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Expert warns of thyroid cancer risk in those affected by Chernobyl accident in childhood

The risk of thyroid cancer is much higher in Belarusians who did not come of age when the Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred, Alyaksey Akiyanaw, head of the Radiation Hygiene and Epidemiology Chair at the Andrei Sakharov International Institute in Minsk, said at a conference held in the Belarusian capital city on Tuesday, BelaPAN said.

The incidence of thyroid cancer is 15 times higher in the group compared with other Belarusians, said Dr. Akiyanaw.

Besides, its incidence among children increased 200-fold compared with years before the April 26, 1986 Chernobyl accident, he said, noting that rates of other thyroid diseases had also significantly gone up.

The academician said that thyroid cells in people, not saturated with natural iodine amid its shortage in Belarus, had quickly absorbed radioactive iodine released by the burning reactor of the Chernobyl plant.

The entire population was affected, with cancer rates beginning to climb in Belarus four years after the accident, which was two years earlier than in Russia and Ukraine hit less by the disaster, he said.

Twenty days after the accident, authorities launched a campaign to give people iodine, but it was too late, as their thyroid glands had already absorbed the radioactive variety, Dr. Akiyanaw said.

He said that the nuclear accident was believed to have contributed to a rise in rates of other cancers, including breast cancer in women living in radioactively contaminated areas.