Tokyo - Hormonal and other irregularities were detected in the thyroid glands of 10 out of 130 children evacuated from areas near the damaged nuclear power plant in north-east Japan, news reports said on Tuesday.
The Japan Chernobyl Foundation and Shinshu University Hospital conducted tests on youngsters aged up to 16 including babies for about a month through the end of August in Nagano, where they were staying temporarily after evacuating from Fukushima, Kyodo News reported.
The results of the tests showed that one child was found to have a lower-than-normal thyroid hormone level and seven had thyroid stimulation hormone levels higher than the norm, it reported.
The other two children were diagnosed with slightly high blood concentrations of a protein called thyroglobulin, possibly caused by damage to their thyroid glands, Kyodo said.
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station it has been leaking radioactive material into the environment since it was hit by a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
In April, the government decided to ban entry into the 20-kilometre exclusion zone from the plant.
Three of the 10 children used to live within the no-go zone and one from areas between 20 and 30 kilometres from the plant, while the other six were from towns further out.
More than 50,000 residents have left the prefecture of Fukushima as they feared the health effects of radiation, local officials said.
“At present, we cannot say the children are ill but they require long-term observation,” Minoru Kamata, chief of the foundation, was quoted as saying.
The foundation is dedicated to aid for the victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine.
Radioactive iodine tends to accumulate in the thyroid glands of babies and children, increasing the risk of cancer later in life. - Sapa-dpa