Retrospective dosimetry of Iodine-131 exposures using Iodine-129 and Caesium-137 inventories in soils – A critical evaluation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident in parts of Northern Ukraine

Abstract The radiation exposure of thyroid glands due to 131 I as a consequence of the Chernobyl accident was investigated retrospectively based on 129 I and 137 Cs inventories in soils in Northern Ukraine. To this end, soil samples from 60 settlements were investigated for 129 I, 127 I, and 137 Cs by AMS, ICP-MS and gamma-spectrometry, respectively. Sampling was performed between 2004 und 2007. In those parts of Northern Ukraine investigated here the 129 I and 137 Cs inventories are well correlated, the variability of the individual 129 I/ 137 Cs ratios being, however, high. Both the 129 I and 137 Cs inventories in the individual 5 samples for each settlement allowed estimating the uncertainties of the inventories due to the variability of the radionuclide deposition and consequently of the retrospective dosimetry. Thyroid equivalent doses were calculated from the 129 I and the 137 Cs inventories using aggregated dose coefficients for 5-year old and 10-year-old children as well as for adults. The highest thyroid equivalent doses (calculated from 129 I inventories) were calculated for Wladimirowka with 30 Gy for 5-years-old children and 7 Gy for adults. In 35 settlements of contamination zone II the geometric mean of the thyroid equivalent doses was 2.0 Gy for 5-years-old children with a geometric standard deviation (GSD) of 3.0. For adults the geometric mean was 0.47 Gy also with a GSD of 3.0. In more than 25 settlements of contamination zone III the geometric means were 0.82 Gy for 5-years old children with a GSD of 1.8 and 0.21 Gy for adults (GSD 1.8). For 45 settlements, the results of the retrospective dosimetry could be compared with thyroid equivalent doses calculated using time-integrated 131 I activities of thyroids which were measured in 1986. Thus, a critical evaluation of the results was possible which demonstrated the general feasibility of the method, but also the associated uncertainties and limitations.