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Renewed warning on health danger of backscatter radiation airport scanners

Congressman warns about radiation from airport scanners
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/08/29/congressman-warns-about-radiation-from-airport-scanners/#ixzz254nu2sD9 August 29, 2012 FoxNews.com As the busy end-of-summer travel period is getting underway, a New York congressman says the airport security scanners that millions of travelers are going through have health risks.
Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) is calling on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to investigate risks from Backscatter X-ray machines.
Rep. Israel was planning a Tuesday morning news conference to warn of potential health risks when entering full-body Backscatter X-ray scanners at airport security.
He claims the risk is especially high for young children and pregnant women.

Backscatter X-ray machines detect radiation that reflects from a subject instead of traditional machines that transmit through the target.
244 of the scanners are being used at 36 airports across the country, according to Israel.  The TSA has called the machines safe.

August 30, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

Facing up to the reality of Fukushima radiation, and its effect on children

The Nuclear Sacrifice of Our Children: 14 recommendations to help radiationcontaminated Japan  http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/08/the-nuclear-sacrifice-of-our-children-14-recommendations-to-help-radiation-contaminated-japan.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-nuclear-sacrifice-of-our-children-14-recommendations-to-help-radiation-contaminated-japan    By Helen Caldicott, M.D. 24 Aug 12
 
When I visited Cuba in 1979, I was struck by the number of roadside billboards that declared ”Our children are our national treasure.”  (Dr. Helen Caldicott is a pediatrician specializing in cystic fibrosis and the founding president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, part of a larger umbrella group that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.)
This resonated with me as a pediatrician, and of course it is true. But as Akio Matsumura said in his article, our children are presently being sacrificed  for the political and nuclear agenda of the United Nations, for the political survival of politicians who are mostly male, and for “national security.” The problem with the world today is that scientists have left the average person way behind in their level of understanding of science, and specifically how the misapplication of science, in particular nuclear science, has and will destroy much of the ecosphere and also human health.

The truth is that most politicians, businessmen, engineers and nuclear physicists have no innate understanding of radiobiology and the way radiation induces cancer, congenital malformations and genetic diseases which are passed generation to generation.  Nor do they recognize that children are 20 times more radiosensitive than adults, girls twice as vulnerable as little boys and fetuses much more so.

Hence the response of Japanese politicians to the Fukushima disaster has been ludicrously irresponsible, not just because of their fundamental ignorance but because of their political ties with TEPCO and the nuclear industry which tends to orchestrate a large part of the Japanese political agenda.

Because the Fukushima accident released 2.5 to 3 times more radiation than Chernobyl and because Japan is far more densely populated than the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and because one million people have died within 25 years as a result of Chernobyl, we expect to see more than one million Japanese casualties over the next 25 years.  But the incubation time for cancer after radiation exposure varies from 2 to 90 years in this generation.  These facts also apply to all future generations in Japan that will be exposed to a radioactive environment and radioactive food.

It seems that the people in charge in Japan are busily ignoring or covering up these ghastly medical predictions and deciding in their ignorance that people can return to live highly contaminated areas or else remain living there.  Even areas of Tokyo are recording dangerous radioactive isotopes that originated in Fukushima in house-dust, in plants, and in street soil. Continue reading →

August 27, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Beyond evacuation zone, high levels of radiation in Fukushima residents

Fukushima Residents With Exposures As High As Chernobyl Areas http://www.simplyinfo.org/?p=7187August 24th, 2012 Two couples from outside the evacuation zones have shown with some of the highest internal radiation exposure to date in Japan. One couple lives in Nihonmatsu, the other in Kawamata-machi.

Kawamata-machi
man 19,507 becquerels
his wife 7,724 becquerels
Nihonmatsu City
man 11,191 becquerels
his wife 6,771 becquerels

Dr. Tsubokura, one of the doctors conducting the exposure scans on residents said these levels are similar to internal exposure seen in Belarus.

The couples have been eating home grown mushrooms, bamboo shoots and local persimmons. The mushrooms were grown on logs from Namie, a highly contaminated area in the evacuation zone. It was not clear if they logs were gathered before the nuclear disaster or not. EX-SKF mentions they may not have understood the risks in doing this. Most of the elderly rely on TV and print newspapers for information, both sources have downplayed the risks in the region.

There may be more instances of high radiation in elderly residents. Many have been reluctant to leave or felt their age would spare them from the long term effects of radiation exposure. It is giving researchers a contrasting group of exposures that hint what could have happened to more residents had food restrictions not been implemented.

