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More USA sailors afflicted by exposure to Fukushima radiation

thyroid-cancer-papillaryAnother 20 Navy Sailors: USS Ronald Reagan crew with thyroid cancers, leukemia, brain tumors, bleeding, blindness after Fukushima disaster — Young kids developing problems — Gov’t and Tepco involved in major conspiracy (AUDIO) http://enenews.com/another-20-navy-sailors-uss-ronald-reagan-crew-with-thyroid-cancer-leukemia-brain-tumors-bleeding-blindness-children-becoming-sick-after-responding-to-311-crisis-japan-govt-and-tepc

Nuclear Hotseat #129, Dec. 10, 2013:

Charles Bonner, attorney representing sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan: They’re not only going to the rescue by jumping into the water and rescuing people out of the water, but they were drinking desalinated sea water, bathing in it, until finally the captain of the USS Ronald Reagan alarmed people that they were encountering high levels of radiation. As a result of this exposure, the 51 sailors that we represent right now have come down with a host of medical problems, including cancers and leukemias, all kinds of gynecological problems […]  people who are going blind, pilots who had perfect eyesight but now have tumors on the brain. These service men and women are young people 21, 22, 23 years old and no one in their family had ever (inaudible) any of these kinds of illnesses before…

Bonner: These sailors had none of these kind of medical problems, now they have back pains, memory loss, severe anxiety. They have testicular cancer, they have thyroid cancers, they have leukemias, they have a host of problems, rectal and gynecological bleeding, a host of problems that they did not have before […] And it’s only been 3 years since they went in. […] The Japanese government is in a major conspiracy with Tepco to hide and conceal the true facts….

Bonner: We’ll be adding approximately 20 sailors, bringing the total number in the lawsuit to 70 to 75…

Bonner: 21 and 22 year-olds who are just beginning to start their lives, start their families, and many have little children and now they’re sick. They are going constantly to the doctors, their children are sick — we even have small children as some of our plaintiffs, because they too have developed problems.
Full interview available here

December 13, 2013 Posted by | health, Japan, Legal, radiation, USA | 1 Comment

US Navy deception over Treasure Island radiation danger

Navy Subcontractor Breaks Silence About Treasure Island Radiation, NBC Bay Area 13 Dec 13, A radiation expert among the first to sound the alarm about radiation at Treasure Island speaks publicly for the first time about the Navy’s attempts to conceal information from the public A health physicist commissioned to survey San Francisco’s Treasure Island for radiation has revealed for the first time to the Investigative Unit his belief that people never should have been allowed to live there.

Radiation expert Don Wadsworth was hired on a multimillion dollar contract to perform routine tests for radiation on the former naval station beginning in 2007. He says Navy officials told him they didn’t expect to find any radiological contamination on the island beyond what the Navy had already identified. But Wadsworth said he found radioactive material on sites throughout Treasure Island, including locations adjacent to occupied residences.

“My job is to protect the people and the environment and it’s not getting done,” Wadsworth said.   ……Wadsworth warns that the radiological material must be dealt with and cleaned up correctly.

“It’s a very nice location,” he said. “I can see why people want to develop it. But, having people live there and just cover it over, it’s going to have a significant impact on people’s health.” http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Navy-Subcontractor-Breaks-Silence-About-Radiation-Contamination-at-Treasure-Island–235499911.htm

December 13, 2013 Posted by | radiation, USA | Leave a comment

Scanning of Japanese babies, for internal radiation exposure

Scanner measures radiation in babies http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000834507 1 Dec 13, The Yomiuri Shimbun University of Tokyo researchers and radiation measurement equipment maker Canberra Japan have jointly developed a device to measure internal exposure to radiation in babies, following the outbreak of the crisis at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011.

Hirata Central Hospital in Hirata, Fukushima Prefecture, will start to offer free tests using the equipment, dubbed “Baby Scan,” on Monday.

