[Determination of cesium in human placenta 3 years after Chernobyl]

Three years after the nuclear reactor accident in Chernobyl, 80 human placentae were tested to determine concentrations of cesium 134 and cesium 137 radionuclides. The activities of radionuclides were measured using a low-back ground gamma-ray spectrometry system. Human placentae were obtained from normal and at term pregnancies in women who lived in rural areas of northern-Italy and north-west of Yugoslavia and who in particular used locally grown vegetables and meats. According to the data of other Authors, the low cesium isotopes 134 and 137 levels detected (inferior to 2 Bq/kg) in human placentae suggest that, in the observed geographic areas, the fetal risk following the reactor accident in Chernobyl was negligible.