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Thyroid disorders in 42% of Fukushima’s children

German TV: 42% of Fukushima children now with thyroid disorders — Official blames too much seafood? (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/german-tv-42-of-fukushima-children-now-with-thyroid-disorders-official-blames-too-much-seafood-video   German TV channel ZDF’s segment on the Fukushima Health Survey translated by SimplyInfo:

 November 19th, 2012 More than 42% of 57,000 tested children have nodules or cyst, reports Dr. Suzuki who leads the examinations. In Chernobyl they found only 0.1 – 1%. nobody of the experts asks for the reasons. […] He explains the results mainly by improved diagnosis methods, but people don’t believe him. […] There are no refererence [sic] studies, Dr. Suzuki tells us, and maybe the children simply took too much iodine or seafood. He doesn’t know if this has something to do with radiation. “We are mainly here to inform the parents of the results of our study.” But what do such results mean to parents without proper explanations? The official handling of the disaster is more than questionable. Many people have completely lost trust in government and believe that the disaster is played down to protect the mighty nuclear industry of Japan.

November 22, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Anxiety over radiation causes young Japanese to emigrate

Foreigners tended to assume Japan had bounced back from the triple disaster, and in some areas that was true. But many Japanese now had, for the first time, a deep distrust of their government. The extent of the radiation release from the Fukushima plant, and the barrage of significant aftershocks, have been sources of stress for the Japanese

 a woman in her early 40s, said she wanted to take her family to Australia or New Zealand because of the danger of radiation from the Fukushima disaster and the prospect of another quake.

 some radiation-conscious and well-researched New Lifers have even questioned Australia as a destination because it has a nuclear reactor

Quake, nuke, economy fears chase Japanese overseas BY: RICK WALLACE, TOKYO CORRESPONDENT  The Australian November 20, 2012  NEW figures reveal the number of Japanese leaving their homeland for a life abroad has more than tripled in the wake of last year’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. The number of Japanese living abroad jumped by more than 40,000 in the year to October last year, according to the latest Ministry of Foreign Affairs figures – more than three times the normal rate of growth.

Next year the number is likely to climb further, Continue reading →

November 21, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics, social effects | Leave a comment

Radiologists plan for conservative use of medical radiation – Image Wisely

Image Wisely urges nuclear medicine docs to take the pledge Dot Med News, November 20, 2012 by Brendon Nafziger , DOTmed News Associate Editor A campaign by radiologists to encourage health care providers to expose patients to less ionizing radiation is urging nuclear medicine doctors and technicians to take the pledge.

Image Wisely announced Wednesday that it worked with the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, its technologist section, and the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology to create online documents to help providers use the lowest dose of radiopharmaceuticals
necessary to take a scan. …..
The campaign asks providers to agree to a four-point pledge: to perform nuclear medicine procedures only when clinically indicated; individualize administered doses; take steps to minimize radiation dose; and become familiar with the radiopharmaceutical’s recommended
administered activity. …
The pledge can be taken by radiologists, technologists, referring physicians, imaging facilities and medical associations. As of this writing, 15,881 pledges have been taken, according to the
organization.

The Image Wisely campaign was created by the American College of Radiology, the Radiological Society of North America, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists.  http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/19948/

November 21, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

Further confirmation of the health harm from low level ionising radiation

Even low-level radioactivity is damaging  http://www.sc.edu/news/newsarticle.php?nid=5214#.UKp7zOR9JLv Broad analysis of many radiation studies finds no exposure threshold that precludes harm to life By Steven Powell, spowell2@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-1923

Even the very lowest levels of radiation are harmful to life, scientists have concluded in the Cambridge Philosophical Society’s journal Biological Reviews. Reporting the results of a wide-ranging analysis of 46 peer-reviewed studies published over the past 40 years, researchers from the University of South Carolina and the University of Paris-Sud found that variation in low-level, natural background radiation had small, but highly statistically significant, negative effects on DNA as well as several measures of health. Continue reading →

November 19, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health | Leave a comment

Low level radiation increased leukaemia risk for nuclear cleanup workers

Chernobyl study shows need for caution in Fukushima
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121114f2.html# UKO27Xhzxqg.twitter Kyodo A study released Thursday by a U.S. research team links protracted exposure to low-level radiation to a higher risk of leukemia among workers engaged in the cleanup of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and points to the need to protect those involved in dealing with the Fukushima crisis.
Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | employment, health, Japan, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Scotland’s radiation contaminated zone has high rate of cancer

the increase in rates of two types of the disease – liver cancer and lymphoma – is of genuine concern.

