Health risks from exposure to radiation

15 September 2010

The Health Protection Agency is leading a pioneering research project into the health risks from exposure to ionising radiation at a Soviet era nuclear plant. The project is being discussed at the HPA's annual conference - Health Protection 2010 - at the University of Warwick today.

Experts at the HPA are coordinating[1] an investigation into deaths and diseases among workers at the Mayak plant in Chelyabinsk, Russia, so they can more accurately calculate the health risks from ionising radiation exposure in the UK.

Until now, the chances of developing diseases such as cancer from ionising radiation have been based on information about the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bomb explosions during World War II, which does not include vital data on smoking or drinking habits.

Dr Richard Haylock, the HPA Epidemiologist who is the project's Scientific Secretary, said: "The Russian nuclear workers had a medical every year which recorded their smoking and alcohol consumption. Analysing this information along with their radiation doses will allow us to more accurately estimate the risks of developing smoking and drinking related diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease following exposure to ionising radiation."

He added: "By deriving more accurate estimates on health risks, we will be able to better protect people working in the radiation industry by ensuring that they are not exposed to unacceptable doses of radiation."

The project also aims to investigate the link between radiation dose received by children in the womb and cancer later in life.

Dr Haylock said: "Currently there is little good information about the risks to children exposed in the womb. We aim to learn more by combining information on such children, who are descendant of the local Russian population, with the children of Mayak plant workers."

Notes to editors

1. The project is being led by the Health Protection Agency. Partner organisations: Southern Urals Biophysics Institute, Urals Research Centre for Radiation Medicine, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen - National Centre for Environmental Health GmbH, University of Central Lancashire, Danish Cancer Society, Instituto Superiore di Sanita, Leiden University Medical Centre, University of Florida.

• The project: Epidemiological Studies of Exposed Southern Urals Populations (SOLO) is a four year EUR 9 million project of which EUR 4 million is funded by the EC. 
• The Mayak production plant was opened in 1948 to produce plutonium for the Soviet atomic weapons programme. Workers at the plant, who lived in the nearby city of Ozyorsk, were exposed to ionising radiaton often at high levels for many years.  
• Villagers living along the Techa river were also exposed to radiation from the plant. Both Mayak workers and villagers were exposed to radiation following a nuclear accident at the plant in 1957.
• Data on children exposed in the womb from 43,000 people living in villages near the Techa river - which was used to dispose of nuclear waste from Mayak - will be analysed, as will similarly exposed children of around 22,000 Mayak plant workers.

SOLO aims to:

• Verify current estimates of the dose of radiation that people receive given a known level of exposure; 
• Gather more accurate estimates on rates of non cancer diseases such as circulatory and respiratory conditions following exposure.
• Obtain information on the risks from intake of radioactive material into the body. Plutonium would be the radioactive material taken in by workers at the Mayak plant while Strontium would be the main material taken in by people living near the Techa River
• Check whether risks associated with being a Mayak worker tally with current estimates.
• Investigate the effect of exposure on children of Techa river women (including analysis of exposures received in the womb).
• For more information please contact the CRCE press office on 01235 822745/876/737.

About Health Protection 2010 

The Health Protection Agency's annual conference - Health Protection 2010 - is being held at the University of Warwick from 14-15 September. The conference offers a variety of innovative presentations which will demonstrate the latest scientific research and its practical application in three key areas of health protection - preventing and reducing infectious diseases, minimising the impact of radiation, chemical and environmental hazards and preparing for potential or emerging threats to health. To find out more information visit www.healthprotectionconference.co.uk

Last reviewed: 14 September 2010