Radiological Problems of Tritium

In light of the session documents (UNSCEAR, 2015, 2016), presented are the results of health risk assessment in drinking water containing tritium as well as results of field observations and bioassay with algae (Lemna minor and Polyrhiza) from water bodies near radiation-dangerous industrial and scientific objects. The prospects for future studies in these areas should be associated with the assessed human radiation dose from organically bound tritium in organs and tissues of people, animals and plants; the search for plants and animals selectively accumulating tritium and its subsequent bioassay in water. It is necessary to develop the approaches to harmonization of tritium standards in water objects and potable water, in particular. Sanitary and hygiene standards are suggested to develop on the basis of health risk assessment in drinking water with tritium. The upcoming trend for assessing the contribution of organically bound tritium to the total human radiation dose is the local irradiation by tritium incorporated into DNA of cells and tissues and radiosensitive organs. The well-known and new methods of microdosimetry of DNA incorporated radionuclides are necessary to solve this problem

Morphometric Measurements of Scots Pine Needles From Radioactively Contaminated Area

The morphometric indices of needles were investigated in chronically irradiated Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) populations from territories that were heavily contaminated by radionuclides as a result of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. The variability in needle weight and length, as well as the fluctuating asymmetry indices were studied in seven contaminated and two reference populations of Scots pine in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016. The weight of needles in the contaminated populations was significantly higher than in the reference population; however, the dependence of this index on the level of radiation exposure was not revealed in the studied range of doses. The length of needles differed significantly from the references populations. The effect changed from decreasing to increasing in various years of observation; however, in 2016 this index decreased with the dose rate of β-radiation. The index of fluctuating asymmetry in needle length was significantly higher than at the reference sites during three years and correlated to the estimated annual absorbed dose in 2011 and 2013. No relationship was revealed between the asymmetry in weight of paired needles and radiation exposure

Radiological Problems of Tritium

In light of the session documents (UNSCEAR, 2015, 2016), presented are the results of health risk assessment in drinking water containing tritium as well as results of field observations and bioassay with algae (Lemna minor and Polyrhiza) from water bodies near radiation-dangerous industrial and scientific objects. The prospects for future studies in these areas should be associated with the assessed human radiation dose from organically bound tritium in organs and tissues of people, animals and plants; the search for plants and animals selectively accumulating tritium and its subsequent bioassay in water. It is necessary to develop the approaches to harmonization of tritium standards in water objects and potable water, in particular. Sanitary and hygiene standards are suggested to develop on the basis of health risk assessment in drinking water with tritium. The upcoming trend for assessing the contribution of organically bound tritium to the total human radiation dose is the local irradiation by tritium incorporated into DNA of cells and tissues and radiosensitive organs. The well-known and new methods of microdosimetry of DNA incorporated radionuclides are necessary to solve this problem