Little information is available concerning how patient delay may be affected by mass disasters. The main objectives of the present study are to identify whether there was a post-disaster increase in ...the risk of experiencing patient delay among breast cancer patients in an area affected by the 2011 triple disaster in Fukushima, Japan, and to elucidate factors associated with post-disaster patient delay. Sociodemographic factors (age, employment status, cohabitant status and evacuation status), health characteristics, and health access- and disaster-related factors were specifically considered.
Records of symptomatic breast cancer patients diagnosed from 2005 to 2016 were retrospectively reviewed to calculate risk ratios (RRs) for patient delay in every year post-disaster compared with the pre-disaster baseline. Total and excessive patient delays were respectively defined as three months or more and twelve months or more from symptom recognition to first medical consultation. Logistic regression analysis was conducted for pre- and post-disaster patient delay in order to reveal any factors potentially associated with patient delay, and changes after the disaster.
Two hundred nineteen breast cancer patients (122 pre-disaster and 97 post-disaster) were included. After adjustments for age, significant post-disaster increases in RRs of experiencing both total (RR: 1.66, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.02-2.70, p < 0.05) and excessive patient delay (RR: 4.49, 95% CI: 1.73-11.65, p < 0.01) were observed. The RRs for total patient delay peaked in the fourth year post-disaster, and significant increases in the risk of excessive patient delay were observed in the second, fourth, and fifth years post-disaster, with more than five times the risk observed pre-disaster. A family history of any cancer was the only factor significantly associated with total patient delay post-disaster (odds ratio: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.15-0.95, p < 0.05), while there were no variables associated with delay pre-disaster.
The triple disaster in Fukushima appears to have led to an increased risk of patient delay among breast cancer patients, and this trend has continued for five years following the disaster.
Unconsolidated sand with the maximum thickness of 40 m was found in the D4 unit of the Plio-Pleistocene upper Dainenji Formation in southern Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The ...thickness of this sand is unique because the D4 unit is mainly composed of mudstone with thin-sandstone. This sand is mainly composed of coarse to fine grains. Mudstone blocks are found at the bottom of this sand, and the sand is overlain by upper mudstone. The lower part of the sand shows slump structure. This sand shows fining-upward succession, which indicates that deposition had progressed during reducing period of current energy. The boundary between the sand and the underlying mudstone shows that the sand buries a channel extending from WSW to ENE with 4.5 km of length and 1 km of width. It was also presumed that the sand occurs above SF γ, a tephra bed of the D4 unit. The thickness, facies and stratigraphic position of the sand are similar to those of “medium-grain sandstone” at the site of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS). Therefore, a channel buried by thick and unconsolidated sand is likely to exist even at the FDNPS site.
Breast cancer patients may present with patient delay or experience provider delay-2 factors which can lead to a late-stage diagnosis and poor prognosis. Mass disasters drastically change social ...structures, and have the potential to contribute to these delays. However, there is little information available on patient and provider delay related to cancer after disasters. In March 2011, an earthquake, followed by a tsunami and nuclear accident struck Fukushima, Japan. In July 2014, a 59 year-old Japanese widow, living alone, presented to our hospital with a lump and pain in her right breast, which had originally appeared in April 2011 and continuously deteriorated for 3 years and 3 months. She was diagnosed with stage IIIB right breast cancer. Detailed history revealed that she was exposed to social isolation in the aftermath of the disasters due to evacuation of her friends and daughter. Although she regularly saw her general practitioner, she did not disclose her breast symptoms for 1 year and 5 months, at which time she was falsely diagnosed with intercostal neuralgia. She did not seek further medical attention for the breast symptoms for another 1 year and 10 months, despite multiple clinic visits for unrelated reasons. The present disasters, particularly the nuclear disaster, seem to have led to the social isolation of local residents, reducing their opportunities to discuss health concerns with others and seek subsequent medical attention.This case highlights that social isolation may contribute to patient and provider delay in breast cancer patients, as accentuated in this disaster setting.
