Mathematical methods and models for radiation carcinogenesis studies

Research on radiation carcinogenesis requires a twofold approach. Studies of primary molecular lesions and subsequent cytogenetic changes are essential, but they cannot at present provide numerical estimates of the risk of small doses of ionizing radiations. Such estimates require extrapolations from dose, time, and age dependences of tumor rates observed in animal studies and epidemiological investigations, and they necessitate the use of statistical methods that correct for competing risks. A brief survey is given of the historical roots of such methods, of the basic concepts and quantities which are required, and of the maximum likelihood estimates which can be derived for right censored and double censored data. Non-parametric and parametric models for the analysis of tumor rates and their time and dose dependences are explained

Exposure of school children to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals and radionuclides in the urban soil of Kragujevac city, Central Serbia

The concentrations of radionuclides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals were measured in soil samples collected from school backyards and playgrounds in Kragujevac, one of the,, largest cities of Central Serbia. The activity concentrations of Ra-226, Th-232, K-40 and Cs-137 were determined using the HPGe semiconductor detector. The average values were 34.6, 44.7, 428.9 and 45.1 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The correlation between the activity concentrations of Ra-226 in the soil samples and the results of the previous measurement of Rn-222 concentrations in the indoor air was examined. The absorbed dose rates, the annual effective doses and excess lifetime cancer risk were also estimated. The activity concentrations of Ra-226 and Th-232 have shown normal distribution. The collected soil samples were analysed for PAHs by HPLC. All analysed soil samples contained PAHs, and their total amounts (for 15 measured compounds) were found to be between 0.038 and 3.136 mg kg(-1) of absolutely dry soil (a.d.s). In addition the concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were measured in the fourteen soil samples collected from the playgrounds of kindergartens