Miwa Miura

Assessment of Internal Exposure Doses in Fukushima by a Whole Body Counter Within One Month after the Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Information on early internal radiation doses in Fukushima after the nuclear power plant accident on March 11, 2011, is quite limited due to initial organizational difficulties, high background radiation and contamination of radiation measuring devices. In Nagasaki, approximately 1,200 km away from Fukushima, the internal radioactivity in evacuees and short-term visitors to Fukushima has been measured by a whole body counter (WBC) since March 15, 2011. A horizontal bed-type scanning WBC equipped with two NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors was used for 173 people who stayed in the Fukushima prefecture between March 11 and April 10, 2011. The average length of stay was 4.8 days. The internal radioactivity was converted to an estimated amount of intake according to the scenario of acute inhalation, and then the committed effective dose and the thyroid dose were evaluated. 131I, 134Cs and 137Cs were detected in more than 30% of examined individuals. In subjects who stayed in Fukushima from March 12 to March 18, the detection rate was approximately 50% higher for each radionuclide and 44% higher for all three nuclides. The maximum committed effective dose and thyroid equivalent dose were 1 mSv and 20 mSv, respectively. Although the number of subjects and settlements in the study are limited, the results suggest that the internal radiation exposure in Fukushima due to the intake of radioactive materials shortly after the accident will probably not result in any deterministic or stochastic health effects.

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Internal Radiation Exposure In Evacuees and First Responders after the Radiological Accident in Fukushima

After the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident on March 11, 2011, the reconstruction of early internal radiation doses in residents of Fukushima plays a major role in evaluating their future heath risk, including thyroid cancer by internal radioiodine. Internal radioactivity was measured using a whole body counter (WBC) at the Nagasaki University Medical School to evaluate the health risks of residents and short term visitors in Fukushima. Measurable 131I, 134Cs and 137Cs were detected altogether in 49 out of 196 people who were in Fukushima prefecture at any time during March 11 and April 20, 2011. In 49 people, the 90 percentile of the thyroid equivalent dose by 131I and the committed effective dose (total effective dose over a lifetime) by the sum of 134Cs and 137Cs was 3 mSv and 0.06 mSv, respectively. The radionuclide intakes in early evacuees who left Fukushima before March 16 were more than five times as high as in the responders who moved to Fukushima later. The intake ratio of 131I/137Cs of the earlier evacuees was approximately three. The spatial analysis of 16 evacuees to the south indicated a reduction of internal radioactivity depending on the distance from the nuclear power plant. Among them, high internal 131I radioactivity in 6 people in a particular evacuation route could be explained by the arrival of a radioactive cloud with a high airborne 131I/137Cs ratio to the environment, as predicted by atmospheric dispersion simulations. Overall, the actual internal radioactivity assessed by a WBC examination comparatively agreed with the predicted airborne radioactivity. These results suggest that the accurate estimation of internal doses in the first week after the radiological accident is critical for the dose reconstruction. The evaluation of internal doses of residents based on their evacuation routes and the advanced estimation of airborne radioactivity from the atmospheric dispersion model should continue to be assessed.

An in vitro evidence for caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid and trans cinnamic acid as a skin protectant against γ-radiation

Ionising radiation (γ or X-rays) is the mandatory tool to treat cancer despite its detrimental effects in particular on skin cells which lead to severe dermatological diseases and carcinogenesis. Natural antioxidants caffeic acid (CA), rosmarinic acid (RA), trans cinnamic acid (TCA), p-coumaric acid (PCA), and hydroxyphenyllactic acid (HPA) acid are known to be potent anticancer and antioxidant agents. Current study is designed to provide experimental evidence as these compounds offer radiation protection for skin cells. Non-toxic concentrations of CA, RA, TCA, PCA, and HPA were tested for radiation protection, γ-radiation induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) by flow cytometry and DNA double strand break in human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) by immunocytochemistry. CA, RA and TCA pretreatment can protect the HaCaT cells by 40%, 20%, 15% respectively through scavenging γ-radiation induced ROS and decreasing number of post irradiation 53bp1 foci. Inclusion of these compounds in chemo-radiother...

