Acute effects of radiation on human health.

Fig. 20: The people most severely irradiated were the staff of the Chernobyl nuclear power station and the 800 000 liquidators working in the reactor and at the site. © Chernobyl Interinform Sources (36.1)  www:Medicine Worldwide, Tschernobyl, p. 2 www.onmeda.de (38.1)  Otto Hug Strahleninstitut: Informationen, Ausgabe 9/2001 K, 2001, p. 1 (154.1)  Chernobyl Forum Report: Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts, 2005, published by: IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency Further literature (108)  Brössler, Daniel, Späte Genugtuung für den "Liquidator": Süddeutsche Zeitung, 8.05.2002 Glossary Equivalent dose Becquerel (Bq) Caesium/Caesium-137 Curie (Ci) Absorbed Dose Isotope Iodine Sievert Strontium Plutonium Further information Management of the disaster (technical aspects)

What acute effects does radiation have?
People exposed to a high dose of radiation over a short period show acute effects. These are to be distinguished from so-called late effects, such as tumours or genetic mutations, which often only appear decades later.

A dose greater than 0.5 sievert (Sv) is considered to be a high dose of radiation. Above this threshold, adverse effects become apparent immediately or after a few days at most. The immune system is weakened, changes in blood count occur, and the digestive tract, lungs, other internal organs and the central nervous system are all damaged. With absorbed doses of 1 to 2 Sv and above, mortality is expected to be about 20%, according to radiation medicine specialists (36.1). Above a dose of 7 Sv the survival rate is zero.

Of the 600 power station personnel and firefighters who were in the vicinity of the burning reactor directly after the accident, 134 received doses of 0.7 to 13 Sv. These include the 31 people who died in the first 3 months after the accident despite intensive treatment.

The treatment of people who have been exposed to an effective dose of radiation of 10 Sv and above is very costly and has a low success rate, as was apparent after the Chernobyl accident. Since the immune system is weakened and the body no longer has a defence against infections, patients require constant treatment with antibiotics. Survival rates were not improved by the transplantation of healthy bone marrow (36.1).

According to the Chernobyl Forum Report (2005), the deaths of 47 liquidators between 1986 and 2005 can be directly attributed to high radiation exposure. Of the 200 000 liquidators who worked on the reactor in the first year after the accident, says the Report, a total of 2200 may eventually die owing to the consequences of radiation exposure. Other reports claim that all 800 000 liquidators who helped clear up in Chernobyl are endangered.  They suffered and suffer (as do other survivors) from conditions including lung cancer and leukaemia, cardiovascular diseases and inflammation of the digestive tract. However, data available on the number of liquidators and the severity of the doses they received remains highly unreliable (154.1).