Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 21. Type of food affects a level of contamination in the body The primary cause of internal exposure is ingestion of contaminated food, not inhalation of contaminated air. To avoid taking in contaminated food, "the place of production" is not important. Various inspections have confirmed that the "type of food" influences the level of contamination. Indeed, specific "types of food" such as mushrooms, some wild

Author: Waseda Chronicle Piture: Documents that the welfare office in Ishinomaki about Junko Junko Iizuka’s abdominal pain following the sterilization surgery continued to anguish her. She was never told about the surgery, though her parents knew all along. She was heartbroken that somebody had sterilized her out of the blue, and that she could no longer bear children. One day, her rage boiled over. Not knowing where to release it she confronted her mother, crying. Instead of

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 17. Examinations for "Internal exposure" and "External exposure" are different Do you know what happens when you get a Whole-Body Counter examination immediately after taking X-ray and CT scan? The answer is "nothing will be detected." If you are wondering "Wait, huh?", let's take a look back on the relationship between radiation and radioactive substances. We receive exposure from radiation emitted from radi

Author: Waseda Chronicle Picture: Junko Iizuka talking to reporters at a press conference at the Sendai Bar Association on Jan. 30, 2018. She was wearing a pink scrunchy around her right wrist, a gift from a victim’s family. (C)Waseda Chronicle Junko Iizuka returned home in 1963, aged 16, just three years after beginning to work as a live-in maid in Sendai. One day she found herself doubling over from the worst pain she had ever experienced. The pain in her belly was so bad s

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 15. The role of total dose in radiation effect If we compare guzzling a bottle of wine in one go to sipping on it for a year, it is unquestionable that the former would be more dangerous to our health. This goes the same for radiation effect as well. In the case of being exposed to "the same total dose of radiation," longer exposure time has less effect to our body than shorter exposure time, although it sound

Author: Yurie Somekawa Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo I have been working as an anesthesiologist for the past 5 years, and this year, I started to learn about public health at the school of public health for my master’s degree while I am working. I started to work as a medical volunteer in Asian developing countries about 2 years ago, and my visit to Cambodia in August 2018 was my third. I am interested in the field of global health, especially aiming to reduce the n

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 13. Cesium is the primary causes of radiation exposure in our daily life There are various radioactive substances, such as cesium, potassium, strontium, and tritium.Although their name is different, they emit the same type of radiation rays, also known as alpha, beta, or gamma rays. That is why we cannot tell the types of radioactive substances from radioactive rays which hit our bodies. As I have highlighted

Author: Waseda Chronicle Picture: Atago Bridge over Hirose River at dusk, October 28, 2017, (C)Waseda Chronicle Junko Iizuka was forced to undergo sterilization surgery 55 years ago. She was just 16 years old. She was given not a word of explanation nor told what to expect. Now aged 77, she lives alone in a two-bedroom public housing apartment in Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region. When Waseda Chronicle visited her on August 30, 2017, she dragged two cardboard boxe

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Mariko Irie, Izumi Yoshida, Yuki Senoo 11.An examination of “additional” radiation exposure External radiation exposure is the type of the exposure which occurs when you are exposed to radiation originating outside of the human body. On the other hand, internal exposure is caused by the radioactive substances taken into our body. In our daily life, internal exposure occurs when we inhale radioactive radon in the air and intake radioactive p