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Operation of "Mayak" plutonium production complex resulted in radioactive contamination of the part of Chelyabinsk Region in 1950-60s. Significant gas-aerosol emissions of 1311 occurred since 1948; in 1957, a radiation accident resulted in 90Sr contamination of large territories. This paper presents comparison of bone mineral density of persons lived on territories with different levels of soil 90Sr-contamination with a control group. It was found that in 1970-1975 the bone mineral density, estimated from mineral content in bone samples, in residents of contaminated areas born in 1936-1952 was significantly lower compared with the control group. For persons born in 1880-1935 such differences were not found. It was shown that the decrease in bone mineral density was not related to 90Sr exposure of osteogenic cells in the dose range from 0.1 to 1300 mGy: the coefficient of correlation between individual 90Sr-doses and bone mineral contents was not significant. The decrease in bone mineral density of persons born in 1936-1952 could be associated with exposure of thyroid and parathyroid glands (systemic regulators of calcium turnover) by 131I from gas-aerosol emissions from "Mayak". Maximum gas-aerosol emissions occurred in 1948-1954 and coincided with growth and development of thyroid gland, characterizing by intensive accumulation of 131I, and with growth and maturation of the skeleton of persons born in these calendar years.

The river Iset belongs to the Techa-Iset-Tobol-Irtysh-Ob system contaminated by liquid radioactive wastes from Mayak plutonium facility in 1949-1956. This study represents the first retrospective analysis of postmortem measurements of 90Sr in bones from residents of the Iset riverside settlements in 1960-1982. It was shown that 90Sr concentration in bones of residents lived in settlements located downstream from the Techa river mouth (Shadrinsk, Isetskoye, Yalutorovsk) was 5 times higher than average 90Sr concentration in bones of the Russian residents. There was not statistically significant difference in accumulated 90Sr in bones between residents of the considered Iset' settlements indicating similar levels of 90Sr ingestion. Dietary 90Sr intake was reconstructed from the measurements of the radionuclide in bones. Total 90Sr dietary intake in 1950-1975 was 68 kBq; and 90% of the intake occurred in 1950-1961. In 1960s, 90Sr-contamination of the diet in settlements located downstream from the Techa river mouth was mostly (by 70%) due to global fallouts. Absorbed dose in the red bone marrow cumulated over 25 years of exposure was equal to 14 (4.7-42) mGy.