August 25, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, health, Japan | Leave a comment

UNSCEAR to investigate radiation impact of Fukushima nuclear disaster

Next December Carl-Magnus Larsson, head of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, takes over as UNSCEAR chairman.UNSCEAR has been the go-to body for such complex, high-profile investigations since it was established by the UN General Assembly in 1955 under the chairmanship of Australian radiation expert Cecil Eddy…. the Fukushima report .. will be presented to the [United Nations] General Assembly late next year.

Radiation risks high in Japan http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/radiation-risks-high-in-japan/story-e6frg8y6-1226456949429 BY: LEIGH DAYTON   The Australian August 25, 2012 IT’S hard to believe, but earlier this month the power company that runs Japan’s devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant revealed that five people working on the clean-up had covered their radiation detectors with lead, rendering them useless.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company said the five were contracted by a subcontractor of a – yes – subcontractor and were not even authorised to work at the plant. Other workers were found not to have used dosimeters at all. Continue reading →

August 25, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Overuse of medical radiation lifts cancer rates

Medical Radiation Soars, With Risks Often Overlooked NYT, By JANE E. BRODY AUGUST 20, 2012, Radiation, like alcohol, is a double-edged sword. It has indisputable medical advantages: Radiation can reveal hidden problems, from broken bones and lung lesions to heart defects and tumors. And it can be used to treat and sometimes cure certain cancers.

But it also has a potentially serious medical downside: the ability to damage DNA and, 10 to 20 years later, to cause cancer. CT scans alone, which deliver 100 to 500 times the radiation associated with an ordinary X-ray and now provide three-fourths of Americans’ radiation exposure, are believed to account for 1.5 percent of all cancers that occur in the United States. Continue reading →

August 23, 2012 Posted by | health, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

Problem of doctors referring patients to radiation clinics that they own

Doctors Who ‘Self-Refer’ to Radiation Clinics Add to Patients’ Burden: Study
In Texas, prostate cancer patients had to travel longer distances to use physician-affiliated center   Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) — The practice of referring a cancer patient to a radiation clinic with links to the referring doctor can be difficult for patients, a new study finds.

The study focused on urologists in Texas. It found that the practice caused some men with prostate cancer to travel more than three times farther to receive the treatment they needed.
The researchers said the findings call into question this practice, known as physician self-referral, and highlight concerns about the increase in urology-owned radiation oncology practices.
“Travel time to cancer care centers is crucial, especially for older men with advanced disease, because external radiation therapy often requires daily treatment for six to eight weeks,” Dr. Colleen Lawton, president-elect of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, said in a   news release from the organization. …..

The study is published in the Sept. 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.

More information The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has more about physician self-referral. http://www.ivillage.com/doctors-who-self-refer-radiation-clinics-add-patients-burden-study/4-a-482061#ixzz24P9awDtk

August 23, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | Leave a comment

Areas of naturally high radiation have also higher cancer rates

2004 Study: Two of Brazil’s High Background Radiation Areas Have Higher Cancer Mortality Via : http://ex-skf.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/2004-study-two-of-brazils-high.html quote:  APRIL 14, 2012

I have been told numerous times that “People in naturally high background radiation areas in the world suffer no ill effect from the high radiation.” I just stumbled upon one study in 2004 on such areas in Brazil.

Conclusion of this particular study: Cancer mortality in “Poços de Caldas, and Guarapari is higher than would be expected for their respective reference population”, whereas “cancer mortality for the Araxá population is lower than would be expected”.

International Congress Series
Volume 1276, Pages 3-468 (February 2005)
Link http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/05315131/1276

High Levels of Natural Radiation and Radon Areas: Radiation Dose and Health Effects, Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on High Levels of Natural Radiation and Radon Areas, Osaka, Japan
6–10 September 2004… http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/2004-study-two-of-brazils-high-background-radiation-areas-have-higher-cancer-mortality/

August 23, 2012 Posted by | Brazil, health | Leave a comment

Can we trust Nuclear Regulatory Commission to study radiation risks?

Nuclear Regulatory Commission may study power plant health risks Agency considers conducting a large-scale epidemiological study of whether living near a nuclear power plant, such as San Onofre,  raises health risks. Doing so would pose major challenges.By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times August 18, 2012,  
The last time federal officials assessed cancer rates in the communities surrounding nuclear power plants, they concluded that radiation releases were insignificant and health risks, if any, were too small to measure.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissionhas been relying on the results of that 1990 National Cancer Institute study ever since to inform the public about cancer risks posed by the 104 licensed reactors it governs nationwide.

