Submit to IJERPH Review for IJERPH Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Exceptionally High Exposure to Environmental Radioactivity and Its Health Effects

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 18911

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Susanna Salminen-Paatero

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, 00271 Helsinki, Finland
Interests: environmental radioactivity; radioecology; health effects of radiation; radioanalytical techniques

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Abnormally high radioactivity levels in certain environments lead to increased ingestion and inhalation of radionuclides and also to increased exposure to external radiation. Consequently, enrichment of radionuclides in organs and elevated whole-body radiation doses occur. Increased environmental radioactivity exposure due to artificial factors includes areas close to nuclear weapon test sites (e.g., Semipalatinsk, the Pacific Proving Grounds), nuclear fuel reprocessing sites (Sellafield, Mayak, etc.), areas contaminated after nuclear accidents (the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, for instance), and uranium mining operations. Enhanced radioactivity exposure due to natural factors exists, e.g., in areas with high external radiation from bedrock (uranium-rich granite, monazite, etc.). Populations living in higher radiation dose areas have not been investigated thoroughly, including issues such as different symptoms, enrichment of radionuclides in the human body, and health risks caused by increased radiation exposure. Of particular interest is long-term radioactivity exposure from the living environment. New insights and findings are needed to complete radiation health risk assessments and improve the modeling of radionuclide enrichment, i.e., bioaccumulation in the human body.

You are cordially invited to submit your research dealing with health effects caused by elevated radiation exposure due to environmental factors.

Dr. Susanna Salminen-Paatero
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

health risk from exceptional environmental radiation
increased radionuclide bioaccumulation
elevated radiation exposure
long-term exposure to environmental radiation
radionuclide ingestion and inhalation
radioactively contaminated areas and their inhabitants

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Review

17 pages, 2544 KiB

Open AccessReview

Transfer of Natural Radionuclides in Terrestrial Food Chains—A Review of Investigations in Finland

by Susanna Salminen-Paatero and Jussi Paatero

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(20), 10577; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010577 - 9 Oct 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2148

Abstract

Transfer of natural radionuclides ²¹⁰Pb, ²¹⁰Po, ²³⁸U, and ^228,230,232Th in subarctic food chains has been studied in Finland since the 1960s. The unique food chain lichen-reindeer-man related to Sami people in Finnish Lapland and other food chain options, from berries or mushrooms to man, have been explored and the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in biological samples determined. The results from Finnish radioecological studies are summarized and differences in bioaccumulation between different radionuclides are discussed. It was found out that, although a substantial amount of activity concentration data exist from the research projects executed in Finland during the last 6 decades, more data, especially from U and Th, in biological environment and humans would be useful, e.g., for modeling purposes and for improved assessment of bioaccumulation and adverse effects (both radiological and chemical) of radionuclides. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exceptionally High Exposure to Environmental Radioactivity and Its Health Effects)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 5845 KiB

Open AccessReview

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

by Sebastiano Venturi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(17), 8934; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18178934 - 25 Aug 2021

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 8470

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. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exceptionally High Exposure to Environmental Radioactivity and Its Health Effects)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 2353 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Cancer Incidence of Finnish Sami in the Light of Exposure to Radioactive Fallout

by Leena Soininen and Helena Mussalo-Rauhamaa

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(15), 8186; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158186 - 2 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2614

Abstract

This article summarizes the results of studies on the exposure of the Finnish Sami people to radioactive fallout and the estimations of the related cancer risk. We also discuss the lifestyle, genetic origin and diet of this population. The Sami people are an indigenous people who live in the northern part of Scandinavia and Finland. The review is based on the available scientific literature of Finnish Sami. The traditional Sami diet, high in animal products, persists in Sami groups still involved in reindeer-herding, but others have adopted the typical diet of western cultures. Studies have consistently shown an overall reduced cancer risk among the Finnish Sami people, except for stomach cancer among the Skolt Sami. Common cancers among the Finnish main population, such as prostate, breast and skin cancer are especially rare among the Finnish Sami. The incidence of cancer among the Finnish Sami are mostly similar to those of the Swedish and Norwegian Sami. To conclude, we observed no effect of radioactive pollution on cancer incidence. The lifestyles and environments of the Sami are changing, and their cancer mortality rate today is similar to that of the majority of the Finnish and western population. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exceptionally High Exposure to Environmental Radioactivity and Its Health Effects)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 359 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Search for Causes of Rising Incidence of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer in Children and Adolescents after Chernobyl and Fukushima: Comparison of the Clinical Features and Their Relevance for Treatment and Prognosis

by Valentina Drozd, Vladimir Saenko, Daniel I. Branovan, Kate Brown, Shunichi Yamashita and Christoph Reiners

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(7), 3444; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073444 - 26 Mar 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4410

Abstract

The incidence of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) is steadily increasing globally. Epidemiologists usually explain this global upsurge as the result of new diagnostic modalities, screening and overdiagnosis as well as results of lifestyle changes including obesity and comorbidity. However, there is evidence that there is a real increase of DTC incidence worldwide in all age groups. Here, we review studies on pediatric DTC after nuclear accidents in Belarus after Chernobyl and Japan after Fukushima as compared to cohorts without radiation exposure of those two countries. According to the Chernobyl data, radiation-induced DTC may be characterized by a lag time of 4–5 years until detection, a higher incidence in boys, in children of youngest age, extrathyroidal extension and distant metastases. Radiation doses to the thyroid were considerably lower by appr. two orders of magnitude in children and adolescents exposed to Fukushima as compared to Chernobyl. In DTC patients detected after Fukushima by population-based screening, most of those characteristics were not reported, which can be taken as proof against the hypothesis, that radiation is the (main) cause of those tumors. However, roughly 80% of the Fukushima cases presented with tumor stages higher than microcarcinomas pT1a and 80% with lymph node metastases pN1. Mortality rates in pediatric DTC patients are generally very low, even at higher tumor stages. However, those cases considered to be clinically relevant should be followed-up carefully after treatment because of the risk of recurrencies which is expected to be not negligible. Considering that thyroid doses from the Fukushima accident were quite small, it makes sense to assess the role of other environmental and lifestyle-related factors in thyroid carcinogenesis. Well-designed studies with assessment of radiation doses from medical procedures and exposure to confounders/modifiers from the environment as e.g., nitrate are required to quantify their combined effect on thyroid cancer risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exceptionally High Exposure to Environmental Radioactivity and Its Health Effects)

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Displaying articles 1-4

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Exceptionally High Exposure to Environmental Radioactivity and Its Health Effects

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (4 papers)

Review

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI