Pregnancy outcome and early health status of children born to the Techa River population.

As a result of contamination of the river Techa by fission products in 1949-1956, the residents of the riverside villages were exposed to external and internal irradiation. The average gonadal dose in the study cohort of 28,100 people is estimated to be 0.16 Sv. No decrease in fertility and birth rate was detected. The gonadal doubling dose ranges calculated for the incidence of stillbirths, miscarriages, early neonatal mortality and lethal developmental defects was found to be rather high, ranging from 0.2 to 4.8 Sv.