Late Effects of Preconception Exposure to Radiation: Health of the First and Next Generations of Offspring (Review)

The effects of radiation exposure of parents to the health of their offspring are an issue of discussion in radiation epidemiology. Despite various experimental and molecular and genetic research work indicating radiogenic effects in offspring the results of epidemiological assessment are quite controversial. Here is the review of epidemiological studies of the effects of preconception (prior to conception) exposure to the offspring of the first and next generations that were published in open access. Various cohorts of exposed individuals were observed: population of the areas with high natural radiation background; atomic bomb survivors in Japan; people who had suffered from nuclear weapon tests and radiation accidents; patients exposed to therapeutical and diagnostic radiation; workers who are in contact with ionizing radiation sources at their workplaces. Assessments of multivarious clinical implications among the offspring of exposed parents were cited: congenital malformations, immature deaths, alterations of height and weight parameters, irregularities of sex ratio, of cancer incidence rates, of immunological shifts, of somatic pathology, etc. It was noted that the presented cohorts are not comparable in terms of duration and rate of radiation exposure of the parents. No direct relation between unfavorable outcomes among the offspring and preconception dose loads of the parents was stated. The focus is made on shortcomings and difficulties of epidemiological studies including data collection via questionnaires, a lack of proper verification of medical outcomes in offspring, low statistical power, uncertainties of individual accumulated preconception doses, underestimation of non-radiation factors, short periods of follow up. In was finally demonstrated that the effects of preconception exposure to the health of the offspring are still a task to be solved. Public concern about late effects of radiation exposure in preconception period still remains high. Quantitative assessment of health risks among the offspring as a result of preconception ionizing radiation exposure is a priority research trend. Feasibility of epidemiological analysis based on the cohort of the offspring of Mayak Production Association — of the first nuclear facility in Russia — was described.