Oncological mortality of children in the territories of the Chelyabinsk region affected by radiation accidents

Introduction. The gain in cancer morbidity and mortality is one of the most adverse effects associated with elevated radiation levels. Children’s age, due to physiological characteristics, is differed by the highest radio sensitivity.

Material and methods. A selective retrospective epidemiological study of cancer mortality rates in children living in five districts: Argayashsky, Kaslinsky, Krasnoarmeysky, Kunashaksky, Sosnovsky and two cities — Kasli, Kyshtym, whose population was most affected by accidents and regular emissions of the enterprise. The source of information about cases of death was the death records in the archives of the regional registry Office for the period 1947–1996, in total, about twenty five thousand records were processed. The data were standardized and compared with global and Russian indices.

Results. There was a gain in mortality from malignant neoplasms, including leukemia, neoplasms of the lymphatic tissue, central nervous system, urinary organs and digestive organs. The mortality rates could exceed the comparison levels up to 2 or more times. The highest rates were found among children in city of Kasli and Kasli district, while a slightly smaller increase in mortality was observed in Kyshtym and Argayash districts. The maximum values were usually recorded in the initial observation period, and in the first 5 years after major emergencies. Significant changes in the structure of mortality were observed periodically.

Limitations. The oncological mortality of children in 2 cities was studied by a continuous method and 5 districts of the Chelyabinsk region by a selective method. About 25,000 records were processed, including 207 records of the death of children from malignant neoplasms.

Conclusion. In the radioactively contaminated territories of the Chelyabinsk region, over some periods, there are increased mortality rates of children from malignant neoplasms, in particular, from leukemia, lymphomas, tumors of the central nervous system, digestive organs and urinary organs.

Compliance with ethical standards. Conclusion of the Ethics Committee of the Institute of Industrial Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences: the study does not contradict the principles of biomedical ethics, in particular the provisions of the Helsinki Declaration as amended (2000) and Recommendations on Good epidemiological practice (GEP).

Contribution:
Konshina L.G. — concept and design of the research, collection and statistical processing of the material, editing, approval of the final version of the article, responsibility for the integrity of all parts of the article, writing the text;
Lipanova L.L. — statistical processing of the material.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest. 

Acknowledgment. The study had no funding.   

Received: May 19, 2021 / Accepted: June 08, 2022 / Published: June 26, 2022