Metal contamination and chromosome instability in a population around Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

虽然众所周知，儿童甲状腺癌在1983年切尔诺贝利核电站事故后急剧增加，但对其机制知之甚少。另一方面，最近有报告称，为消除污染，向污染区排放了铅等重金属，并已绘制了这些金属的污染图。然而，没有关于这一地区居民健康影响的报告。近年来，有报道称镉、镍等重金属在体外暴露可引起染色体不稳定，提示金属暴露可能与辐射暴露一样，也是染色体不稳定的原因之一。基于这一观点，我们与乌克兰放射医学研究所（基辅）合作，对该地区重金属污染现状进行了评估，并对染色体变化进行了明确。在此基础上，我们利用毛发对重金属污染水平进行了评估，但未观察到与土壤污染水平的显著相关性。另一方面，某种微量元素含量升高，这表明需要进一步评估。2006年7月，我们在长崎大学举办了国际研讨会，回顾了我们三年来的研究活动。同时，我们邀请了来自中国和白俄罗斯共和国的专家，以扩大我们在这一领域的研究网络。

Although it is well know that childhood thyroid cancer has been dramatically increased after the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on 1983, little is known on its mechanism. On the other hand, it has been recently reported that heavy metals, such as leads was released to the contaminated areas for the purpose of the decontamination, and the contamination map of these metals has been prepared. However, there is no report on the health effects in population residing in this area. Recently, it has been reported the chromosomal instability by the exposure of heavy metals such as cadmium and nickel in vitro, which suggests that metal exposure might be a cause of chromosomal instability, same as radiation exposure. In this point of view, we aimed to evaluate the current situation of heavy metal contamination in this area, and clarify the chromosomal changes, in cooperation with the Institute of Radiation Medicine of Ukraine (Kiev).Based on the previous results, we evaluated the contamination levels of heavy metals using hairs, but no significant correlation was observed with soil contamination levels. On the other hand, a certain trace element was elevated, which suggests that further evaluation is needed.On July 2006, we conducted the international symposium at Nagasaki University, to review our research activity during three years. Simultaneously, we invited specialist from China and the Republic of Belarus, in order to expand our research network in this area.