterested, the controversy between damage from high and low exposure to ionizing radiations.