Key Issues
Chernobyl Accident and Its Consequences
<< Previous
The Chernobyl Forum
A landmark study published in September 2005 by the Chernobyl Forum introduced new findings.
The report, “Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environment and Socio-Economic Impacts,” incorporates the work of hundreds of scientists, economists and health experts. They studied the latest epidemiological data “to settle the outstanding questions about how much death, disease and economic fallout really resulted from the Chernobyl accident,” said Burton Bennett, chairman of the forum, which is comprised of eight specialized U.N. agencies, as well as the governments of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
“The health effects of the accident were potentially horrific, but when you add them up using validated conclusions from good science, the public health effects were not nearly as substantial as had at first been feared,” said Michael Repacholi, manager of WHO’s radiation program.
Among the study’s findings:
Pages 1 2 3 4 5 6
The Chernobyl Forum
A landmark study published in September 2005 by the Chernobyl Forum introduced new findings.
The report, “Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environment and Socio-Economic Impacts,” incorporates the work of hundreds of scientists, economists and health experts. They studied the latest epidemiological data “to settle the outstanding questions about how much death, disease and economic fallout really resulted from the Chernobyl accident,” said Burton Bennett, chairman of the forum, which is comprised of eight specialized U.N. agencies, as well as the governments of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
“The health effects of the accident were potentially horrific, but when you add them up using validated conclusions from good science, the public health effects were not nearly as substantial as had at first been feared,” said Michael Repacholi, manager of WHO’s radiation program.
Among the study’s findings:
- Most emergency workers and people living in contaminated areas received relatively low whole-body radiation doses, comparable to natural background levels.
- About 4,000 individuals, most of whom were children or adolescents at the time of the accident, were stricken with thyroid cancer as a result of the contamination, and nine of them have died from the disease. However, the survival rate among such cancer victims has been almost 99 percent.
- The study theorizes that some 4,000 people eventually could die from cancer caused by radiation exposure. However, the international team of experts has found no evidence of any increases in the incidence of leukemia and other cancers among affected residents.
- The experts found no evidence or likelihood of decreased fertility or of increases in congenital malformations that could be attributed to radiation exposure.
- Poverty, mental health problems and “lifestyle” diseases, such as alcoholism and tobacco dependency, pose a far greater threat to local communities than does radiation exposure. Relocation proved a “deeply traumatic experience” for some 350,000 people moved out of the affected areas, the study noted, while persistent myths and misperceptions about the threat of radiation have resulted in a “paralyzing fatalism” among residents of affected areas. Seeing themselves as “victims” rather than “survivors” has led to overcautious and exaggerated health concerns.
Pages 1 2 3 4 5 6
