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TSUBOKURA M, NABESHIMA Y, MURAKAMI M, NEMOTO T, KAMBE T, NONAKA S, SHIMADA Y, KOBASHI Y, OZAKI A, OIKAWA T. Usefulness of the whole-body counter for infants and small children (BABYSCAN) as a risk communication tool after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant incident. Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci 2020; 96:70-78. [PMID: 32037370 PMCID: PMC7030972 DOI: 10.2183/pjab.96.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Responding to the radiation-related concerns of parents/guardians with infants/small children is an important public health issue for regional recovery after radioactive contamination. This study summarizes the results of a systematic internal contamination screening of infants/small children, aged 0-6 years, using BABYSCAN and individual counselling sessions with physicians about radiation concerns from 2014 to 2018 in Minamisoma City. Of 3,114 participants, no one was found to have internal contamination with radioactive caesium with a detection limit of 50 Bq/body. The questionnaire survey showed a decreasing trend of concerns about food contamination and playing outside as possible causes of internal contamination over time. Because people's concerns were diverse in counselling sessions, individual responses are required. This study showed that examinations using BABYSCAN provide an opportunity for direct dialogue between the parents/guardians of infants/small children and experts. This can be considered a model case for risk communication conducted by the local government after a radioactive contamination incident.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masaharu TSUBOKURA
- Research Center for Community Health, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
- Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
- Ionizing Radiation Epidemiology Laboratory, Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
- Correspondence should be addressed: M. Tsubokura, Research Center for Community Health, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, 2-54-6 Takami-cho, Haramachi-ku, Minamisoma, Fukushima 975-0033, Japan (e-mail: )
| | - Yuko NABESHIMA
- Kawauchi Village National Health Insurance Clinic, Kawauchi, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Michio MURAKAMI
- Department of Health Risk Communication, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Tsuyoshi NEMOTO
- Department of Surgery, Kashima Kosei Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Toshiyuki KAMBE
- Department of Internal Medicine, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Saori NONAKA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Yuki SHIMADA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Yurie KOBASHI
- Department of Public Health, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Akihiko OZAKI
- Research Center for Community Health, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
- Department of Breast Surgery, Jyoban Hospital, Tokiwa Foundation, Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Tomoyoshi OIKAWA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
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HAYANO RS, TSUBOKURA M, MIYAZAKI M, SATOU H, SATO K, MASAKI S, SAKUMA Y. Whole-body counter surveys of Miharu-town school children for four consecutive years after the Fukushima NPP accident. Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci 2015; 91:92-8. [PMID: 25765011 PMCID: PMC4410088 DOI: 10.2183/pjab.91.92] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Comprehensive whole-body counter surveys of Miharu-town school children have been conducted for four consecutive years, in 2011-2014. This represents the only long-term sampling-bias-free study of its type conducted after the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident. For the first time in 2014, a new device called the Babyscan, which has a low (134/137)Cs MDA of <50 Bq/body, was used to screen the children shorter than 130 cm. No child in this group was found to have detectable level of radiocesium. Using the MDAs, upper limits of daily intake of radiocesium were estimated for each child. For those screened with the Babyscan, the upper intake limits were found to be ≲1 Bq/day for (137)Cs. Analysis of a questionnaire filled out by the children's parents regarding their food and water consumption shows that the majority of Miharu children regularly consume local and/or home-grown rice and vegetables. This however does not increase the body burden.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryugo S. HAYANO
- Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Correspondence should be addressed: R. S. Hayano, Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan (e-mail: )
| | - Masaharu TSUBOKURA
- Division of Social Communication System for Advanced Clinical Research, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Makoto MIYAZAKI
- Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Hideo SATOU
- Hirata Central Hospital and Research Institute of Radiation Safety for Disaster Recovery Support, Hirata village, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Katsumi SATO
- Hirata Central Hospital and Research Institute of Radiation Safety for Disaster Recovery Support, Hirata village, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Shin MASAKI
- Hirata Central Hospital and Research Institute of Radiation Safety for Disaster Recovery Support, Hirata village, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Yu SAKUMA
- Hirata Central Hospital and Research Institute of Radiation Safety for Disaster Recovery Support, Hirata village, Fukushima, Japan