Developers of the device included Ryugo Hayano, 61, a University of Tokyo professor specializing in particle and nuclear physics. The equipment allows babies to be tested for radiation in a lying position, making it the first of its kind in the nation.

Until now, infants’ internal exposure has been measured with equipment for adults, leading to some errors. In addition, as such equipment requires the subject to remain standing for about two minutes, babies in principle cannot take the test.

December 2, 2013 Posted by | children, Japan, radiation | Leave a comment

Effects of ionising radiation on children

text ionisingHow the Nuclear Industry first kills the Children and then the Parents April 14, 2013 by Mikkai  妊娠中の日本人女性の避難すぐ translated by Jan Hemmer, NGO “For the Children of Chernobyl”

original Text by Dr. Dörte Siedentopf, IPPNW Germany, for the NGO “For the Children of Chernobyl”http://life-upgrade.com/DATA/130219SiedentopfRadioaktivit%C3%A4t.pdf

 Stochastic effects and children:

There is statistical health damage caused by the so-called low-level radiation (above ZERO up to 500mSv.) That is not assigned to any particular people, but occur in a defined population. This issue is the subject of thousands of studies all over the world since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and I will discuss in detail below with reference to examples. Factors such as age, gender, health, immune system, nutrition, social situation and the duration of exposure of the radioactivity influence the onset of cancer and other diseases.Until the Chernobyl disaster, the biological effects in the body of the
radioactive isotopes have been undervalued.

It is now clear: Any radiation poses a risk especially for children who are extremely radiosensitive.

1) A child is constantly increasing in weight and size, it grows from the intrauterine embryo to adult, the younger, the faster. Therefore, the cells divide much more frequently than an adult. Cells in the division phase (mitosis) are more vulnerable to radiation than cells in the resting phase.

2) The ability of the body to recognize “defective” cells and to  eliminate them develops during childhood. An embryo has not yet this ability. Therefore  “defective” cells can multiply unimpeded and later lead to cancer or heritable diseases.

3) A child that grows must hold more substances than emiting them, more than an adult. The body of a child takes in more radioactive substances in food, drink and air we breathe than adults. Especially dangerous are 137 and Cs-134 and 137 and Sr-90 – deposited in the muscles or in the bone (see below)…………ekknorg.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/how-the-nuclear-industry-first-kills-the-children-and-then-the-parents/

November 12, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health, radiation | Leave a comment

Smaller brains: effect of Chernobyl radiation on birds

text ionisingChernobyl Birds Have Smaller Brains PLOS 1 Anders Pape Møller mail, Andea Bonisoli-Alquati, Geir Rudolfsen, Timothy A. Mousseau   Abstract

Background

Animals living in areas contaminated by radioactive material from Chernobyl suffer from increased oxidative stress and low levels of antioxidants. Therefore, normal development of the nervous system is jeopardized as reflected by high frequencies of developmental errors, reduced brain size and impaired cognitive abilities in humans. Alternatively, associations between psychological effects and radiation have been attributed to post-traumatic stress in humans.

Methodology/Principal Finding

Here we used an extensive sample of 550 birds belonging to 48 species to test the prediction that even in the absence of post-traumatic stress, there is a negative association between relative brain size and level of background radiation. We found a negative association between brain size as reflected by external head volume and level of background radiation, independent of structural body size and body mass. The observed reduction in brain size in relation to background radiation amounted to 5% across the range of almost a factor 5,000 in radiation level. Species differed significantly in reduction in brain size with increasing background radiation, and brain size was the only morphological character that showed a negative relationship with radiation. Brain size was significantly smaller in yearlings than in older individuals.

