Thermoluminescence dosimetry in the Caribbean

The results of five years of radiation monitoring of 590 radiation workers in Jamaica and an additional 88 in Barbados and The Turks and Caicos Islands show that the annual dose absorbed by Caribbean radiation workers is, with a single exception, well within the internationally accepted limits of 20 mSv per year. There were few cases of relatively high exposures. The dose equivalent of the radiation workers by category agrees with international trends; workers in nuclear medicine receive the highest doses and dental radiologists the lowest. The collective Effective Dose Equivalent has been calculated for each of the monitored populations and certain trends identified. The risk for development of fatal cancers from the occupational doses reported was very low. Consistent monitoring will identify aberrant conditions quickly and help maintain that record

Relationship between bladder cancer incidence; schistosoma haematobium infection; and geographical region in Zimbabwe

Bladder cancer is common in Zimbabwe; possibly due to the high prevalence of Schistosoma haematobium infection in some areas. We undertook a correlational study based on retrospective medical record review to see whether the number of bladder cancers could be related to geographical region and prevalence of S. haematobium infection. We also determined patient demographic characteristics and tumour histology. Of 483 patients indentified (1984-1987); 69 with available histology had squamous cell carcinomas. The remainder had transitional cell carcinomas. Patients with squamous cell carcinoma were younger than patients with transitional cell carcinomas (50 vs 20 under 50 years old; P less than 0.05) and had a sex ration of one. [abstract terminated]