A full investigation to establish the extent of links between radioactive  contamination and cancer rates, if any, is now required.

A compelling case for transparency on radiation risk, Herald Scotland 12 Nov 12 The slow drip of worrying news about the radioactive contamination at Dalgety Bay does nothing for the people of Fife but engender fear. Today’s revelations in the Sunday Herald that Government scientists have discovered a near-doubling in the incidence of cancers among people living near the contaminated zone will inevitably cause disquiet locally. Continue reading →

November 12, 2012 Posted by | health, UK | Leave a comment

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus – high rates near uranium processing plant

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center sought to explain an excessive number of lupus cases reported in a community five miles from a former uranium plant in Fernald, Ohio

“What prompted us was the knowledge that lupus patients may be sensitive to sunlight and irradiation, in addition to literature hinting that miners may be at increased risk for developing lupus,”

HIGH LUPUS RATES NEAR FORMER URANIUM ORE PLANT, OmGlobe.com, 11/10/2012 – High rates of systemic lupus erythematosus have been linked to living in proximity to a former uranium ore processing facility in Ohio, according to new research findings presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Systemic lupus erythematosus, also called SLE or lupus, is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, nervous system, and/or other organs of the body. The most common symptoms include skin rashes and arthritis, often accompanied by fatigue and fever. Lupus occurs mostly in women, typically developing in individuals in their twenties and thirties – prime child-bearing age. Continue reading →

November 12, 2012 Posted by | health, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Low dose radiation increases risk of leukaemia, new research shows

LEUKEMIA RISK INCREASED BY LOW DOSE RADIATION: CHERNOBYL STUDY
http://www.omglobe.com/2012/11/08/leukemia-risk-increased-by-low-dose-radiation-chernobyl-study/  Lydia Zablotska, MD, PhD 11/8/2012 A 20-year study following 110,645 workers who helped clean up after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in the former Soviet territory of Ukraine shows that the workers share a significant increased risk of developing leukemia.

The results may help scientists better define cancer risk associated with low doses of radiation from medical diagnostic radiation procedures such as computed tomography scans and other sources.

In the journal Environmental Health Perspectives this week, an international team led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Chernobyl Research Unit at the Radiation Epidemiology Branch of the National Cancer Institute describes the increased risks of leukemia among these workers between 1986 and 2006.

The risk included a greater-than-expected number of cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which many experts did not consider to be associated with radiation exposure in the past.
The new work is the largest and longest study to date involving Chernobyl cleanup workers who worked at or near the nuclear complex in the aftermath of the accident. Continue reading →

November 9, 2012 Posted by | employment, health, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Women of Fukushima speak out

Filmmaker: Hope is hard to come by in Fukushima — To this day women having abortions for fear of genetic damage, families breaking up http://enenews.com/fukushima-filmmaker-to-this-day-women-having-abortions-for-fear-of-genetic-damage
November 6th, 2012 Title: Production Notes 
Source: ‘Women of Fukushima’ website

The full ramifications of the aftermath of the disaster that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011 will take decades to unfold. Having shifted from the initial visceral drama to a more long-term, almost invisible threat, there is a real risk that the situations faced by residents of Fukushima Prefecture will simply vanish from the radar screens of the world’s media (or, in the case of Japanese media, remain non-existent). To this day, as a result of the meltdowns, children can’t play outside, families are breaking up, and women are even having abortions for fear of genetic damage to their unborn children. Hope is hard to come by in Fukushima.

