Title: Suicides and exposure to low doses of ionising radiation

Authors: K. Loganovsky

Addresses: Department of Radiation Psychoneurology, Institute for Clinical Radiology, Research Center for Radiation Medicine, Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, 53 Melnikov Street, 04050, Kiev, Ukraine

Abstract: The suicide rates in southern India are very high (Joseph et al., 2003; Aaron et al., 2004), where there are areas of high natural radiation background (UNSCEAR, 2000). It was a stable tendency towards excess of suicides among the atomic bomb survivors exposed to low doses (0–90 mGy) (Kusumi et al., 1993). It was informed about the direct dependence between the suicide rate and the residency distance from the Atomic Test Site (Alimkhanov, 1995). Suicides are the leading cause of death among Estonian clean-up workers (Rahu et al., 1997; 2006). The workers conducting transformation of the destroyed 4th Unit of the Chernobyl NPP (|Shelter Object|) to the ecologically safe system may be also under increased suicide risk. Whether exposure to low doses of ionising radiation is a risk factor for suicides should be elucidated by the epidemiological studies.

Keywords: suicide rates; parasuicide; ionising radiation; low doses; radiation accidents; India; low radiation; risk factors.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLR.2007.015813

International Journal of Low Radiation, 2007 Vol.4 No.3, pp.176 - 183

Published online: 20 Nov 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article