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Fukushima radiation update.
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,673
In a separate thread, ajedigecko asked if I/we had read about the Fukushima radiation spread. The news I dug up is very discouraging.
First this, from Vancouver:
http://www.straight.com/blogra/398066/f ... level-year
This report is particularly concerning to those of us on the west coast:
http://www.infowars.com/study-fukushima ... americans/
Study: Fukushima Radiation Has Already Killed 14,000 Americans
May 22, 2013
Already 14,000 U.S. Deaths From Fukushima?
International Journal of Health Services alleges that 14,000 people have already died in the United States due to Fukushima.
Specifically, the authors of the study claim:
An estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the United States are linked to the radioactive fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, according to a major new article in the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services. This is the first peer-reviewed study published in a medical journal documenting the health hazards of Fukushima.[The authors] note that their estimate of 14,000 excess U.S. deaths in the 14 weeks after the Fukushima meltdowns is comparable to the 16,500 excess deaths in the 17 weeks after the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. The rise in reported deaths after Fukushima was largest among U.S. infants under age one. The 2010-2011 increase for infant deaths in the spring was 1.8 percent, compared to a decrease of 8.37 percent in the preceding 14 weeks.
The authors seem – at first glance – to have pretty solid credentials. Janette Sherman, M.D. worked for the Atomic Energy Commission (forerunner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) at the University of California in Berkeley, and for the U.S. Navy Radiation Defense Laboratory in San Francisco. She served on the EPA’s advisory board for 6 years, and has been an advisor to the National Cancer Institute on breast cancer. Dr. Sherman specializes in internal medicine and toxicology with an emphasis on chemicals and nuclear radiation.
Joseph J. Mangano is a public health administrator and researcher who has studied the connection between low-dose radiation exposure and subsequent risk of diseases such as cancer and damage to newborns. He has published numerous articles and letters in medical and other journals in addition to books, including Low Level Radiation and Immune System Disorders: An Atomic Era Legacy.
Sherman also claims that a study in British Columbia of infants under 1 year of age allegedly corroborates the increased deaths due to Fukushima:
But a Scientific American blog post and Med Page Today slam the study as being voodoo science. However, Scientific American does admit:
Certainly radiation from Fukushima is dangerous, and could very well lead to negative health effects—even across the Pacific.
What Do Other Experts Say?
Pediatrician Helen Caldicott said recently:
May I say that North America has received quite a large fallout itself.
We’re going to see an incredible increase in cancer, leukemia, and — down the time track — genetic disease. Not just in Japan but in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly North America.
Caldicott also wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed:
Children are innately sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of radiation, fetuses even more so. Like Chernobyl, the accident at Fukushima is of global proportions. Unusual levels of radiation have been discovered in British Columbia, along the West Coast and East Coast of the United States and in Europe, and heavy contamination has been found in oceanic waters.
Nuclear engineer Gunderson says that the Japanese will suffer one million cancer deaths from Fukushima, and that we’ll see a statistically meaningful increase in cancer on the West Coast of America and Canada from Fukushima. Gundersen says that – after Japan – the most radioactive areas are the Cascades and Portland.
There is certainly evidence that West Coast residents – especially in Seattle, Portland and other areas near the Cascades – have been hit with some radiation. And there is certainly evidence that radioactive contamination has spread in the United States, and will continue to spread for some time to come.
Why Is The Science So Hotly Debated?
Why is there so much dispute about the number of deaths which Fukushima could cause on the West Coast?
Because radiation safety standards are set based on the assumption that everyone exposed is a healthy man in his 20s – and that radioactive particles ingested into the body cause no more damage than radiation hitting the outside of the body.
However – in the real world – radiation affects small children much more than full-grown adults. And small particles of radiation – called “internal emitters” – which get inside the body are much more dangerous than general exposures to radiation. See this and this.
In addition, American and Canadian authorities have virtually stopped monitoring airborn radiation, and are not testing fish for radiation. (Indeed, the EPA reacted to Fukushima by raising “acceptable” radiation levels.)
So – as in Japan – radiation is usually discovered by citizens and the handful of research scientists with funding to check, and not the government. See this, this, this, this, this and this.
The Japanese government’s entire strategy from day one has been to cover up the severity of the Fukushima accident. This has likely led to unnecessary, additional deaths.
Indeed, the core problem is that all of the world’s nuclear agencies are wholly captured by the nuclear industry … as are virtually all of the supposedly independent health agencies.
So the failure of the American, Canadian and other governments to test for and share results is making it difficult to hold an open scientific debate about what is happening.
First this, from Vancouver:
http://www.straight.com/blogra/398066/f ... level-year
This report is particularly concerning to those of us on the west coast:
http://www.infowars.com/study-fukushima ... americans/
Study: Fukushima Radiation Has Already Killed 14,000 Americans
May 22, 2013
Already 14,000 U.S. Deaths From Fukushima?
