Health of plant workers and local people

In the aftermath of the accident, 237 people suffered from acute radiation sickness c722

  (AR), of whom 31 died within the first three months. Most of these were fire and rescue workers trying to bring the accident under control, who were not c8051f040

  fully aware of how dangerous exposure to the radiation in the smoke was. Whereas, in the World Health Organization's 2006 report of the Chernobyl Forum expert group on the 237 emergency c8051f310

  workers who were diagnosed with AR, AR was identified as the cause of death for 28 of these people within the first few months after the disaster. There were no further deaths identified, in the general population affected c815

  by the disaster, as being caused by AR. Of the 72,000 Russian Emergency Workers being studied, 216 non-cancer deaths are attributed to the disaster, between 1991 and 1998. The latency period for solid cancers caused by excess radiation exposure ca08

  is 10 or more years; thus at the time of the WHO report being undertaken, the rates of solid cancer deaths were no greater than the general population. Some 135,000 people were evacuated from the area, including 50,000 from Pripyat.