However, after meeting a group of outspoken local women, we were compelled to capture their spirit and stories. […]
One month after the explosion, Kazue Morizono of Koriyama, fell sick with symptoms of vomiting, cold sores, diarrhea and joint pain. She was bedridden for months, but upon recovery she was out in full force, speaking up at public meetings and making heartfelt appeals to government and electric company officials— all of which fell on deaf ears. Vibrant, compassionate, angry and hurt, Morizono, like all of the Women of Fukushima, bears the burden of keeping the children safe.

“The government is 80-90% men and they are making all the decisions. It’s time for them to become enlightened to the fact that they are wrong. I want them to listen to us women; the women need to speak up, I feel that very strongly.”

November 9, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, women | Leave a comment

Ionising radiation – the killer for super fast space travel

Super-Fast Space Travel Would Kill You In Minutes http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/11/super-fast-space-travel-would-kill-you-in-minutes/ JAMIE CONDLIFFE, 6 Nov 12, Everyone thinks it would be cool to travel at the speed of light, which is why scientists devote their lives to working out if it would be possible and NASA is trying to develop its own warp drive. But easy, tiger: turns out super-fast space travel would be fatal. A paper published in Natural Science  brings some boring common sense to the speed-of-light-travel table. In order to travel huge distances in next to no time, people need to travel close to the speed of light. In so doing, travellers cover extremely large distances very quickly, and thanks to the quirks of relativity, it would feel like it took mere minutes because of an effect known as time dilation , which squashes perceived time.

The trouble is that travelling close to the speed of light brings about other effects too. In Natural Science , Edelstein and Edelstein point out that hydrogen in any craft cable of travelling at the speed of light would also prevent it from travelling at the speed of light. They explain :

Unfortunately, as spaceship velocities approach the speed of light, interstellar hydrogen H, although only present at a density of approximately 1.8 atoms/cm3, turns into intense radiation that would quickly kill passengers and destroy electronic instrumentation. In addition, the energy loss of ionizing radiation passing through the ship’s hull represents an increasing heat load that necessitates large expenditures of energy to cool the ship.

In other words, travel close to the speed of light and you’ll be bombarded with so much radiation that you kick the bucket. The knock-on effect is that even if it’s possible to create a craft capable of travelling close the speed of light, it wouldn’t be able to transport people.

Instead, there’s a natural speed limit imposed by safe levels of radiation due to hydrogen, which means humans couldn’t travel faster than half the speed of light unless they were willing to die almost immediately. Dammit. [Natural Science ]

November 6, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health, Reference, technology | Leave a comment

Death and illness rate in Chernobyl’s fallout area

Chernobyl Children Fukushima Children  1995 “At a press conference on Tuesday, April 25, acting Health Minister Andriy Serdiuk told reporters that the total number of deaths among victims of the Chornobyl accident in the period between 1988 and 1994 is more than 125,000.” The ministry also released the sobering results of research it had conducted among 1 million residents in the three regions most affected by Chornobyl’s fallout. In the Kyyiv, Zhytomyr and Rivne oblasts, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased 200 percent; heart disease by 75 percent; respiratory diseases by 130 percent; and gastrointestinal ailments by 280 percent. In addition, the ministry noted that the death rate among inhabitants of the three-oblast region had increased by 15.7 percent since the 1986 catastrophe.”http://tekknorg.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/ukraines-ministry-of-health-125000-chernobyl-deaths-between-1988-and-1994/

November 6, 2012 Posted by | health, history, Reference, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Plight of Fukushima’s heroic emergency workers

Nuclear workers in Japan Heroism and humility Meet the “Fukushima 50”, the men on the front line of the nuclear disaster The Economist Oct 27th 2012 | TOKYO |  ACCORDING to his friends, the man in charge of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear-power plant during the 2011 disaster, Masao Yoshida, says it felt like being on Iwo Jima. That is the North Pacific island heroically defended by the Japanese in 1945 but doomed to fall to the Americans.

