Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27357196›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2016

Estimated association between dwelling soil contamination and internal radiation contamination levels after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan.

Masaharu Tsubokura, Shuhei Nomura, Kikugoro Sakaihara, Shigeaki Kato, Claire Leppold, Tomoyuki Furutani, Tomohiro Morita, Tomoyoshi Oikawa, Yukio Kanazawa

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

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  3. Observational
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  7. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Masaharu TsubokuraDivision of Social Communication System for Advanced Clinical Research, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan Department of Radiation Protection, Soma Central Hospital, Soma, Fukushima, Japan.
Shuhei NomuraDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, UK.
Kikugoro SakaiharaDepartment of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan.
Shigeaki KatoDepartment of Radiation Protection, Soma Central Hospital, Soma, Fukushima, Japan.
Claire LeppoldDepartment of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan.
Tomoyuki FurutaniFaculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan.
Tomohiro MoritaDepartment of Radiation Protection, Soma Central Hospital, Soma, Fukushima, Japan.
Tomoyoshi OikawaDepartment of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan.
Yukio KanazawaDepartment of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesMeasurement of soil contamination levels has been considered a feasible method for dose estimation of internal radiation exposure following the Chernobyl disaster by means of aggregate transfer factors; however, it is still unclear whether the estimation of internal contamination based on soil contamination levels is universally valid or incident specific.

methodsTo address this issue, we evaluated relationships between in vivo and soil cesium-137 (Cs-137) contamination using data on internal contamination levels among Minamisoma (10-40 km north from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant), Fukushima residents 2-3 years following the disaster, and constructed three models for statistical analysis based on continuous and categorical (equal intervals and quantiles) soil contamination levels.

resultsA total of 7987 people with a mean age of 55.4 years underwent screening of in vivo Cs-137 whole-body counting. A statistically significant association was noted between internal and continuous Cs-137 soil contamination levels (model 1, p value <0.001), although the association was slight (relative risk (RR): 1.03 per 10 kBq/m(2) increase in soil contamination). Analysis of categorical soil contamination levels showed statistical (but not clinical) significance only in relatively higher soil contamination levels (model 2: Cs-137 levels above 100 kBq/m(2) compared to those <25 kBq/m(2), RR=1.75, p value <0.01; model 3: levels above 63 kBq/m(2) compared to those <11 kBq/m(2), RR=1.45, p value <0.05).

conclusionsLow levels of internal and soil contamination were not associated, and only loose/small associations were observed in areas with slightly higher levels of soil contamination in Fukushima, representing a clear difference from the strong associations found in post-disaster Chernobyl. These results indicate that soil contamination levels generally do not contribute to the internal contamination of residents in Fukushima; thus, individual measurements are essential for the precise evaluation of chronic internal radiation contamination.

Indexed as

Radiation MonitoringSurvivorsCesium RadioisotopesEnvironmental ExposureFemaleFukushima Nuclear AccidentHumansJapanMaleMiddle AgedRadiation DosageRadiation ExposureSoil Pollutants, RadioactiveTime FactorsWhole-Body CountingCesium RadioisotopesSoil Pollutants, RadioactivecountermeasureCs-134Cs-137internal radiation exposuretransfer factorwhole body counter

Identifiers

PMID27357196
PMCPMC4932282

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.