Eastern European scientists’ studiesshed new light on Chernobyl nuclear radiation

In the end, it would seem prudent to seriously consider the potential role played by radioactive contaminants as a contributor to the array of human morbidities that Dr. Yablokov has uncovered within the previously hidden scientific literature of Eastern Europe.

We should all be very grateful for this infusion of important information to discussions related to the health and environmental consequences of radiological events. Lessons learned from Chernobyl are particularly relevant now as society grapples with a prognosis for the impacts of the Fukushima disaster and its implications for the future of nuclear energy.

Perspectives on Chernobyl and Fukushima Health Effects: Journal of Health and Pollution, Vol 3 June 2013 What Can Be Learned From Eastern European Research?

http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/chernobyl/papers/Mousseau-Moller-JHP-2013.pdf

Timothy Mousseau, PhD1

Anders Pape Møller, PhD2

1 University of South Carolina,

Columbia, SC U.S.A.

2 CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay,

France

This is part of the first half of the monograph: “A Critical Analysis of the Concept of an ‘Effective Dose’ of Radiation”. The monograph in its entirety features two review papers from prominent Russian

scientist Alexey Yablokov looking critically at the current standards of human radiation

safety, accompanied by two editorials presenting a point/counterpoint perspective on Professor Yablokov’s work.

The second

paper and editorial will be published in the

next issue, due later this year.

It is now evident that much more

is known concerning the health

and ecological consequences of

radioactive contaminants than is being

acknowledged or appreciated by the

mainstream scientific and regulatory

communities.

This became apparent

following the 2005 publication of the

influential Chernobyl Forum report, in

which a large body of literature from

Eastern Europe was ignored and an

attempt was made to downplay efforts

to predict health outcomes for human

populations living downwind from the

Chernobyl disaster.1-5 The Chernobyl

Forum report suggested, largely in the

absence of supporting data, that the

disaster’s net ecological consequences

for flora and fauna was positive because

of reduced anthropogenic influences

(i.e. the so-called DMZ Effect, named

after the phenomenon of wildlife

proliferation in the demilitarized

no-man’s-land between North and

South Korea) and that the reported

diverse array of human morbidities

in the region were largely the result

of stress and environmental factors

beyond radiation (e.g., smoking and

alcoholism).

Critical analysis of this

report reveals that these statements

were included, and perhaps tolerated

by the majority of participants, because

of a lack of Western peer-reviewed

scientific literature to refute them.

However, an evidence-based approach

to public policy development cannot

rely on ignorance as its foundation. If

information necessary for informed

public policy is absent or meager

then an appropriate response is to

acknowledge this deficiency and

commission the needed research to

meet societal needs.

Yablokov’s final contribution to this

series, to be published in the next issue

of the Journal of Health & Pollution,

draws extensively from his NYAS book.

In it, he explores the wide range of

morbidities that have been associated

with radioactive contaminants in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. A key

message from this piece is that it is

important to investigate the full range

of health effects, not just cancers.

When taken collectively, there is a

diverse array of studies that provide

strong evidence of large biological and

public health impacts associated with

the Chernobyl disaster. These studies

have largely been overlooked and not

effectively considered when it comes to

regulatory discussions of “safe” levels

of exposure to radiation.

Many of these

non-cancer effects may not have yet

been demonstrated to directly associate

with human mortality (e.g., radiation

damage to chromosomes). But where

there is smoke, usually there is fire, and

it is intuitively obvious to any biologist

that genetic damage is often a prelude

to larger consequences for the organism

or its descendants.

It is precisely for this reason that health surveillance

programs of workers involved in the

nuclear industry and nuclear medical

fields utilize bio-dosimetric methods

involving estimates of genetic damage

Ukraine, Belarus and Russia……

…………….In the end, it would seem prudent to seriously consider the potential role played by radioactive contaminants as a contributor to the array of human morbidities that Dr. Yablokov has uncovered within the previously hidden scientific literature of Eastern Europe.

November 5, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, radiation, Reference

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