International Journal of Health Services alleges that 14,000 people have already died in the United States due to Fukushima.
Specifically, the authors of the study claim:
An estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the United States are linked to the radioactive fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, according to a major new article in the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services. This is the first peer-reviewed study published in a medical journal documenting the health hazards of Fukushima.[The authors] note that their estimate of 14,000 excess U.S. deaths in the 14 weeks after the Fukushima meltdowns is comparable to the 16,500 excess deaths in the 17 weeks after the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. The rise in reported deaths after Fukushima was largest among U.S. infants under age one. The 2010-2011 increase for infant deaths in the spring was 1.8 percent, compared to a decrease of 8.37 percent in the preceding 14 weeks.
The authors seem – at first glance – to have pretty solid credentials. Janette Sherman, M.D. worked for the Atomic Energy Commission (forerunner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) at the University of California in Berkeley, and for the U.S. Navy Radiation Defense Laboratory in San Francisco. She served on the EPA’s advisory board for 6 years, and has been an advisor to the National Cancer Institute on breast cancer. Dr. Sherman specializes in internal medicine and toxicology with an emphasis on chemicals and nuclear radiation.
Joseph J. Mangano is a public health administrator and researcher who has studied the connection between low-dose radiation exposure and subsequent risk of diseases such as cancer and damage to newborns. He has published numerous articles and letters in medical and other journals in addition to books, including Low Level Radiation and Immune System Disorders: An Atomic Era Legacy.
Sherman also claims that a study in British Columbia of infants under 1 year of age allegedly corroborates the increased deaths due to Fukushima:
But a Scientific American blog post and Med Page Today slam the study as being voodoo science. However, Scientific American does admit:
Certainly radiation from Fukushima is dangerous, and could very well lead to negative health effects—even across the Pacific.
What Do Other Experts Say?
Pediatrician Helen Caldicott said recently:
May I say that North America has received quite a large fallout itself.
We’re going to see an incredible increase in cancer, leukemia, and — down the time track — genetic disease. Not just in Japan but in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly North America.
Caldicott also wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed:
Children are innately sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of radiation, fetuses even more so. Like Chernobyl, the accident at Fukushima is of global proportions. Unusual levels of radiation have been discovered in British Columbia, along the West Coast and East Coast of the United States and in Europe, and heavy contamination has been found in oceanic waters.
Nuclear engineer Gunderson says that the Japanese will suffer one million cancer deaths from Fukushima, and that we’ll see a statistically meaningful increase in cancer on the West Coast of America and Canada from Fukushima. Gundersen says that – after Japan – the most radioactive areas are the Cascades and Portland.
There is certainly evidence that West Coast residents – especially in Seattle, Portland and other areas near the Cascades – have been hit with some radiation. And there is certainly evidence that radioactive contamination has spread in the United States, and will continue to spread for some time to come.
Why Is The Science So Hotly Debated?
Why is there so much dispute about the number of deaths which Fukushima could cause on the West Coast?
Because radiation safety standards are set based on the assumption that everyone exposed is a healthy man in his 20s – and that radioactive particles ingested into the body cause no more damage than radiation hitting the outside of the body.
However – in the real world – radiation affects small children much more than full-grown adults. And small particles of radiation – called “internal emitters” – which get inside the body are much more dangerous than general exposures to radiation. See this and this.
In addition, American and Canadian authorities have virtually stopped monitoring airborn radiation, and are not testing fish for radiation. (Indeed, the EPA reacted to Fukushima by raising “acceptable” radiation levels.)
So – as in Japan – radiation is usually discovered by citizens and the handful of research scientists with funding to check, and not the government. See this, this, this, this, this and this.
The Japanese government’s entire strategy from day one has been to cover up the severity of the Fukushima accident. This has likely led to unnecessary, additional deaths.
Indeed, the core problem is that all of the world’s nuclear agencies are wholly captured by the nuclear industry … as are virtually all of the supposedly independent health agencies.
So the failure of the American, Canadian and other governments to test for and share results is making it difficult to hold an open scientific debate about what is happening.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
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http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima- ... tion/28870
But then here is an article from NY Times that says, basically, "Everything is fine. Don't worry." Is this just meant to dissuade fears and keep us calm or is it true? I surely would like to know that answer to that question.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/ ... radiation/
Experts Foresee No Detectable Health Impact from Fukushima Radiation
The levels of exposure to radiation following the leaks and explosions at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in 2011 were so low that they led today to this important conclusion from experts convened in Vienna by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation:
It is unlikely to be able to attribute any health effects in the future among the general public and the vast majority of workers.
Scientists had met all week to make final adjustments to a report on Fukushima radiation and health that will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly later this year.
