A Chernobyl necklace is a horizontal scar at the base of the throat which results from surgery to remove a

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. C ...

caused by

fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

from a nuclear accident. The scar has come to be seen as one of the most graphic demonstrations of the impact of the Chernobyl disaster. The term takes its name from the increased rate of thyroid cancer after the Chernobyl disaster. The scar has also been referred as the

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

necklace or the Belarusian Necklace, in reference to the large number of thyroid cancer occurrences in the nation caused by the

nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

from neighboring

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. The use of the word necklace indicates its visual resemblance to the horizontal scar around the neck, but also contrasts the negative connotations of the scar with the beauty of an actual necklace.

Cause

The radioactive iodine isotope

iodine-131 Iodine-131 (131I, I-131) is an important radioisotope of iodine discovered by Glenn Seaborg and John Livingood in 1938 at the University of California, Berkeley. It has a radioactive decay half-life of about eight days. It is associated with nu ...

(¹³¹I) has a relatively high

fission product yield Nuclear fission splits a heavy nucleus such as uranium or plutonium into two lighter nuclei, which are called fission products. Yield refers to the fraction of a fission product produced per fission. Yield can be broken down by: # Individual ...

; in the case of a nuclear accident, ¹³¹I is released into the environment in the

. Iodine is a vital micronutrient in vertebrate biology, and tends to bioaccumulate in the thyroid gland—the primary iodine-reliant organ of the body—which requires it in order to synthesise

thyroid hormones File:Thyroid_system.svg, upright=1.5, The thyroid system of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4 rect 376 268 820 433 Thyroid-stimulating hormone rect 411 200 849 266 Thyrotropin-releasing hormone rect 297 168 502 200 Hypothalamus rect 66 216 386 25 ...

. Environmental ¹³¹I is taken up in the diet, and like the stable isotope ¹²⁷I, is accumulated in the thyroid; once there, the high-energy

beta radiation A beta particle, also called beta ray or beta radiation (symbol β), is a high-energy, high-speed electron or positron emitted by the radioactive decay of an atomic nucleus during the process of beta decay. There are two forms of beta decay, β� ...

emitted by ¹³¹I significantly increases the risk of cancer. Treatment of thyroid cancer may require surgery, potentially leaving the patient with one or two horizontal scars at the base of the neck. It is these scars that have been dubbed the "Chernobyl necklace".

Occurrences

After the Chernobyl disaster, incidents of thyroid cancer among civilians in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

have risen sharply. It is estimated that many of those affected have the necklace, however, no statistical information of the affected population exists at this time. See the article on

Chernobyl disaster effects The 1986 Chernobyl disaster triggered the release of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere in the form of both particulate and gaseous radioisotopes. , it was the world's largest known release of radioactivity into the environment. ...

for details. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, there has been some speculation that Japan faces a similar situation: its affected population may receive similar surgery and scarring ("wear the Chernobyl necklace") in the future.

In literature

The phenomenon inspired the title of the 1999 book ''Bagrjane namisto'' ("The Crimson Necklace"), by poet and Chernobyl survivor Valentin Mikhailjuk.

References

{{Chernobyl disaster Aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster Radiation health effects Thyroid cancer Scarring