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HAYANO RS, TSUBOKURA M, MIYAZAKI M, OZAKI A, SHIMADA Y, KAMBE T, NEMOTO T, OIKAWA T, KANAZAWA Y, NIHEI M, SAKUMA Y, SHIMMURA H, AKIYAMA J, TOKIWA M. Whole-body counter surveys of over 2700 babies and small children in and around Fukushima Prefecture 33 to 49 months after the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident. Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci 2015; 91:440-6. [PMID: 26460321 PMCID: PMC4729858 DOI: 10.2183/pjab.91.440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
BABYSCAN, a whole-body counter (WBC) for small children was developed in 2013, and units have been installed at three hospitals in Fukushima Prefecture. Between December, 2013 and March, 2015, 2707 children between the ages of 0 and 11 have been scanned, and none had detectable levels of radioactive cesium. The minimum detectable activities (MDAs) for (137)Cs were ≤ 3.5 Bq kg(-1) for ages 0-1, decreasing to ≤ 2 Bq kg(-1) for ages 10-11. Including the (134)Cs contribution, these translate to a maximum committed effective dose of ∼ 16 µSv y(-1) even for newborn babies, and therefore the internal exposure risks can be considered negligibly small.Analysis of the questionnaire filled out by the parents of the scanned children regarding their families' food and water consumption revealed that the majority of children residing in the town of Miharu regularly consume local or home-grown rice and vegetables, while in Minamisoma, a majority avoid tap water and produce from Fukushima. The data show, however, no correlation between consumption of locally produced food and water and the children's body burdens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryugo S. HAYANO
- Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Correspondence should be addressed: R. S. Hayano, Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan (e-mail: )
| | - Masaharu TSUBOKURA
- Division of Social Communication System for Advanced Clinical Research, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Makoto MIYAZAKI
- Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Akihiko OZAKI
- Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Yuki SHIMADA
- Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Toshiyuki KAMBE
- Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Tsuyoshi NEMOTO
- Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Tomoyoshi OIKAWA
- Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Yukio KANAZAWA
- Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Masahiko NIHEI
- Hirata Radioactivity Inspection Center, Hirata Central Hospital, Hirata, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Yu SAKUMA
- Hirata Radioactivity Inspection Center, Hirata Central Hospital, Hirata, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Hiroaki SHIMMURA
- Department of Radiation Protection, Iwaki Urological Clinic, Tokiwa Foundation, Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Junichi AKIYAMA
- Department of Radiation Protection, Iwaki Urological Clinic, Tokiwa Foundation, Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Michio TOKIWA
- Department of Radiation Protection, Iwaki Urological Clinic, Tokiwa Foundation, Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan
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HAYANO RS, TSUBOKURA M, MIYAZAKI M, SATOU H, SATO K, MASAKI S, SAKUMA Y. Comprehensive whole-body counter surveys of Miharu-town school children for three consecutive years after the Fukushima NPP accident. Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci 2014; 90:211-3. [PMID: 24919760 PMCID: PMC4160536 DOI: 10.2183/pjab.90.211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2014] [Accepted: 05/15/2014] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Comprehensive whole-body counter surveys covering over 93% of the school children between the ages of 6 and 15 in Miharu town, Fukushima Prefecture, have been conducted for three consecutive years, in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Although the results of a questionnaire indicate that approximately 60% of the children have been regularly eating local or home-grown rice, in 2012 and 2013 no child was found to exceed the (137)Cs detection limit of 300 Bq/body.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryugo S. HAYANO
- Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masaharu TSUBOKURA
- Division of Social Communication System for Advanced Clinical Research, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Makoto MIYAZAKI
- Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Hideo SATOU
- Hirata Central Hospital and Research institute of radiation safety for disaster recovery support, Hirata village, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Katsumi SATO
- Hirata Central Hospital and Research institute of radiation safety for disaster recovery support, Hirata village, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Shin MASAKI
- Hirata Central Hospital and Research institute of radiation safety for disaster recovery support, Hirata village, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Yu SAKUMA
- Hirata Central Hospital and Research institute of radiation safety for disaster recovery support, Hirata village, Fukushima, Japan
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OTSUKI K, TAKEMOTO O, FUJIMOTO R, YAMAZAKI K, KUBOTA N, HOSAKI H, MITANI T, TSUBOKURA M. Isolation of influenza A viruses from migratory waterfowl in San-in District, western Japan in the winter of 1983–1984. Res Vet Sci 1987. [DOI: 10.1016/s0034-5288(18)30769-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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ITAGAKI K, TSUBOKURA M. STUDIES ON THE INFECTIOUS PROCESS OF COCCIDIUM IN FOWL. : V. FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS ON THE LIBERATION OF SPOROZOITES. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1958. [DOI: 10.1292/jvms1939.20.105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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