Introduction: present knowledge on the effects of radioactive contamination on pregnancy outcome

This introduction gives a brief review of the effects on pregnancy outcome that might follow radioactive contamination of the environment. These include miscarriages, congenital anomalies, damage to the central nervous system expressed through reduced intelligence and a risk of tumours late in life. Knowledge is fragmentary and field studies are difficult, which lends weight to the attempts at studying the effects of the Chernobyl accident in Europe which are the subject of the present symposium.