Air

Radioactive pollution

The sudden explosion that occurred in April 1986 in the Chernobyl plant, in the former Soviet Union, brought the whole world face to face with the tragic consequences of the nuclear pollution of the air, related in particular to the international dimension of this risk of pollution. The radioactive cloud that followed the explosion had released into the atmosphere several radio-nuclides (Barium 140, Iodine 131, etc.) that were carried far away by the winds before falling back to the ground through meteoric precipitations. It was observed, therefore, that the damage caused by nuclear pollution is not limited to a specific area, but it can affect large regions, even very far from its source. When aground, the radio-nuclides, that contaminate the vegetal species and get into the food chain, are taken in by man and concentrate in some specific organs. In man, exposure to rays emitted by radio-nuclides increases the number of cases of tumours and leukaemia.