» Effects on Children Today
“radiation lurks in the water , the soil , and the food …”
Chernobyl Victims, 26 years after the accident
Threats
Today, the threat remains. Caesium-137, a radioactive isotope that was released during the accident, has a half-life of 30 years and will actively trigger radioactivity in the region for decades to come. Fractures in the sarcophagus built around the reactor to confine the radioactivity have allowed the toxins to escape. Radiation lurks in the water, the soil and the food: fruits, vegetables, milk and meat in the region are contaminated and will remain hazardous for generations.
Children Today
Radiation attacks developing cells and damages tissue, organs and bones. It weakens immune systems, leaving children vulnerable to an onslaught of infections and disease. Thyroid cancer, heart disease, genetic defects and weak immune systems define childhood for the people living in the contaminated regions. The rate of pediatric cancer in Belarus is 200 times the world norm. These children were born many years — some even decades — after the explosion.
CCOC in the News
- Children at Heart 2015 Press Release
- CCOC Celebrates the Recent Marriages of Two Chernobyl Children
- Mazel Tov to CCOC’s Ilona M. on Her Engagement to Mendy S.!
- Toys Bring Joy to Chernobyl Victims
- Jerusalem Post: Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl project ‘as vital as ever’
- AOL News: Chernobyl Children to Arrive in Israel
- CCOC Featured in 15 Minutes Magazine