Delayed effects of low level acute irradiation and chronic environmental radioactive contamination on DNA lymphocytes of people living in Dolon, a settlement located in the vicinity of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (Kazakhstan)

During 42 years several hundred nuclear tests were performed by the former USSR at the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS, Kazakhstan), of which more than 100 were done in the atmosphere. We report here the late genetic damage of external exposure to radiation and environmental radioactive contamination in people living in Dolon, a small settlement situated in the vicinity of the STS. The comet assay was applied on DNA lymphocytes of 20 exposed women and 32 non-exposed women living at 500 km from the STS. We observed a statistically significant difference between the exposed and control groups for mean tail moment (MTM) and DNA% in the tail. The mean values of all comet assay parameters (MTM, DNA% in the tail and score) were higher in the group of women born before 1949 as compared to those born after 1950, which could reflect an effect of external irradiation in 1949 due to the most contaminating explosion. These results suggest that people exposed 50 years ago to relatively small doses of external irradiation and/or still living in an environment contaminated by small amounts of long life radionuclides, still present DNA damage which is in agreement with other cytogenetical studies performed at the same site, on the same population.