On the eve of the 31st anniversary of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the famous specialist in radiation medicine Professor Yuriy Bandazhevskyi told Komsomolka what has happened to radiation over the past three decades
- Yuriy Ivanovych, 31 years have passed since the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, many have already forgotten about radiation, besides, the growth of oncology is recorded all over the world, connecting it with urbanization and environmental pollution...
- Everything that is happening now in the territory contaminated with radiation is extremely dangerous. We see this when we investigate the health status of children in the areas located next to the Chernobyl NPP on the Ukrainian side, where I currently live and work.
These areas were less affected, the wind rose in April 1986 was aimed at Belarus.
I remember how one Belarusian mammologist, a professor, claimed 10 years ago that breast cancer cannot be connected with the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Today, we are registering a serious increase in cancer cases in the territories close to Chernobyl. And there are a number of scientific publications from the Cancer Institute that there is a progressive increase in the number of breast cancer cases, especially among young women, in the territory contaminated with radionuclides.
According to the conclusion of Ukrainian scientists, the radiation factor may be one of the main reasons for the development of this malignant disease. And I am glad that Ukrainians are not afraid to honestly admit the situation, trying to change it.
— But three dozen years have passed, many are sure that the danger has passed.
- Now another cycle of biological chains is taking place in nature, part of the radioactive elements disintegrates, part turns into forms that are more accessible for penetration into the human body. For example, barium is very toxic to living organisms.
If radioactive cesium has disintegrated in the body, for example, in brain cells, then barium remains there, causing their death. The same situation occurs in heart cells. Unfortunately, our research shows that the contaminated territories are not cleaned, new problems appear - the second and third attack of radioactive elements, which cannot be ignored.
The fourth year of the European Commission's major project in Ukraine to provide assistance to the affected territories is now ending. The project affects several affected areas and provides for the assessment of children's health and taking appropriate measures to prevent diseases.
The effect of radiation on the body leads to damage to the central nervous system, the thyroid gland, heart failure, in particular arrhythmias, metabolic pathology. Photo: KP archive.
— What main conclusions did you come to?
- We discovered serious complex disorders in Ukrainian children. The effect of radiation on the body leads to damage to the central nervous system, the thyroid gland, impaired heart function, including arrhythmias, and metabolic disorders. In most of the examined children, the level of homocysteine (a product of the metabolism of the essential amino acid methionine for the body. - Ed.) far exceeds the permissible threshold, which indicates the development of severe pathological processes already at a young age, in particular, oncological diseases, disorders of blood coagulation processes and pathology. strokes.
According to the data of our laboratory examination, disorders of the production of thyroid hormones were detected in almost 40% of examined adolescent children (more in boys than in girls). Even according to normal ultrasound data, in four years we have seen a significant increase in cases of pathological changes in the thyroid gland.
— Can such children be helped?
- This is the second post-Chernobyl generation, these problems cannot be removed immediately. First of all, preventive measures are important: it is necessary to prevent even small doses of radiation from entering the body, including with food.
At first I thought: well, what is this, compared to the huge doses of radiation that I observed in the 90s, when I was managing the Gomel Medical Institute? But, unfortunately, the children of the second generation react to them completely differently than people who have not come into contact with radiation.
— Is there something you regret today?
- My conscience is clear. In the late 1980s, immediately after the accident, the authorities turned a blind eye to Chernobyl, saying that there were no problems with radiation in Belarus. And in 1990, as the youngest professor in the Soviet Union, I moved from Grodno to Gomel Oblast, headed and started creating the Gomel Medical Institute. Radioactive land was demolished near my new house, many people who lived there have already died. After learning about the real state of affairs, I suggested declaring Belarus a disaster zone and asking for help. And the world would help - I'm sure of that.
— They said that it was not possible to help then, that is why they hid it: they say that if you stir up the people with fears, people will also start to get sick from stress...
- Yes, when I was already on trial, one functionary said from the TV screen that "Bandazhevsky is stirring up the people." But I just did and do what I have to do. This is the product of my life, my morals as a doctor who, if he knows the problem, understands that it must be prevented.
I didn't think about what would happen to me tomorrow, although I was scared since 1992, when I wrote the first letter to Kebych's deputy (at that time the Prime Minister of Belarus. - Ed.) Ivan Kenik - the head of the State Committee on the Problems of the Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. In it, he outlined the problem of the health of children exposed to radiation and indicated the real level of radiation.
— And what did he answer you?
- A bus of functionaries arrived, they organized a dispersal. The real state of affairs was hidden, while the officials themselves measured themselves with dosimeters, ordering clean food from abroad.