Now, in response to growing concerns that using uranium in the production of electrical energy may be dangerous even without accidents, the NRC is trying to decide if it should launch one of the largest epidemiological studies ever conducted to determine if it is a
health risk to live near a nuclear facility — such as the San Onofre plant in north San Diego County….. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0818-sanonofre-cancer-20120819,0,3382517.story

August 20, 2012 Posted by | Canada, health | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation effects – grassroots reports

Fukushima Radioactive Contamination Symptoms Research By  /    http://nowarnow.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/fukushima-radioactive-contamination-symptoms-research/19 August, 2012 /   Mirror of Newsletter at  http://frcsrnewsletter.blogspot.com/

In the last ten days, there were multiple reports of changes in white blood cell counts.  In Fukushima-city, 60 kilometers from ground zero, a five-year-old child is already hospitalized with leukemia.  At a Tokyo private medical clinic 250 kilometers from ground zero, it is reported that 700 children have had leukopenia since last April.  This constitutes 80% of children who were seen at this clinic.  There is no end to occurrences of infectious diseases, especially rubella, and reported cases are triple what was reported last year and previous years, according to a summary by Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Reports from members of the general public Continue reading →

August 20, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Disease and death toll from Fukushima radiation needs careful, patient, tracking

[in the 12 months after Fukushima]  an excess of 38,700 Japanese deaths, with no obvious cause.

Nobody should yet race to conclusions that 38,700 Japanese died from Fukushima exposure in the first year after the disaster.  

The final element needed before conclusions are made is patience; vital statistics must continue to be tracked, and compared with radiation exposures to the Japanese people.

[In 2009] A team of Russian researchers, led by Dr. Alexey Yablokov, published results of 5,000 reports and articles on Chernobyl – many in Russian languages never before made public. Yahlokov’s team concluded that near Chernobyl, increases in disease sand deaths were observed for nearly every human organ system.

Let the Counting Begin Fukushima’s Nuclear Casualties http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/08/15/fukushimas-nuclear-casualties/ by JOSEPH MANGANO, 15 Aug 12 It’s been nearly 18 months since the disastrous nuclear meltdown at Fukushima.  There have been many reports on the huge amounts of radioactivity escaping into the air and water, unusually high levels in air, water, and soil – along with atypically high levels of toxic chemicals in food – that actually “passed” government inspection and wasn’t banned like some other food.

Conspicuously absent are reports on effects of radiation exposure on the health of the Japanese people.  Have any health officials publicly announced post-March 2011 numbers on fetal deaths, infant deaths, premature births, birth defects, cancer, or other health conditions? The answer so far is an emphatic “no.”

The prolonged silence doesn’t mean data doesn’t exist.  Japanese health officials have been busy with their usual duties of collecting and posting statistics on the Internet for public inspection.  It’s just that they aren’t calling the public’s attention to these numbers.
Thus, it is the public who must find the information and figure out what it means.  After locating web sites, translating from Japanese, adding data for each of 12 months, and making some calculations, mortality trends in Japan after Fukushima are emerging. Continue reading →

August 16, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan, Reference | Leave a comment

The psychological toll on nuclear workers in Japan

Nuclear Workers Stressed After Japanese Quake Med Page Today, By Michael Smith,  August 14, 2012 Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner

Action Points
This study of psychological distress and post-traumatic stress response among workers at two nuclear power plants involved in the Fukushima earthquake/tsunami found high levels of self-reported distress especially among workers at the plant that suffered the meltdown…

Psychological distress and post-traumatic stress response (PTSR) were common among workers at two Japanese nuclear plants in the wake of the March 11, 2011 earthquake, researchers reported. But rates were significantly higher among workers at the Daiichi
plant, which suffered a meltdown, than they were at the Daini plant, which was damaged but remained intact, according to Takeshi Tanigawa, MD, PhD, of Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine in Ehime, Japan, and colleagues.

Both groups of workers were exposed — at much the same rate — to slurs and discrimination because the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the plants, was widely criticized for its response to the disaster, Continue reading →

August 16, 2012 Posted by | Japan, psychology - mental health | Leave a comment

Cancer and other diseases in US veterans, due to nuclear radiation

If a Veteran who participated in a radiation-risk activity (including “Atomic Veterans”) develops one of these diseases, VA presumes the disease is related to ionizing radiation exposure during service. These Veterans do not have to prove a connection between these diseases and their military service to be eligible to receive disability compensation.

