Children and women who are pregnant are at most immediate risk from any radiation released by nuclear reactors in Japan, a US radiation expert says。

　　"All humans exposed to radiation suffer harm," professor Janette at the environmental institute at Western Michigan University in says。

　　"The fetus, infant and child are much more susceptible than adults for two reasons. First, the immune system in the young is underdeveloped, and less able to repair damage from radiation exposure. Second, young cells are dividing very rapidly, and a cell damaged by radiation in a fetus or infant is much more likely to result in a birth defect or cancer than in an adult."

　　However, adults should also be monitored because people absorb radiation from reactor emissions via inhalation, food and water, Janette says。

　　Janette is editor of a 2010 book "Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment" that claims, based on previously records and reports by Eastern European scientists and medical experts, an estimated 985,000 people have died as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown in Ukraine。

　　"What harm we can expect to occur from the Japanese nuclear plant emissions has been well-documented in the people, animals, birds, and plants that were exposed to fallout to Chernobyl," Sherman says。

　　日前一位美国辐射专家称，此次日本核电站核泄漏事故威胁到人们的健康，其中儿童以及孕期妇女首当其冲。

　　“所有被辐射的人群健康都会受损，”西密歇根大学环境研究所教授珍妮特说道。

　　“而胎儿、婴儿以及幼童更容易受到影响，这里面有两个原因。第一，幼童的免疫系统并没有发育完善，且无法自行修复辐射带来的创伤。第二，幼童细胞分裂很快，而因辐射受损的细胞可能更容易导致胎儿以及婴儿的出生缺陷或者癌症。”

　　即便如此，珍妮特建议，经历过事故的成年人也需受到监控，因为放射性物质可通过气体、食物以及水被带入成年人体内。

　　珍妮特此前曾任《切尔诺贝利：环境与人的灾难后果》一书编辑，该书称，以东欧学者和医学专家的早期记录和报告为依据，1986年乌克兰切尔诺贝利核电站泄漏事故导致985000人丧生。

　　“我们所能预见到的，就是从此次日本核电站核泄漏事故将会步切尔诺贝利事故后尘，当时受到影响的人类、动物、鸟类以及植物已经为此做了见证，”珍妮特说道。