At the highest state level, I showed that not only the Gomel region suffers from radiation, that the radiation did not appear after the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, it was in Belarus, and before the nuclear tests were conducted, nuclear munitions storage facilities were arranged on the territory of the BRSR.
— Since the 90s, many people have been following your advice on how to reduce the level of radiation in meat and fish: they start cooking in cold water over low heat, adding salt, and draining the first boiled water. What else can housewives do?
- The children we observe have a marked deficiency of vitamins, primarily folic acid and vitamin B12.
This is a hidden deficiency, homocysteine is precisely its indicator. It is important to consume vitamins in their natural state. A lot of folate is found in green salad leaves, it protects the body. But the problem of their absorption in the gastrointestinal tract immediately arises - for this, it is necessary to treat gastritis, ulcers, and liver diseases. About 30% of the children we examine have serious changes in the liver.
— Many believe that a person needs enough iodized salt to maintain the required level of iodine.
- It is important that iodine is in the composition of marine organic products, in particular seaweed. Not every child likes seaweed, but in my opinion, it is better than iodized salt, which has questions about storage and preservation of iodine.
Balance is also important - an overdose of such iodine is no less dangerous than its deficiency. But if your body does not absorb iodine from algae, it will simply throw it out of the body without causing any harm.
— Ever since the time of Chernobyl, it has been hammered home that you shouldn't eat everything that grows in the forest - forest gifts strongly absorb radiation.
- If you want mushrooms, buy mushrooms artificially grown on clean soil. I know from my experience that blueberries, for example, contain a lot of radionuclides. I remember being poisoned by it in the late 80s.
— How can you get poisoned by blueberries?
- Bought near Minsk when returning to Gomel after college. I didn't eat very much, but I had very serious health problems after that. I decided it was an infection. The following summer, I ate it again - and again the same symptoms. It turns out that those blueberries were brought to Minsk from contaminated zones, the radiation in them was off the charts.
— And which products absorb radiation more strongly?
- Everything depends on the territory where this or that cow grazed. There should be a clear responsibility of the producer. As for products, for example, hard cheese will contain less radionuclides - some will go with the whey during production. Strontium, since it is he who now comes to the fore, can be abundant everywhere, and this must now be dealt with closely.
— But radiation can be not only in food, but also in the air.
- In this regard, forest fires are dangerous, which stir up polluted areas almost every summer. In particular, cesium radionuclides move very easily with air currents. We measured the level of homocysteine in the same children before and after such a fire. It increased significantly, which indicates that the body perceives combustion products and radionuclides with air currents.
— Many half-jokingly, or perhaps out of hopelessness, wave them off: "Red wine will remove all the radiation for us now!"
- Complete stupidity! Yes, there are pectins in unrefined wine, but that is not the solution. Alcohol is a killer for the metabolic cycle, the entire metabolism is disrupted. Increasing the influence of alcohol in the radiation area is a separate topic.
— Yuriy Ivanovich, you are talking about the effect of radiation on the central nervous system - does this mean that the manifestation can be a disturbance of the mental state of people exposed to systemic exposure to various doses of radiation?
- You can't blame everything on this, but back in 1995 we published a monograph showing the relationship between the influence of radionuclides penetrating the body and disruption of the production of neurotransmitters in the brain structures of experimental animals.
Recently in Ukraine, we conducted an experiment with Syrian hamsters, feeding the females with grain grown in polluted areas. 40% of the offspring were born with congenital malformations of the brain and facial part of the skull. Those who survived were in a state of extreme excitement.
Yuriy Ivanovych said that serious complex disorders were found in the Ukrainian children being examined. Photo: KP archive.
— Some buy dosimeters to measure the level of radiation in apartments, but is it possible to measure it in the human body?
- In the body of a living person, you can measure cesium-137 with a special counter, this cannot be done for strontium-90, but it can be determined in food products. As for the apartments - well, the radiation level has been measured, what's next?
I will give a new example. We hired a new team of well-known specialists who did not believe in the seriousness of the problem. They measured the ash in the stove of one of them. They were horrified to see that it contained more than 10,000 becquerels per kilogram of strontium - and this is only one indicator of the level of radiation.
— You yourself are not afraid of radiation, which you have been in close contact with for so many years?
- Because of what I experienced, I am seriously ill. I don't want to decipher, but the situation is dangerous for health. But I have to do my job, because I know what and how. And I never get tired of repeating that Chernobyl is a state problem, it can only be solved by state methods, primarily by serious prevention.
Medicine should be the most important link of the state system in the country most affected by the Chernobyl accident. Unfortunately, this did not happen.
