Rediscovery of an old article reporting that the area around the epicenter in Hiroshima was heavily contaminated with residual radiation, indicating that exposure doses of A-bomb survivors were largely underestimated.
J Radiat Res
; 58(5): 745-754, 2017 Sep 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29088449
ABSTRACT
The A-bomb blast released a huge amount of energy thermal radiation (35%), blast energy (50%), and nuclear radiation (15%). Of the 15%, 5% was initial radiation released within 30 s and 10% was residual radiation, the majority of which was fallout. Exposure doses of hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) were estimated solely on the basis of the initial radiation. The effects of the residual radiation on hibakusha have been considered controversial; some groups assert that the residual radiation was negligible, but others refute that assertion. I recently discovered a six-decade-old article written in Japanese by a medical doctor, Gensaku Obo, from Hiroshima City. This article clearly indicates that the area around the epicenter in Hiroshima was heavily contaminated with residual radiation. It reports that non-hibakusha who entered Hiroshima soon after the blast suffered from severe acute radiation sickness, including burns, external injuries, fever, diarrhea, skin bleeding, sore throat and loss of hair-as if they were real hibakusha. This means that (i) some of those who entered Hiroshima in the early days after the blast could be regarded as indirect hibakusha; (ii) 'in-the-city-control' people in the Life Span Study (LSS) must have been irradiated more or less from residual radiation and could not function properly as the negative control; (iii) exposure doses of hibakusha were largely underestimated; and (iv) cancer risk in the LSS was largely overestimated. Obo's article is very important to understand the health effects of A-bombs so that the essence of it is translated from Japanese to English with the permission of the publisher.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Sobreviventes
/
Exposição à Radiação
/
Contaminação Radioativa do Ar
/
Armas Nucleares
Limite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Radiat Res
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Japão
País de publicação:
ENGLAND
/
ESCOCIA
/
GB
/
GREAT BRITAIN
/
INGLATERRA
/
REINO UNIDO
/
SCOTLAND
/
UK
/
UNITED KINGDOM