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Assessment of radiation exposure from cesium-137 contaminated roads for epidemiological studies in Seoul, Korea

  • Lee, Yun-Keun (Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health) ;
  • Ju, Young-Su (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital) ;
  • Lee, Won Jin (Department of Social Medicine, Inha University School of Medicine) ;
  • Hwang, Seung Sik (Department of Social Medicine, Inha University School of Medicine) ;
  • Yim, Sang-Hyuk (Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health) ;
  • Yoo, Sang-Chul (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital) ;
  • Lee, Jieon (Korea Federation for Environmental Movements) ;
  • Choi, Kyung-Hwa (Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Dankook University) ;
  • Burm, Eunae (Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Dankook University) ;
  • Ha, Mina (Department of Preventive Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine)
  • Received : 2015.04.11
  • Accepted : 2015.05.30
  • Published : 2015.01.01

Abstract

Objectives We aimed to assess the radiation exposure for epidemiologic investigation in residents exposed to radiation from roads that were accidentally found to be contaminated with radioactive cesium-137 ($^{137}Cs$) in Seoul. Methods Using information regarding the frequency and duration of passing via the $^{137}Cs$ contaminated roads or residing/working near the roads from the questionnaires that were obtained from 8875 residents and the measured radiation doses reported by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, we calculated the total cumulative dose of radiation exposure for each person. Results Sixty-three percent of the residents who responded to the questionnaire were considered as ever-exposed and 1% of them had a total cumulative dose of more than 10 mSv. The mean (minimum, maximum) duration of radiation exposure was 4.75 years (0.08, 11.98) and the geometric mean (minimum, maximum) of the total cumulative dose was 0.049 mSv (<0.001, 35.35) in the exposed. Conclusions An individual exposure assessment was performed for an epidemiological study to estimate the health risk among residents living in the vicinity of $^{137}Cs$ contaminated roads. The average exposure dose in the exposed people was less than 5% of the current guideline.

Keywords

References

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Cited by

  1. Cesium-137 Contaminated Roads and Health Problems in Residents: an Epidemiological Investigation in Seoul, 2011 vol.33, pp.9, 2015, https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e58