Gray and silver storage tanks filled with radioactive wastewater are sprawling over the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.Kyodo News, via Associated Press Gray and silver storage tanks filled with radioactive wastewater are sprawling over the grounds of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The findings are even more definitive on the lack of risk than those in a World Health Organization report on the nuclear incident in February. An Associated Press account from a news conference following the meeting describes the difference:
Wolfgang Weiss, a senior member of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, …suggested the UNSCEAR study, carried out by 80 experts and with the involvement of five international organisations including the United Nations health agency, was based on information covering a longer period after the accident.
“So they (the WHO) didn’t have the full picture. We don’t have the full picture either but we have more than one year in addition,” he said.
Here’s more from the news release issued by the United Nations committee:
The additional exposures received by most Japanese people in the first year and subsequent years due to the radioactive releases from the accident are less than the doses received from natural background radiation (which is about 2.1 mSv per year). This is particularly the case for Japanese people living away from Fukushima, where annual doses of around 0.2 mSv from the accident are estimated, arising primarily through ingestion of radionuclides in food.
No radiation-related deaths or acute effects have been observed among nearly 25,000 workers (including TEPCO employees and contractors) involved at the accident site.
Given the small number of highly exposed workers, it is unlikely that excess cases of thyroid cancer due to radiation exposure would be detectable. Special health examinations will be given to workers with exposures above 100 mSv including annual monitoring of the thyroid, stomach, large intestine and lung for cancer as a means to monitor for potential late radiation-related health effects at the individual level.
The assessment also concluded that although the rate of exposures may have exceeded the levels for the onset of effects on plants and animals several times in the first few months following the accident, any effects are expected to be transient in nature, given their short duration. In general, the exposures on both marine and terrestrial non-human biota were too low for observable acute effects. [Read the rest.]
Of course, this is unlikely to reduce nuclear fears related to the disaster, given the deep roots of feelings about such risks. The factors shaping the large “dread to risk ratio” are only marginally affected by evolving science.
I also don’t imagine that Nancy Grace at CNN will provide an update to viewers of her fear-mongering proclamations about danger to Americans. But hopefully the news division at CNN, at least, will report on this welcome news.
To see the impact of fears on the ground in Japan, I recommend watching “In Japan, a Portrait of Mistrust,” a short “Op Doc” produced for The Times on public fears of contaminated food.
Increasing awareness of cancer cases in my immediate environment always gets me thinking of a possible link, but when these thoughts are vocalised I am always ridiculed, which I could understand if I was a conspiracy theorist in general...but no, this is my one and only subversive view...so be careful brianlux, your are one of the few I enjoy reading on this forum on a regular basis and I would hate for you to be put down for views that you have obviously taken time to research...best of luck... :shock:
Thanks you, Pjzepp67. My guess is the situation with Fukushima is unfavorable for our health and well being but I hesitate to say that for being labeled a "fear monger". I would be very happy to hear and have it proven beyond doubt that the radioactive fallout from both Chernobyl and Fukushima are less than harmful but I have yet to be convinced that is true. In any case, I'm going to up my intake of kelp and foods that contain potassium iodide and continue to take milk thistle.
I'm sorry to hear about the continued radiation concerns in Scotland and wish you well.
standard tool for those looking to keep people in the dark ...
WHITE PLAINS – The former chemistry manager at the Indian Point nuclear power plant was arrested on Tuesday and charged with falsifying records to conceal a violation of Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements of the facility.
Daniel Wilson, 57, of Walden, was responsible for making sure particulate matter in the diesel fuel used to power emergency generators at the facility did not exceed a set limit. In 2011, tests of the diesel fuel showed the particulate matter exceeded the NRC limit.
In February 2012, Wilson concealed facts from his employer and the NRC by fabricating test data for non-existent resamples of the diesel fuel, falsely showing that the resamples of diesel fuel tested below the applicable NRC limit. Investigation revealed that no such samples were taken and the purported test data were fabrications.
Later in February, Wilson responded to questioning from other employees at Indian Point in advance of an inspection by the NRC and wrote a report in which he gave a false explanation for the lack of supporting documentation for his fabricated tests.
In a later interview with NRC personnel, he admitted that he had fabricated the test results so that Indian Point would not have to shut down.
Wilson was charged in a two-count federal complaint with willfully violating rules of the NRC by engaging in deliberate misconduct and with making false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the NRC.
If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
...crazy.
Now when we are diagonoised with cancer and other diseases. We can blame ourselves for the variables we have introduced.
I returned today to the area that I had mentioned before that had the infected sheep,for the 1st time in about 3 years and whilst working in the back yard of one of our telecommunications customers I became embroiled in a conversation with the sub-40 year old lady owner of the house who proceeded to tell me of her battle against depression since losing her partner to...you guessed it...cancer last Christmas. I could only offer some very limited support(typical of a testosterone fuelled male, but we do our best) which seemed to have little effect, maybe some, but how do you raise such contentious political issues at this time...simple, you keep it to yourself for a later date with a more accepting audience...
Thanx for reading troops...thanks for your educational and supportive words...long live the forum.