Radioactive Radiation Health Effects

Radioactive radiation causes massive health consequences

13/03/2011

Man does not rule over nature, but nature over man. Above all, the terrible events in Japan make one thing clear: there is no one-hundred percent safety in nuclear energy. Japan has similarly high security standards as the Federal Republic of Germany. And yet not all risk factors could be considered in advance. Many are now asking what health consequences for the human organism can arise after a reactor accident. We try to give some answers.

Dose and time span of great importance
If people are charged with high doses of radioactive radiation, numerous and sometimes serious damage to health can occur. According to the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, it is of great importance how long and in which period of time the human body was exposed to radioactive radiation. For example, exposing people to a high dose of radiation within a short period of time can compensate the body much less than if the same dose were taken over a longer period of a few years.

Radiation sickness leads to rapid death
If the body is exposed to a massive radiation dose of more than 500 millisievert within a very short time, the disease usually leads to the death of the patient already a few hours or days after the radiation exposure. Those affected suffer from serious symptoms: The skin shows severe redness, the skin cells gradually dissolve. Add to this hair loss and acute anemia. In general, the higher the dose, the more serious the effects, the quicker the symptoms and the longer the recovery period. As exposure to radiation increases, patients' chances of survival decline rapidly. If the dose is slightly lower, it may still be attempted to flush blood cells damaged by blood transfusions out of the body.

Consequences of high radiation exposure
Even if the ionizing radiation exposure is lower than the previous value, long-term effects with equally drastic effects can develop. Since sequelae of radiation exposure are less explored and debatable, it is sometimes quite difficult to establish a direct relationship between the occurrence of a disease and the previous irradiation.

One very common sequelae is thyroid cancer. After the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945 and after the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in 1986, scientists and physicians were able to determine that thyroid cancer is a very common secondary disease, especially in children, adolescents and the elderly. For this reason, the Japanese government is trying to distribute iodine medicines to the population in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear power plants in Fukushima for prevention. However, these tablets only work if no contamination has taken place before. The thyroid gland is the organ that mainly needs iodine. Since the body can not produce iodine itself, iodine must be absorbed through the diet. Now, if the air is contaminated with radioactive iodine, one tries to prevent iodine in tablet form and in high dose to administer. This is to prevent the contaminated iodine from accumulating in the body's own cells. The body is flooded with iodine, so that the excess and contaminated job is excreted again. However, the protective effect only lasts for a few days after ingestion. In addition, iodine can only moderately reduce the risk of thyroid cancer. It is not possible to protect from an outbreak of other diseases with iodine. An increased occurrence of thyroid cancer was also found, for example, in the environment of the ailing nuclear waste storage Asse in Lower Saxony.

Another common complication is acute leukemia. Again, a scientifically confirmed context between sustained radiation exposure and increased occurrence of blood cancer could be observed. In addition to other malignancies and tumors may also damage the cardiovascular system and provoked severe eye inflammation.

Damage to the genetic material
Radioactive radiation can also damage the human genome and, as a consequence, lead to severe malformations in children („Radiation-induced mutations“). This could be observed for example after the atomic bombings during World War II. In a report drawn up in 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out that in addition to the physical consequences, mental disorders are also a potential consequence. The investigations were based on studies undertaken in the vicinity of the Chernobyl reactor. (Sb)

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