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Yes Virginia, UNSCEAR DOES say that radiation causes child cancers

“It is not recommended to use the same generalizations used for adults when considering the risks and effects of radiation exposure during childhood,”

infants and children have smaller body diameters, and their organs are less shielded by overlying tissues, with the same exposure the doses to their internal organs is higher than that to an adult. 

Effects of radiation exposure of children, relief web 25 Nov 13 Report from UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation Published on 25 Oct 2013 — View Original Publication of Volume II of the UNSCEAR 2013 Report Risk following exposure to radiation differs for adults and children, says UNSCEAR report Vienna 24 October 2013 (UN Information Service) – “Doses received by children and adults from the same source of ionizing radiation can have differing impacts, and therefore, should be considered separately in order to predict risk following exposure more accurately for children,” was the main thrust of the report “Effects of radiation exposure of children” presented today at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The report, which has been prepared by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), has been in preparation over the last two years (since 2011) and was presented today to the UN General Assembly as part of the Report of the 60th session of UNSCEAR to the General Assembly. “Because of their anatomical and physiological differences, radiation exposure has a different impact on children compared with adults,” said Dr. Fred Mettler, Chair of the Expert Group on the UNSCEAR Report on Effects of Radiation Exposure of Children.

He presented the report as a valuable resource for the international medical and scientific community, because as such, children are generally assessed along with adults in epidemiological studies and comprehensive overviews of the effect of radiation on children are generally unavailable. The report highlights some important issues. For instance, for a given radiation dose, infants and children are more at risk than adults of developing a variety of tumours. This risk is, generally, not always immediate but extends later into life.

In all, the Committee reviewed 23 cancer types in their report, some of which are highly relevant for evaluating the radiological consequences of nuclear accidents and of some medical procedures. Children were found to be more sensitive than adults for the development of about 25 per cent of tumour types including leukaemia, and thyroid, brain and breast cancer. The risk can be significantly higher, depending on circumstances. On the other hand, for about 15 per cent of cancer types such as colon, children were found to have the same radiation sensitivity as adults, and for 10 per cent of cancer types, such as those affecting the lungs, children were less sensitive than adults. Data were too weak to reach any conclusions for 20 per cent of cancers such as those affecting the oesophagus and there was a weak or non-existent link between exposure and risk at any age for 30 per cent of cancers such as those of the prostate, rectum and uterus or Hodgkin’s disease –

November 29, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, children, Reference