Dust samples from the sides of roads (black substances) have been collected together with litter and soil samples at more than 100 sites contaminated heavily in the 20-km exclusion zones around ...Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) (Minamisoma City, and Namie, Futaba and Okuma Towns), in Iitate Village located from 25 to 45 km northwest of the plant and in southern areas from the plant. Isotopes of Pu, Am and Cm have been measured in the samples to evaluate their total releases into the environment from the FDNPP and to get the isotopic compositions among these nuclides. For black substances and litter samples, in addition to Pu isotopes, 241Am, 242Cm and 243,244Cm were determined for most of samples examined, while for soil samples, only Pu isotopes were determined. The results provided a coherent data set on 239,240Pu inventories and isotopic composition among these transuranic nuclides. When these activity ratios were compared with those for fuel core inventories in the FDNPP accident estimated by a group at JAEA, except 239,240Pu/137Cs activity ratios, fairly good agreements were found, indicating that transuranic nuclides, probably in the forms of fine particles, were released into the environment without their large fractionations. The obtained data may lead to more accurate information about the on-site situation (e.g., burn-up, conditions of fuel during the release phase, etc.), which would be difficult to get otherwise, and more detailed information on the dispersion and deposition processes of transuranic nuclides and the behavior of these nuclides in the environment.
The emigration of residents following the Fukushima nuclear accident has resulted in aging and depopulation problems in radiation-contaminated areas. The recovery of affected areas, and even those ...areas with low radioactive pollution levels, is still heavily affected by this problem. This slow recovery consequently affects immigration patterns. This review aims to present possible factors that have contributed to this dilemma. We first present an overview of the evacuation protocol that was administered in the study area following the Fukushima accident. We then analyze characteristics of the subsequent exodus by comparing population data for both before and after the accident. Based on the findings of existing literature, we identify three causes of emigration: (1) The health risks of living in a low radiation zone are still unknown; (2) The post-disaster psychological disturbance and distrust of government information promotes the emigration of evacuees; (3) an absence of economic vitality and of a leading industry renders the area less attractive to individuals residing outside of the city. Further research is needed on this issue, especially with respect to countermeasures for addressing this problem.
We monitored soil and rice radiocaesium concentrations in paddy fields in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, from 2013 to 2016. As a result, brown rice samples collected in 2013 contained ...average 67 Bq/kg-dry weight (dw) of 137Cs. Five in the 9 samples exceeded 100 Bq/kg radiocaesium, which is the limit for food radioactive contamination in Japan. This is presumably due to radiocaesium fallout led by debris removal operations in the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant on 19 August 2013. 137Cs concentrations in the brown rice samples collected in 2014–2016 contained only 2–8 Bq/kg-dw. The soil and rice samples collected near water inlets of the paddy fields showed higher 137Cs concentrations than those collected at center and near water outlets. Transfer factors of 137Cs from soil to brown rice also tended to be higher at the water inlets except 2013, suggesting that irrigation water can affect on radiocaesium concentration in rice plants.
In this research, we evaluated the range of 137Cs discharge rates from paddy fields during land preparation and mid-summer drainage. First, we investigated 137Cs discharge loads during land ...preparation and mid-summer drainage and their ratio to the 137Cs inventory of paddy field soil. We found that total discharge rates were 0.003–0.028% during land preparation and 0.001–0.011% during mid-summer drainage. Next, we validated the range of obtained total discharge of 137Cs from the paddy fields using a simplified equation and literature review. As a result, we conclude that the range of total outflow loads of suspended solids for the investigated paddy field was generally representative of paddy fields in Japan. Moreover, the 137Cs discharge ratio had a wide range, but was extremely small relative to 137Cs present in paddy field soil before irrigation.
•137Cs discharge loads during land preparation and mid-summer drainage were investigated.•An estimation equation for paddy field 137Cs discharge rate is developed.•137Cs outflow during land preparation represents 0.003–0.028% of soil inventories.•137Cs outflow during mid-summer drainage represents 0.001–0.011% of soil inventories.
Living (stained) benthic foraminifers were found on the surface of paddy field in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, Northeast Japan, in September 2012. Because those foraminifers were sampled ...about 18 months later since the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake (the Tohoku earthquake), those were not individuals transported by tsunami. They should be reproduced and grew in that paddy field. Foraminiferal tests in tsunami sediments have been used for estimating origin of those sediments, because it have been interpreted that those tests were transported by tsunami. Present finding, however, suggests that tsunami sediments sometimes contain foraminifers grown in new environment occurred by tsunami.
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