Diseases Associated with Ionizing Radiation Exposure, United States Department of Veterans Affairs http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/radiation/diseases.asp Veterans may be eligible for disability compensation and health care benefits for any disea Veterans may be eligible for disability compensation and health care benefits for any disease that VA recognizes as related to radiation exposure during military service. Surviving spouses, dependent children and dependent parents of Veterans who died as the result of diseases related to radiation exposure during military service may be eligible for survivors’ benefits.

Also, VA presumes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosed in all Veterans with 90 days or more continuous active military service is related to their service.

Presumptive diseases related to ionizing radiation exposure

VA has recognized, or presumed, certain cancers are related to ionizing radiation exposure during military service. These are called “presumptive diseases.”

Cancers of the bile ducts, bone, brain, breast, colon, esophagus, gall bladder, liver (primary site, but not if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), lung (including bronchiolo-alveolar cancer), pancreas, pharynx, ovary, salivary gland, small intestine, stomach, thyroid, urinary tract (kidney/renal, pelvis, urinary bladder, and urethra), leukemia (except chronic lymphocytic leukemia), lymphomas (except Hodgkin’s disease), and multiple myeloma (cancer of plasma cells). Continue reading →

August 13, 2012 Posted by | health, USA | 1 Comment

Radiation danger in dental X rays – shown to raise risk of meningiomas

Dental X-Rays Linked To Meningiomas   http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=106219    13 Aug 12, – W. Gifford-Jones M.D.  What should you do the next time the dentist tells you he or she is going to take full dental X-rays? A new study shows that just as porcupines make love very, very carefully you should also take care to limit the amount of radiation exposure during your lifetime, particularly the amount your children receive.

Dr. Elizabeth Claus of Yale University reports in the American Cancer Society Journal “Cancer”, that there’s a link between dental x-rays and the risk of developing a brain tumour called a meningioma.  Continue reading →

August 13, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health, Reference | Leave a comment

Veil of secrecy for families of atomic test veterans

TO THE WIDOWS AND CHILDREN  http://www.atomicvetkin.com/widowschildren.html  You too are the victims of an unconscionable, haphazardly executed military plan to deify the atomic bomb.

Because of “secrecy” surrounding the nuclear test program and the veteran’s “oath of secrecy” very little is known by their families about the veterans involvement and experiences. Widows are often unaware of the veteran’s test participation and that the illness that led to their death was the result of ionizing radiation exposure. You may not be aware that your husband or father died in the service of our country and has made the ultimate sacrifice.
This dedication is to the young women, who along with the Atomic Veterans, were denied the right to know of the possible deleterious effects of radiation exposure on their lives and that of their children. They were denied the right to know that their futures held increased possibilities of any or all of the following effects:  Continue reading →

August 13, 2012 Posted by | social effects, USA, women | 1 Comment

Hibakusha bear witness to nuclear power’s exploitation of indigenous peoples

the world is still full of hibakusha who can testify to the rippling consequences of radiation exposure on health, family and community.

Nuclear testing hibakusha who have been removed from their home communities have suffered the social breakdowns 

They often define themselves in relation to the colonial power that irradiated them, i.e., they are victims of French nuclear testing, of Soviet nuclear testing, of American nuclear testing

Hibakusha: Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Beyond . Dr Bo Jacobs  11 Aug 12, http://www.dianuke.org/hibakusha-hiroshima-nagasaki-robert-jacobs/ Hundreds of hibakusha gather in Hiroshima today, and in Nagasaki on 9 August. Many more will stay away from such commemorations, preferring to spend these anniversaries in private. Almost all of these hibakusha were children when their families were attacked with nuclear weapons: and it is these grown children who remain to bear witness.

While over 70,000 people were killed in Hiroshima on the day that the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city center in August 1945, even more people became survivors of that attack. Many tens of thousands would die in the coming weeks, months and years, but some would live long and full lives. Their lives would forever be marked by this experience. Many have never shaken the trauma of expecting that they would die, having watched their family and their friends die, having seen an endless horizon full of the dead and dying and the corpses of people and animals burned beyond recognition, and of seeing their homes and city disappear into fire and rubble.

Beyond the epidemiological and psychological affects on the hibakusha, the social impacts were often as devastating. Experiencing discrimination in marriage and employment, many were also plagued by their own worries about whether to have children, and by anxieties that every subsequent cold or flu that they or their children experienced might be the first signs of an impending fatal illness. In a sense the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki never ended. Continue reading →

August 11, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, history, psychology - mental health, social effects | Leave a comment

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