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      The Thyroid Status of Children and Adolescents in Fukushima Prefecture Examined during 20–30 Months after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster: A Cross-Sectional, Observational Study

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          Abstract

          Background

          A possible increase in thyroid cancer in the young represents the most critical health problem to be considered after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan (March 2011), which is an important lesson from the Chernobyl disaster (April 1986). Although it was reported that childhood thyroid cancer had started to increase 3–5 yr after the Chernobyl accident, we speculate that the actual period of latency might have been shorter than reported, considering the delay in initiating thyroid surveillance in the then Soviet Union and also the lower quality of ultrasonographic testing in the 1980s. Our primary objectives in the present study were to identify any possible thyroid abnormality in young Fukushima citizens at a relatively early timepoint (20–30 months) after the accident, and also to strive to find a possible relationship among thyroid ultrasonographic findings, thyroid-relevant biochemical markers, and iodine-131 ground deposition in the locations of residence where they stayed during very early days after the accident.

          Methods and Findings

          This is a cross-sectional study. We targeted the Fukushima residents who were 18 yr old or younger (including fetuses) at the time of the accident. Our examinations comprised a questionnaire, thyroid ultrasonography, thyroid-related blood tests, and urinary iodine measurement. We analyzed a possible relationship among thyroid ultrasonographic findings (1,137 subjects), serum hormonal data (731 subjects), urinary iodine concentrations (770 subjects), and iodine-131 ground deposition (1,137 subjects). We did not find any significant relationship among these indicators, and no participant was diagnosed to contract thyroid cancer.

          Conclusions

          At the timepoint of 20–30 months after the accident, we did not confirm any discernible deleterious effects of the emitted radioactivity on the thyroid of young Fukushima residents. This is the first report in English detailing the thyroid status of young Fukushima residents after the nuclear disaster.

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          Most cited references16

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          Risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to 131I in childhood.

          After the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in April 1986, a large increase in the incidence of childhood thyroid cancer was reported in contaminated areas. Most of the radiation exposure to the thyroid was from iodine isotopes, especially 131I. We carried out a population-based case-control study of thyroid cancer in Belarus and the Russian Federation to evaluate the risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to radioactive iodine in childhood and to investigate environmental and host factors that may modify this risk. We studied 276 case patients with thyroid cancer through 1998 and 1300 matched control subjects, all aged younger than 15 years at the time of the accident. Individual doses were estimated for each subject based on their whereabouts and dietary habits at the time of the accident and in following days, weeks, and years; their likely stable iodine status at the time of the accident was also evaluated. Data were analyzed by conditional logistic regression using several different models. All statistical tests were two-sided. A strong dose-response relationship was observed between radiation dose to the thyroid received in childhood and thyroid cancer risk (P<.001). For a dose of 1 Gy, the estimated odds ratio of thyroid cancer varied from 5.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.1 to 9.5) to 8.4 (95% CI = 4.1 to 17.3), depending on the risk model. A linear dose-response relationship was observed up to 1.5-2 Gy. The risk of radiation-related thyroid cancer was three times higher in iodine-deficient areas (relative risk [RR]= 3.2, 95% CI = 1.9 to 5.5) than elsewhere. Administration of potassium iodide as a dietary supplement reduced this risk of radiation-related thyroid cancer by a factor of 3 (RR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.1 to 0.9, for consumption of potassium iodide versus no consumption). Exposure to (131)I in childhood is associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer. Both iodine deficiency and iodine supplementation appear to modify this risk. These results have important public health implications: stable iodine supplementation in iodine-deficient populations may substantially reduce the risk of thyroid cancer related to radioactive iodines in case of exposure to radioactive iodines in childhood that may occur after radiation accidents or during medical diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
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            Assessment of individual radionuclide distributions from the Fukushima nuclear accident covering central-east Japan.

            A tremendous amount of radioactivity was discharged because of the damage to cooling systems of nuclear reactors in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011. Fukushima and its adjacent prefectures were contaminated with fission products from the accident. Here, we show a geographical distribution of radioactive iodine, tellurium, and cesium in the surface soils of central-east Japan as determined by gamma-ray spectrometry. Especially in Fukushima prefecture, contaminated area spreads around Iitate and Naka-Dori for all the radionuclides we measured. Distributions of the radionuclides were affected by the physical state of each nuclide as well as geographical features. Considering meteorological conditions, it is concluded that the radioactive material transported on March 15 was the major contributor to contamination in Fukushima prefecture, whereas the radioactive material transported on March 21 was the major source in Ibaraki, Tochigi, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures and in Tokyo.
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              The Chernobyl accident--an epidemiological perspective.

              Twenty-five years have passed since radioactive releases from the Chernobyl nuclear accident led to the exposure of millions of people in Europe. Studies of affected populations have provided important new data on the links between radiation and cancer-particularly the risk of thyroid tumours from exposure to iodine isotopes-that are important not only for a fuller scientific understanding of radiation effects, but also for radiation protection. It is now well documented that children and adolescents exposed to radioiodines from Chernobyl fallout have a sizeable dose-related increase in thyroid cancer, with the risk greatest in those youngest at exposure and with a suggestion that deficiency in stable iodine may increase the risk. Data on thyroid cancer risks to other age groups are somewhat less definitive. In addition, there have been reported increases in incidence and mortality from non-thyroid cancers and non-cancer end points. Although some studies are difficult to interpret because of methodological limitations, recent investigations of Chernobyl clean-up workers ('liquidators') have provided evidence of increased risks of leukaemia and other haematological malignancies and of cataracts, and suggestions of an increase in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, following low doses and low dose rates of radiation. Further careful follow-up of these populations, including the establishment and long-term support of life-span study cohorts, could provide additional important information for the quantification of radiation risks and the protection of persons exposed to low doses of radiation. Copyright © 2011 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                PLoS ONE
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, USA )
                1932-6203
                2014
                4 December 2014
                : 9
                : 12
                : e113804
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Radiation Countermeasures Research Institute for Earthquake Disaster Recovery Support, Hirata, Fukushima, Japan
                [2 ]Kasukabe Kousei Hospital, Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan
                [3 ]Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
                [4 ]Hirata Central Clinic, Hirata, Fukushima, Japan
                [5 ]Hirata Central Hospital, Hirata, Fukushima, Japan
                Central South University, China
                Author notes

                Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

                Conceived and designed the experiments: HW MN FS. Performed the experiments: HW TF MN YS RY MT HS. Analyzed the data: TF HW YS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: HW TF MN YS RY MT HS FS. Wrote the paper: HW TF.

                Article
                PONE-D-14-36800
                10.1371/journal.pone.0113804
                4256387
                25474311
                be2be210-b70a-436e-b6fc-61ad59d56bbe
                Copyright @ 2014

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 15 August 2014
                : 30 October 2014
                Page count
                Pages: 19
                Funding
                The authors received no specific funding for thius work.
                Categories
                Research Article
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Anatomy
                Endocrine System
                Thyroid
                Medicine and Health Sciences
                Diagnostic Medicine
                Diagnostic Radiology
                Thyroid Imaging
                Ultrasound Imaging
                Epidemiology
                Cancer Epidemiology
                Oncology
                Cancers and Neoplasms
                Carcinomas
                Thyroid Carcinomas
                Radiology and Imaging
                Radiation Effects
                Radiation Exposure
                Physical Sciences
                Chemistry
                Chemical Elements
                Iodine
                Custom metadata
                The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. All relevant data are within the paper.

                Uncategorized
                Uncategorized

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