Health hazards from radiocaesium following the Chernobyl nuclear accident: Report on a WHO working group

The WHO Regional Office for Europe organized a working group in Schloss Reisenburg, Federal Republic of Germany, on 9–12 June 1987, to discuss one important result of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in April 1986, namely the wide distribution of radiocaesium. Its possible health hazards, being a beta-emitter, are long-term because of the long half-lives (about 2 years for 134Cs and about 30 years for 137Cs). Radiocaesium has been shown to concentrate in plants (e.g. spinach and tea) and in animals and animals products (e.g. reindeer and sheep, and their respective milk products).Therefore, it was considered important to examine the rate of deposition in Europe, environmental pathways through soil, flora and fauna to man, the related metabolism and accumulation in man and radiotoxicity and, consequently, the possible health effects.