His two underlings, Atsufumi Yoshizawa and Masatoshi Fukura, do not portray the struggle quite so graphically. In their first interviews since the disaster, they spoke of the sense of responsibility of the so-called Fukushima 50, those who risked their lives to fight the soaring levels of radiation coming out of the plant in the hours and days after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th last year. They were driven, especially, by a desire to protect the local communities in which many of their families lived.

Yet the Fukushima 50, despite heroic efforts, still suffer from the complex of emotions that soldiers might experience when returning from a losing battle. A sense of shame and stigmatisation lingers.  Continue reading →

October 26, 2012 Posted by | Religion and ethics, social effects | Leave a comment

French research confirms childhood leukaemia rates up, near nuclear power plants

Fukushima’s Hot Water: Now Fallout in Our Kitchens? On The Issue,   by Kimberly Roberson, 21 Oct 12, “……Just this year, French researchers confirmed that childhood leukemia rates are greatly elevated among children living near nuclear power plants. The January 2012 International Journal of Cancer published the study,Childhood Leukemia Around French Nuclear Power Plants — the Geocap Study 2002-2007.

The inherent function of nuclear reactors requires routine invisible releases of cancer-causing radionuclides via the towers. Researchers also continue to see increases in cancer clusters — especially of thyroid cancer, breast cancer and leukemia — in areas near nuclear power plants.

In addition, how to handle the waste from nuclear power plants is still unsolved. The question is: how to safely store the millions of pounds of so-called “spent fuel” created by nuclear power production. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was recently forced to halt licenses for new nuclear plants until a solution can be found to store deadly radioactive waste that will remain hazardous for millennia at best. http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/2012fall/2012fall_Roberson.php

October 22, 2012 Posted by | France, health | Leave a comment

USA: X ray scanners being phased out at major airports

Horrid X-Ray Body Scanner Are Finally Being Replaced http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/10/horrid-x-ray-body-scanner-are-finally-being-replaced/
MARIO AGUILAR 19 Oct 12, The maybe useless and definitely invasive X-ray body scanners at major airports across the US are being replaced with new models that don’t blast you with a bomb of radiation. Coincidentally, the new scanners won’t allow the TSA to see your junk anymore, too.

 

Pro Publica reports  that backscatter machines have already been replaced at Boston Logan International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago O’Hare, Orlando and JFK in New York, The new millimeter-wave scanners just give you a once over with low-energy radiation. The resulting image inspected by TSA looks like a cartoon rather than a humiliating silhouette of shower-you.

Before your get all excited that health, safety, and privacy concerns have prevailed, let us clarify: The old backscatter machines aren’t being landfilled. Instead, they’re being moved to smaller airports where they’ll see less traffic. Good news for many, bad news for the unfortunate few. [Pro Publica ]

October 20, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

US marines try to deal with dangers of ionising radiation

Marines learn how to detect invisible threat during course DVIDS 18 Oct 12 CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – Deadly radiation kills if it goes undetected, so it falls upon specially trained Marines to alert units of the unseen danger.

More than 30 Marines from various units within the 2nd Marine Logistics Group learned how to counter radiation by using the AN/PDR-77 during the Monitor Survey Reconnaissance Course here, from Oct. 15 to 18.

“Every unit is responsible for having a select number of Marines who are certified with this equipment,” said Sgt. Steven D. Potts, a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense specialist with Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd MLG.

It could possibly save the lives of many servicemembers, he added.
CBRN defense specialists trained the Marines to use the AN/PDR-77, a small, box-shaped sensor that detects alpha, beta, gamma and X-ray radiation.

“This [course] provides a tool for the commanding officer if we ever face a CBRN attack,” said Sgt. Jason L. Stacy, a CBRN defense specialist with CLR-27, 2nd MLG. “These reconnaissance teams can find the extent of the contamination or radiation, what type of chemical is present or how much radiation is present, and we can use the area or find a clean route through or around it.”  http://www.dvidshub.net/news/96383/marines-learn-detect-invisible-threat-during-course#.UIG0yW_A9dM#ixzz29mIcEJOX

October 19, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

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