Radioepidemiological studies in the Urals: outcomes and future directions

Abstract

The paper presents the key milestones and outcomes of 65-year studies of the carcinogenic consequences of accidental radiation exposure of the population of the Urals region. The radioactive contamination of the Techa River and the 1957accident at the Mayak PA were the reasons for the long-term exposure of the population at a wide range of doses. The most important tasks of the study were the reconstruction of individual doses, follow-up of the health and life status of cohort members. The research results have shown that chronic human exposure, in comparison to acute exposure, does not reduce the risk of developing malignant tumors and leukemias, and the value of the dose-rate factor does not exceed “one”. Thus, according to our data, the current recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection underestimate the radiation risk of malignant tumors and leukemias in case of chronic exposure of the population by a factor of two. Prospects for further radio-epidemiological studies in the Urals are associated with the analysis of the cohort of Southern Urals Populations Exposed to Radiation (SUPER), which includes about 63 thousand exposed people and makes it possible to assess the radiation risk of solid cancers of certain localizations, certain types of leukemia, and non-cancer effects.