CS-137 CONCENTRATION AMONG CHILDREN IN AREAS CONTAMINATED WITH RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT FROM THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT - MOGILEV AND GOMEL OBLASTS, BYELARUS

The level of radiation exposure in children in Belarus caused by the Chernobyl accident was investigated on the basis of whole body Cs-137 count. The subjects were 10,062 children (4,762 boys and 5,300 girls) in Mogilev and Gomel, Belarus, who received Chernobyl Sasakawa Health and Medical Cooperation Project health examinations from May 1991 to December 1992 and who were 5-16 y old at the time of examination. The median whole body Cs-137 count per body weight varied from 21-48 Bq kg(-1) and from 28-126 Bq kg(-1) in Mogilev oblast and Gomel oblast, respectively. (The ''oblast'' is the largest administrative district constituting the country. Belarus consists of 6 oblasts.) Corresponding annual effective dose equivalents were all less than the public dose limit of 1 mSv y(-1), but the observed levels in the children were considerably higher than the average level of 2.3 Bq kg(-1) reported in the past for the former Soviet Union.