ARS (acute radiation sickness or syndrome) is a collection of overlapping syndromes resulting from acute external whole body exposure to radiation of 1 Gy or more delivered over a short period of time. It occurs in four phases: prodromal signs and symptoms, primarily nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; a latent period of several days (depending inversely on dose) where symptoms improve or even temporarily disappear; manifest illness resulting from damage to the blood forming organs, GI tract, and/or cardiovascular/CNS systems; and recovery (hopefully) or death. Reportedly "several hundred" Russian soldiers became ill after digging trenches in contaminated soil and are now being treated in a special medical facility in Gomel, Belarus.
U.S. sources have confirmed that many Russian soldiers are
withdrawing from the radiation zones around Chernobyl. However, it is probable that
these withdrawals are due to operational maneuvers rather than for prevention
of hundreds of actual ARS cases. Digging up contaminated soil certainly
increases the risk of inhalation of radioactive particles, but this would cause
mainly internal, not external, exposure. Skin contamination high enough to
deliver such a dose to bone marrow and other deep tissues would have to cause
severe burns, from the alpha and beta radiation components of the dust; this hasn't
been reported. Digging trenches in radioactive soil, while certainly not good
for one's health, is highly unlikely to create midplane tissue doses this high
in this many people.
Written by Glen Reeves MD
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