The 1986 nuclear accident and its continuing impact on thyroid disease

One of the continuing health effects of the Chernobyl accident has been the dramatic increase in thyroid cancer among children in the affected area.

According to the World Health Organization, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster will cause 50,000 new cases of thyroid cancer among young people living in the areas most affected by the nuclear disaster. Specifically, the rate of thyroid cancer in adolescents aged 15 to 18 is also now three times higher than it was before the 1986 disaster took place. The incidence of thyroid cancer in children rose 10-fold in children who lived in the Ukraine region.

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