Perception of Radiation Risk by Japanese Radiation Specialists Evaluated as a Safe Dose Before the Fukushima Nuclear Accident.

AbstractFrom October to December 2010, just before the radiological accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 71 radiation professionals from radiation facilities in Japan were asked what they considered as a “safe dose” of radiation for themselves, their partners, parents, children, siblings, and friends. Although the ’safe dose’ they noted varied widely, from less than 1 mSv y−1 to more than 100 mSv y−1, the average dose was 35.6 mSv y−1, which is around the middle point between the legal exposure dose limits for the annual average and for any single year. Similar results were obtained from other surveys of members of the Japan Radioisotope Association (36.9 mSv y−1) and of the Oita Prefectural Hospital (36.8 mSv y−1). Among family members and friends, the minimum average “safe” dose was 8.5 mSv y−1 for children, for whom 50% of the responders claimed a “safe dose” of less than 1 mSv. Gender, age and specialty of the radiation professional also affected their notion of a “safe dose.” These findings suggest that the perception of radiation risk varies widely even for radiation professionals and that the legal exposure dose limits derived from regulatory science may act as an anchor of safety. The different levels of risk perception for different target groups among radiation professionals appear similar to those in the general population. The gap between these characteristics of radiation professionals and the generally accepted picture of radiation professionals might have played a role in the state of confusion after the radiological accident.

Regulation of pairing between broken DNA-containing chromatin regions by Ku80, DNA-PKcs, ATM, and 53BP1

Chromosome rearrangement is clinically and physiologically important because it can produce oncogenic fusion genes. Chromosome rearrangement requires DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) at two genomic locations and misrejoining between the DSBs. Before DSB misrejoining, two DSB-containing chromatin regions move and pair with each other; however, the molecular mechanism underlying this process is largely unknown. We performed a spatiotemporal analysis of ionizing radiation-induced foci of p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1), a marker for DSB-containing chromatin. We found that some 53BP1 foci were paired, indicating that the two damaged chromatin regions neighboured one another. We searched for factors regulating the foci pairing and found that the number of paired foci increased when Ku80, DNA-PKcs, or ATM was absent. In contrast, 53BP1 depletion reduced the number of paired foci and dicentric chromosomes—an interchromosomal rearrangement. Foci were paired more frequently in heterochromatin than in euchromatin in control cells. Additionally, the reduced foci pairing in 53BP1-depleted cells was rescued by concomitant depletion of a heterochromatin building factor such as Krüppel-associated box-associated protein 1 or chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 3. These findings indicate that pairing between DSB-containing chromatin regions was suppressed by Ku80, DNA-PKcs, and ATM, and this pairing was promoted by 53BP1 through chromatin relaxation.

Framework of Radiation Safety Management in Japan: Laws, Administrative Agencies, and Supporting Associations

Radiation safety management in Japan stands upon a global framework. The concerted activities of international organizations including the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and World Health Organization (WHO) form the baseline of radiation safety in Japan by incorporation of their recommendations and guidelines into laws and regulations such as the law concerning Prevention of Radiation Hazards Due to Radioisotopes, etc., and the law for Regulations of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors. To support radiation safety management, the Japan Health Physics Society (JHPS), the Japan Radioisotope Association (JRIS), and the Japanese Society of Radiation Safety Management (JRSM) play their roles by providing seminars, meetings, and publications of updated information on radiation regulations and also for technical transfer. In each radiation facility, a “radiation protection supervisor” entitled by national examination, is required to not only supervise but also promote radiation safety management including radiation monitoring inside/outside control areas and the estimation of external/ internal exposure, education, and training of radiation workers. The goal of radiation safety management is, of course, to reduce the radiation health risk of the public as well as that of radiation workers. The expansion of radiation safety-risk control from legal demand to the daily life of the public, including medical exposure and emergency preparedness, through dosimetry, protection, and education is defi nitely important.