[The biological effect of low-level radiation doses on the morphological composition of the peripheral blood in children].

Abstract

Examination of 339 children at the age of 2 to 12 years, living in the caesium contaminated region (from 2 to 5 Ci/km2) has revealed that total radioactivity of their urine is, on the average, twice as high as that of children living in "pure" regions. Quantitative and qualitative changes were observed in the erythroid series, neutrophilic leukocytes, eosinophils and B-lymphocytes of the peripheral blood of children subjected to long-term low-level irradiation. It should be noted that the character and direction of these changes were a function of the children's age and the level of total radioactivity of their urine.