Conclusions/Significance

Low dose radiation can have significant effects on normal brain development as reflected by brain size and therefore potentially cognitive ability. The fact that brain size was smaller in yearlings than in older individuals implies that there was significant directional selection on brain size with individuals with larger brains experiencing a viability advantage……..http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016862

November 12, 2013 Posted by | environment, radiation, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Department of Environmental Protection to focus on radiation involved in gas drillig

text-radiationDEP Secretary: regulating radiation may be “next frontier” of drilling oversight http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/11/11/dep-secretary-regulating-radiation-may-be-next-frontier-of-drilling-oversight/ BY   11 Nov 13  The state Department of Environmental Protection’s acting Secretary Chris Abruzzo says regulating the radioactive materials associated with gas drilling could be the “next frontier” of the agency’s oversight of the industry.

In an interview with the Scranton Times-Tribune, Abruzzo says the DEP is still in the midst of its year-long study into naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced material (TENORM).

“It will depend largely on what the results [of the study] show us,” Abruzzo told the newspaper. “It certainly has the potential to be the next frontier in terms of regulations coming out.” Although the DEP says it’s unlikely there is a threat to public health, concerns about radioactivity associated with oil and gas development persist.

A study published last month in the journal of Environmental Science and Technology found high levels of radiation and salinity in a creek near a drilling wastewater treatment facility in western Pennsylvania.

After submitting a lengthy criticism about the DEP’s radiation study, two organizations representing the state’s oil and gas industryannounced last week they will launch their own review of radioactive materials associated with their work.

November 12, 2013 Posted by | radiation, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Examining the subject of radiation and cancer

text ionisingExperts debate ‘safe’ dose of radiation http://www.wnem.com/story/23813407/experts-debate-safe-dose-of-radiation  Nov 06, 2013  By Kimberly Wright – email (RNN) – Is there such a thing as a safe dose of radiation? Some experts say no. Research shows that any dose of radiation increases an individual’s risk for the development of cancer.

Decades of research show clearly that any dose of radiation increases an individual’s risk for the development of cancer, according to the Physicians for Social Responsibility. The primary risk of radiation is cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, with the higher the radiation dose, the greater the chance of developing cancer.

The chance of developing cancer, not the seriousness of the cancer, increases as the radiation dose goes up. It can be difficult to discern what causes cancer when it is detected, as cancers caused by radiation do not appear until years after the radiation exposure.

Some are more likely to develop cancer than others from radiation. Less likely,radiation can also cause genetic mutations and birth defects to a developing embryo or fetus. Fetuses are most susceptible to radiation exposure, following by infants, children, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fetuses are most sensitive between about eight to 15 weeks after conception. Continue reading

November 7, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment

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

 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.

November 5, 2013 Posted by | EUROPE, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment

Radiation exposure to endovascular procedure operators

Endovascular interventions exposed operators to more radiation than coronary Healio, Ingwersen M. J Am Coll Cardiol Intv. 2013;6:1095-1102. November 4, 2013

Operators who performed endovascular procedures for pelvic, upper limb and below-the-knee disease experienced increased radiation exposure in the cath lab compared with those who performed coronary procedures…….Although recommended dose limits were not exceeded in our study, radiation exposure may have biological effects depending on the type and frequency of procedures performed, the time lag between the procedures, the fluoroscopy time and a patient’s BMI,” the researchers wrote. “Therefore, protection devices, spectral filtration, pulsed fluoroscopy and low frame rates should be used whenever possible.” http://www.healio.com/cardiology/intervention/news/online/%7B5a58b7e0-ecc4-4957-847a-8f67c3b8edf0%7D/endovascular-interventions-exposed-operators-to-more-radiation-than-coronary

November 5, 2013 Posted by | radiation | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation reaching Alaskan coast, but it’s not being measured

text ionisingRadiation from Japan nuclear plant arrives on Alaska coast http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/radiation-from-japan-nuclear-plant-arrives-on-alaska-coast-1.2335668 Scientists concerned about lack of monitoring plan CBC News   Nov 02, 2013  Scientists at the University of Alaska are concerned about radiation leaking from Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, and the lack of a monitoring plan.

Some radiation has arrived in northern Alaska and along the west coast. That’s raised concern over contamination of fish and wildlife. More may be heading toward coastal communities like Haines and Skagway.

