Comparative analysis of thyroid diseases incidence in prepubertal children of Kaluga oblast, exposed to iodine-131 in utero and resided in areas with different level of radioactive contamination after the Chernobyl accident

Incidence of non-cancer thyroid diseases among prepubertal children exposed to radiation from Chernobyl in utero and resided in Zhizdra, Ulyanovo and Khvastovichi rayons of Kaluga oblast with different level of radioactive contamination was studied. It was shown that the rate of thyroid diseases incidence depended on natural iodine insufficiency in the areas of residence and radioiodine dose. The relative contribution of each of these factors can be estimated by difference between the incidence rate in exposed and unexposed children of the same age and the same area of residence.