Health Impacts of Large Releases of Radionuclides: Symposium Proceedings

There have been various large-scale releases of radionuclides into the environment in the 20th century. Some of these have been accidental and some deliberate. In order to minimize the risk to human health of such releases, it is important that we understand how these substances are transported throughout the terrestrial and aquatic environments and the ways in which they can ultimately affect human health. This book contains contributions from the world?s leading radioecologists and health scientists who discuss the progress in understanding these transport processes and exposure pathways of radionuclides to humans; the problems and latest techniques of quantitating retrospectively the actual doses received by individuals; the time course of effects of exposure in relation to structure and function at the cellular tissue, organ and whole organism level; the genetic effects, and effects on reproductive health, in populations and individuals, including fetal effects in pregnant women and inherited genetic effects; and scientific approaches to evaluate the important problem of the mental health consequences of perceived risk of radiation damage to health.