Douglas Dasher, a researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, says radiation levels in Alaskan waters could reach Cold War levels.”The levels they are projecting in some of the models are in the ballpark of what they saw in the North Pacific in the 1960s,” he said.

John Kelley, a professor emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, says he’s not sure contamination will reach dangerous levels for humans but says without better data, who will know? “The data they will need is not only past data but current data, and if no one is sampling anything then we won’t really know it, will we?

“The general concern was, is the food supply safe? And I don’t think anyone can really answer that definitively.” He says much of the monitoring is being done pro bono by universities, NGOs and state organizations.

November 4, 2013 Posted by | oceans, radiation, USA | 1 Comment

Fukushima radiation alerting world to nuclear radiation danger in oceans

“In terms of the ocean, this is definitely an environmental catastrophe, and it’s still ongoing,”

 ”though contamination in the most seriously affected areas has been worse than a lot of things that have gone in the past, conscientious testing of seafood can help prevent it from becoming a human health disaster as well.”

“It also shows us that we have to redouble our efforts to fully understand the health consequences of the testing period, because that will help us prepare for the future consequences of Fukushima.”

Christina Macpherson's websites & blogs

Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs

This article has a misleading title. The author does not “downplay” Fukushima radiation hazards. On the contrary, he is pointing out the seriousness of radioactive matter in the oceans, and how this has been ignored in the past 

Scientists downplay Fukushima radiation hazards  DW 25.10.2013  Julian Ryall, Tokyo Experts agree that the radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant is an “environmental catastrophe,” but it is only a fraction of the fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests carried out in the 1950s and 1960s, they say…….

Tokyo Electric Power Co. confirmed Tuesday that radioactive cesium had again been detected about one kilometer offshore from the Fukushima nuclear plant, crippled in March 2011 by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami that it triggered……

People forget that the world we live in already has a lot of cesium-137 in the environment,” Dr. Mitsuo Aoyama, senior scientist in the Oceanography and Geochemistry Department of the Japan Meteorological Research Institute, told DW…….

Dr. Aoyama’s studies show that by 1970, an estimated 290 petabecquerels – an alarming 29 followed by 15 zeroes – of cesium fallout was in the north Pacific ocean from atmospheric weapons tests……

an ongoing study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, based in Massachusetts, shows that in 1990 the rate in the Black Sea stood at 52 becquerels per cubic meter, at 55 in the Irish Sea – a legacy of problems at Britain’s Sellafield nuclear plant – and at 125 in the Baltic. Continue reading

October 31, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, oceans, radiation, Reference | 4 Comments

Radiation Levels Will Concentrate in Pockets at Certain North American West Coast Locations

“Fukushima Is Here”: Nuclear Radiation On the West Coast, from California to Alaska. http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-is-here-nuclear-radiation-on-the-west-coast-from-california-to-alaska/5355851   Excellent graphics. You really need to go to this link to see those.
 The ocean will dilute Fukushima radiation By Washington’s Blog Global Research, October 28, 2013 

Radiation Levels Will Concentrate in Pockets at Certain  West Coast Locations

An ocean current called the North Pacific Gyre is bringing Japanese radiation to the West Coast of North America: While many people assume that the ocean will dilute the Fukushima radiation, a previously-secret 1955 U.S. government report concluded that the ocean may not adequately dilute radiation from nuclear accidents, and there could be “pockets” and “streams” of highly-concentrated radiation.

Map-Fukushima-fallout-to-US

Physicians for Social Responsibility notes: Continue reading

October 31, 2013 Posted by | NORTH AMERICA, oceans, radiation | Leave a comment

United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) admits radiation danger to children

highly-recommendedRadiation can pose bigger cancer risk for children – UN study http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/25/us-nuclear-radiation-children-idUKBRE99O0M820131025  VIENNA | Fri Oct 25, 2013  (Reuters)  by Fredrik Dahl- Infants and text ionisingchildren can be more at risk than adults of developing some cancers when exposed to radiation, for example from nuclear accidents, a U.N. scientific report said on Friday. Children were found to be more sensitive than adults for the development of 25 percent of tumor types including leukemia, and thyroid, brain and breast cancer, it said.

