nuclear-news

NewEra.com.na

Arandis Cancer Cases: A Link to Rössing’s Mining Activities?
New Era By Catherine Sasman 27th of October 2008 – “……………………….a recent study by LaRRi, Uranium Mining: The Mystery Behind ‘Low Level Radiation’ … considers environmental and health concerns linked to uranium mining.

It also reports on interviews conducted with over 50 former and current employees of the Rössing Uranium Mine that now suffer from cancer and although it does not find a direct causal link to these cancer cases reported mostly in Arandis, the coincidences said LaRRi are uncanny and worrying.
“These illnesses are not coincidental,” said LaRRi Director, Hilma Shindondola-Mote…………………………………….Earthlife Namibia is also concerned that more mining in especially the environmentally fragile Erongo Region could place bird species and plant life – including the Welwitschia plant – at risk of extinction, that there could be a drop of water levels as more mining would mean more water consumption, that desalination plans could affect marine life, and that more traffic in the area could mean the production of more dust.
Another concern is that increased mining could affect the tourism industry as well……………………….Feedback from the former and current workers interviewed in the LaRRi study are that Rössing Uranium – considered in the study as the oldest uranium mine in the country – did not provide “satisfactory” information about the link between exposure to radiation and possible health problems…………………..workers reported exposure to dust and radon gas “on a daily basis”, which has been ascribed to cases of tuberculosis and lung cancer cases that have emerged years later.

“The majority of those with cancer have worked at the mine in the 1970s and early 1980s,” said Shindondola-Mote.

NewEra.com.na

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radioactive, uranium

October 28, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment