[Pregnancy outcome in some Norwegian counties before and after the Chernobyl accident]

Abstract

The outcome of pregnancies in six countries in Norway has been studied during 12 months prior and subsequent to the Chernobyl accident. The accident took place in a period with an annual increase of births of approximately 3%. However, the year after the accident a decrease of 0.7% was observed with particularly low numbers during February--April 1987. Concomitantly, the miscarriage fraction of all pregnancies increased by 16.3% and particularly during November 1986--January 1987. The same pattern was found when observations from Haukeland Hospital were analyzed separately. When the time of conception was taken into consideration we found that conceptions during the period May--July 1986 ended more often as miscarriages. We have no explanation of the observations. The external radiation exposure seems too small to have produced these effects. The internal radiation from food may have played a role. People may also have changed their food intake, using less vegetables, due to fear of these being polluted by radioactive fallout.