Microsatellite mutations show no increases in the children of the Chernobyl liquidators.

We performed a study on Belarusian "liquidators", exploring whether increase in the frequencies of germline mutations at microsatellite loci could be found in their progeny. The liquidators, mostly young males, were those involved (during 1986 and 1987) in clean-up operations in the radioactively contaminated area following the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986. Many liquidators fathered children during the clean-up period and after the work had been terminated.