Russians living in Moscow have been told that they are slowly being poisoned by radiation that came from Ukraine.
A report released by the Kremlin-backed Russian news outlet Moskovskij Komsomolets suggests that the radioactive isotope Strontium-90 is causing problems.
It says the radiation originates from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion in what is now an independent Ukraine.
The disaster resulted in nuclear fallout that spread across Ukraine and Russia, when both were part of the Soviet Union.
Experts at the US-based Delaware Health and Social Services explain that Strontium-90 is a radioactive form of strontium, “formed in nuclear reactors or during the explosion of nuclear weapons”.
The half-life of strontium-90 – the time it takes for half of the strontium to give off its radiation and change into another substance – is 29 years.
Even though we have now passed this time period, it is still causing problems for some Russians, reports the Daily Star.
Vadim Ermakov, speaking to MK, explained that this could be slowly poisoning Russians – even those residing in Moscow.
The Doctor of Biological Sciences said: “The main problem associated with strontium worried humanity after the American bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Among the radionuclides that subsequently accumulated in the soil and water, there was a large amount of strontium-90. Accumulating in the body, it causes many pathologies, mainly cancer.”
“This is a problem associated with the use of fertilizers. We use a lot of phosphorus fertilizers – phosphorites, apatites, calcium carbonate, phosphogypsum, containing an increased amount of strontium – non-radiation, stable, which ends up in the fields and accumulates in the soil.
“There is also an additional source of strontium underground, artesian waters. Many of them contain very high concentrations of this element.”
When questioned by MK about the areas most affected, he confirmed that Moscow, along with neighbouring cities such as Vidnoy, Smolensk and Perm, are among them. He also revealed that the concentration of it in the water has been found to be as high was 20mg per litre.