Identification of groups of residents in contaminated territories homogeneous in the external exposure dose by a set of informative factors-signs

Objective. On the basis of the regularities established earlier, to identify professionally and socially oriented, homogeneous by external exposure dose, groups of residents living in the contaminated with radionuclides territories according to the set of informative factor-signs.

Materials and methods. The present study is a continuation of the research of factors influencing external radiation dose formation in individuals living in areas contaminated with radionuclides. The data on external radiation doses for 25503 residents of Gomel region living in 289 settlements obtained by individual dosimetric control and the previously identified factors which statistically justify the external radiation dose formation were included in the study.

Results. Analysis of external exposure doses of Gomel region residents according to the set of informative factor-signs revealed that there is a wide dispersion of doses among different social groups which allowed to form professionally and socially oriented homogeneous groups according to external exposure dose taking into account dose forming factors revealed earlier. The results of the study statistically demonstrate that informative factor-signs: professional employment, age and gender affiliation together influence individual external exposure dose formation.

Conclusion. Professional homogeneous groups of different social groups were formed based on a set of informative factor-signs which determine its formation in individuals living in areas contaminated with radionuclides. This will become the basis for developing the method of reconstruction and prognosis of individualized external exposure dose in the future. 

1. Vlasova NG. Assessment of the average annual effective dose of external exposure of residents of settlements of the Republic of Belarus for zoning the territory. Biomedical problems of life. 2018;2(20):25-30. [date of access 2022 September 16]. Available from: https://www.rcrm.by/upload/science/1_20/vlasova.pdf (in Russ.).

2. Eventova LN, Averin VS, Mataras AN, Visenberg YuV. Monitoring of doses of external exposure of the population of the Republic of Belarus in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident. Biomedical problems of life. 2017;17(1):100-104. [date of access 2022 September 16]. Available from: https://elib.gsmu.by/handle/GomSMU/2772?show=full (in Russ.).

3. ICRP, 2007. The 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Ann. ICRP. ICRP Publication 103. 2007;37(2-4). [date of access 2022 September 16]. Available from: https://www.icrp.org/publication.asp?id=ICRP%20Publication%20103

4. Petoussi-Henss N, Satoh D, Endo A, Eckerman KF, Bolch WE, Hunt J, Jansen JTM, Kim CH, Lee C, Saito K, Schlattl H, Yeom YS, Yoo SJ. ICRP Publication 144: Dose Coefficients for External Exposures to Environmental Sources. Ann ICRP. 2020 Oct;49(2):11-145. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146645320906277

5. Harrison JD. The mandate and work of ICRP Committee 2 on doses from radiation exposure. Ann ICRP. 2018 Oct;47(34):9-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146645318756223

6. Bellamy MB, Veinot KG, Hiller MM, Dewji SA, Eckerman KF, Easterly CE, Hertel NE, Leggett RW. Effective Dose Rate Coefficients for Immersions in Radioactive Air and Water. Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2017 Apr 25;174(2):275-286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncw103

7. Jönsson M, Tondel M, Isaksson M, Finck R, Wålinder R, Mamour A, Rääf C. Modelling the external radiation exposure from the Chernobyl fallout using data from the Swedish municipality measurement system. J Environ Radioact. 2017 Nov;178179:16-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.07.003

8. Yeom YS, Han H, Choi C, Shin B, Kim CH, Lee C. Dose coefficients of percentile-specific computational phantoms for photon external exposures. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2020 Mar;59(1):151-160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-019-00818-w

9. Tzivaki M, Waller E. On the Use of Location and Occupancy Factors for Estimating External Exposure from Deposited Radionuclides. Health Phys. 2018 September;115(3):317-323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/HP.0000000000000875

10. Golikov VYu, Balonov MI, Jacob P. External Exposure of the Population Living in Areas of Russia Contaminated due to the Chernobyl Accident. Radiant. Environ. Biophysics. 2002 September; 41(10):185-193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00411-002-0167-2

11. Kudryashev VA, Kim DS. Determination of the total effective dose of external and internal exposure by different ionizing radiation sources. Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2019 Dec 31;187(1):129-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncz170

12. Vlasova NG, Rozhko AV, Visenberg YuV, Drozd EA. Dose Assessment in Population Living on Contaminated Territories at the Remote Period after the Chernobyl Accident International Conference on Global Emergency Preparedness and Response. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Book of Synopses. IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria, 19-23 October 2015. Ref. No: CN-213. P. 250-255.

13. MacDonell MM, Hertzberg RC, Rice GE, Wright JM, Teuschler LK. Characterizing Risk for Cumulative Risk Assessments. Risk Anal. 2018 Jun;38(6):1183-1201. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.12933

14. Kulikovich DB, Vlasova NG. Statistical analysis of factors contributing to the formation of the external radiation dose. Health and Ecology Issues. 2022;19(3):99-105. (In Russ.). DOI: https://doi.org/10.51523/2708-6011.2022-19-3-14

15. Maria J. Blanca, Rafael Alarcon, Jaume Arnau, Roser Bono, Rebecca Bendayan. Non-normal data: Is ANOVA still a valid option? Psicothema. 2017 November; 29(4):552-557. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2016.383