Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM), University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
Graduate School for Health Sciences (GHS), University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
J Radiat Res. 2022 May 18;63(3):354-363. doi: 10.1093/jrr/rrac006.
Epidemiological studies of children's cancer risks associated with background gamma radiation exposure have used geographic exposure models to estimate exposure at their locations of residence. We measured personal exposure to background gamma radiation, and we investigated the extent to which it was associated with children's whereabouts. We collected data on whereabouts and exposure to background gamma radiation over a 5-day period among children aged 4-15 years in Switzerland. We used D-Shuttle dosimeters to measure children's exposure, and we asked parents to write their children's activities in diaries. We used Poisson mixed-effects and linear regression models to investigate the association of hourly and overall doses, respectively, with children's reported whereabouts. During the observed time, 149 participating children spent 66% indoors at home; 19% indoors away from home; and 15% outdoors. The mean personal exposure was 85.7 nSv/h (range 52.3 nSv/h-145 nSv/h). Exposure was 1.077 (95% CI 1.067, 1.087) times higher indoors than outdoors and varied by building material and (predicted) outdoor dose rates. Our study provides detailed information about children's patterns of exposure to background gamma radiation in Switzerland. Dwelling building materials and outdoor dose rates are important determinants of children's exposure. Future epidemiological studies may benefit from including information about building materials.
有关儿童因背景伽马辐射暴露而致癌的风险的流行病学研究，采用地理暴露模型来估计其居住地点的暴露情况。我们测量了儿童的背景伽马辐射个人暴露量，并调查了其与儿童行踪之间的关联程度。我们在瑞士收集了 4-15 岁儿童为期 5 天的行踪和背景伽马辐射暴露数据。我们使用 D-Shuttle 剂量仪来测量儿童的暴露情况，并要求家长在日记中记录他们孩子的活动情况。我们使用泊松混合效应和线性回归模型分别调查了每小时剂量和总剂量与儿童报告行踪之间的关联。在观察期间，149 名参与研究的儿童有 66%的时间在室内家中度过；19%的时间在室内离家时度过；15%的时间在室外度过。个人平均暴露量为 85.7 nSv/h（范围 52.3 nSv/h-145 nSv/h）。室内暴露量比室外高 1.077 倍（95%置信区间为 1.067，1.087），且因建筑材料和（预测的）室外剂量率而异。本研究提供了瑞士儿童背景伽马辐射暴露模式的详细信息。居住建筑材料和室外剂量率是儿童暴露的重要决定因素。未来的流行病学研究可能会受益于包括建筑材料信息。
