Chernobyl fallout: Norwegial populations

Scenario

After Chernobyl accident in 1986, fairly high levels of radioactive contamination occurred in parts of Norway in spots up to 600 kBq/m². However, the dose to Norwegian population have been small, except for some rural populations living of reindeer breeding and mountain sheep production.

In 1991, blood sampling was conducted to measure chromosome aberration frequencies in reindeer herding people from Snasa (5 males and 4 females) and from Roros (27 males and 20 females), and sheep farming people from Oystre Slidre (17 males and 1 female). Of a total of 74 persons, chromosome analysis has been successfully made for 56 persons (Blood transportation time from the sampling sites to the Norwegian Radium Hospital, where blood culture was carried out, took 2-5 hrs).

Chromosome aberration frequencies were compared with those of historical laboratory data on non-exposed persons. The aberration frequencies were within the normal range except for that of dicentrics and rings, which was 10-fold increase in the exposed.

Reference

Brogger, A., Reitan, J. B.. Strand, P. and Amundsen, I. (1996): Chromosome analysis of peripheral lymphocytes from persons exposed to radioactive fallout in Norway from the Chernobyl accident. Mutation Res., 361:73-79.

Chromosome aberration analysis

.
		Internal dose		No. of persons	No. of	Chromosome aberrations
	Inhavitants	(mSv/year)		sucsessfully	cells	ctg		csg		ctb		csb		cte		ace		dic		ring
		1991	1986-1991	examined	examined	mean	SD	mean	SD	mean	SD	mean	SD	mean	SD	mean	SD	mean	SD	mean	SD
	Roros/Snasa	0.71	1.08	44/56	17,682	0.5	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.6	0.5	0.02	0.07	0.04	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.07	0.1
	Oystre slide	0.54	0.83	12/18	4,747	0.8	0.7	0.5	0.4	1.2	0.6	0.02	0.06	0.02	0.06	0.7	0.7	0.2	0.3	0.05	0.09
	Total			56/74	22,429	0.6	0.5	0.2	0.3	0.7	0.6	0.02	0.07	0.04	0.09	0.5	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.07	0.1
																						.