“The risk can be significantly higher, depending on circumstances,” theUnited Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) added in a statement. UNSCEAR said it began working on the report in 2011, the same year as Japan‘s Fukushima nuclear accident, although the world’s worst such disaster in 25 years was not mentioned in the statement. The committee said in May that cancer rates were not expected to rise after the Fukushima accident.

Studies into the 1986 accident at Chernobyl in Ukraine have, however, linked thyroid cancer to radioactive iodine. The thyroid is the most exposed organ as radioactive iodine concentrates there. Children are deemed especially vulnerable.

Friday’s report, presented to the U.N. General Assembly, said children and adults should be considered separately following exposure in order to predict risk more accurately. Continue reading

October 26, 2013 Posted by | 2 WORLD, health, radiation | Leave a comment

Overuse of medical radiation in the interests of profit

medical-radiationOveruse of Radiation Therapy Services When Urologists Profit Through Self-Referral Science Daily, Oct. 24, 2013 — A comprehensive review of Medicare claims for more than 45,000 patients from 2005 through 2010 found that nearly all of the 146 percent increase in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for prostate cancer among urologists with an ownership interest in the treatment was due to self-referral, according to new research, “Urologists’ Use of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer,” released today in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) for its October 24, 2013 issue. This study corroborates the increased IMRT treatment rates among self-referrers reported in the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) August 2013 report, “Medicare: Higher Use of Costly Prostate Cancer Treatment by Providers Who Self-Refer Warrants Scrutiny.”…….

The NEJM report concludes that “men treated by self-referring urologists, as compared with men treated by non-self-referring urologists, are much more likely to undergo IMRT, a treatment with a high reimbursement rate, rather than less expensive options, despite evidence that all treatments yield similar outcomes.” Continue reading

October 26, 2013 Posted by | health, radiation | 1 Comment

Effect of low energy electrons on DNA

Understanding DNA damage http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/10/25/understanding.dna.damage?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eScienceNews%2Fpopular+(e!+Science+News+-+Popular, October 25, 2013 Every day, all day, our DNA gets beaten up by chemicals and radiation — but remarkably, most of us stay healthy. Now, an investigation by a team of French and Canadian researchers has produced insights into a little-studied but common radiation threat to DNA: low-energy electrons (LEEs), with energies of 0-15 electron volts. The team has devised the first rough model of a close DNA cellular environment under threat from LEEs, revealing for the first time their effects on DNA in natural, biological conditions. Their work appears in The Journal of Chemical Physics, which is produced by AIP Publishing

The team’s work is an important step forward in understanding how LEEs injure DNA because it provides a realistic experimental platform for analysis of results. The goal is to use this knowledge to improve current uses of radiation, such as in cancer treatments.

“The way by which these electrons can damage DNA, and how much damage they inflict, quantitatively, is of major importance not only for general radiation protection purposes, but also for improving the efficiency and safety of therapeutic and diagnostic radiation therapy,” said Michel Fromm, the lead researcher from Université de Franche-Comté in Besançon, France, whose expertise is in creating nanometer-scaled DNA layers. His co-author on the paper is Leon Sanche, of Sherbrooke University Québec, Canada, who is one of the world’s leading authorities on LEE research.

The team explored specific features of a small DNA molecule called a plasmid on a specialized thin film they created, which was irradiated by an electron gun. The impact produced transient particles called anions, which dissociate into “pieces” of DNA. When analyzed, these molecular fragments provide insight into the mechanisms of DNA strand breaks and other DNA injuries that health researchers seek to understand, repair and prevent.

“The fascinating point is that each time the close environment of DNA changes, new mechanisms of interaction of LEEs appear,” Fromm said.

October 26, 2013 Posted by | health, radiation, Reference | Leave a comment