{"id":5360,"date":"2014-05-16T12:42:06","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T12:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=5360"},"modified":"2015-11-01T22:22:11","modified_gmt":"2015-11-02T02:22:11","slug":"there-is-no-safe-amount-of-radiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=5360","title":{"rendered":"THERE IS NO SAFE AMOUNT OF RADIATION"},"content":{"rendered":"

SOTN Editor’s Note:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Any dose is an overdose”
\nby John Gofman, MD and Physicist<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dr John Gofman said it best when he stated what few scientists or physicians would ever admit about a ‘dose’ of radiation. Gorman knew from many years of nuclear research that there was in fact no safe level of exposure to ionizing radiation.<\/p>\n

He went on to document his many astute observations of the damaging effects of ionizing radiation. As a physician, he became grimly aware of what the overexposure to x-rays could do to the human body over the long term.<\/p>\n

“Later in life, Gofman took on a role as an advocate warning of dangers involved with nuclear power. From 1971 onward, he was the Chairman of the Committee for Nuclear Responsibility. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for his work on the effects of the Chernobyl disaster’s low-level radiation exposure on the population.”
\n(Source: John Gofman<\/a>)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"text-ionising\"<\/a><\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

NuclearReader.info<\/h1>\n

CHAPTER FOUR: \u00a0HEALTH DAMAGE<\/strong><\/h3>\n

by\u00a0Citizens for Safe Energy<\/p>\n

*Reprinted with permission from NuclearReader.info<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

THIS CHAPTER CLARIFIES THAT THERE IS NO SAFE AMOUNT OF RADIATION. \u00a0ANY DOSE IS AN OVERDOSE.<\/p>\n

In high, short doses like the Hiroshima bomb blast, radiation primarily causes direct damage to the nucleus of cells where the genes that control the functioning of the cell are located.\u00a0 \"Screen<\/a>This high level radiation causes an alteration in the structure of the DNA, the chromosomes that carry the genetic blueprint, resulting in incorrect structure of new cells.\u00a0 Damaged DNA tends to reproduce new cells very rapidly \u2013 becoming what we call cancer.\u00a0 In contrast, low doses acting continuously over time produce their damage indirectly through the generation of free radicals that destroy cell-membranes, hundreds to thousands of times more efficiently than might be expected in calculations related to high-dose damage.\u00a0 So the everyday amount of radiation that is released as part of the normal operation of the world’s 400 nuclear power plants is a very grave concern.\u00a0 Nuclear power plants must have releases in order to function, and these releases, even though they may be partially filtered, disperse radiation into our air and drinking water, onto farmland and into our food.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Since the work of Abram Petkau in 1972 (see ch. 3) it is known that low protracted doses of radiation cause physiological damage through the formation of free radicals. A free radical is a molecule with an imbalance in electrons which can destabilize other molecules resulting in cellular damage and disease.<\/p>\n

All living and nonliving things are made up of units of matter called atoms. When atoms join together they are called molecules. Atoms are made up of two basic parts: a nucleus and pairs of electrons. The nucleus has a positive electric charge that balances the negative electric charge of the electrons.\u00a0 There is a dynamic balance both between the pairs of electrons and between the electrons and the nucleus.<\/p>\n

When an electron is added or removed this balance is lost, and the atom or molecule seeks to regain this balance by taking an electron from another atom, which triggers a chain reaction.
\nUncontrolled free radicals damage body cells either by breaking down the cell membrane, by attacking the internal working of the cell, or by going right to the nucleus to attack the genetic material. A fundamental way that free radicals cause their damage is by breaking down natural body fats. Since the cell membrane is composed of fatty tissue (called lipids), it is a target for free radical attack. They may destroy the cell membrane, so that it cannot take in nutrients or release wastes. This leads eventually to the collapse and death of the cell.<\/p>\n

Free radicals can damage white blood cells and particularly the defender T cells, both of which are key to a strong immune system–and enable you to ward off bacteria and viruses. Free radicals may also weaken essential antibodies that are produced by the immune system to protect from disease, resulting in susceptibility to communicable diseases. Uncontrolled free radicals may disturb nerve chemicals, which can affect the brain and nervous system. They may slow or distort the transmission of messages by damaging neurotransmitters, resulting in memory loss and mental problems including senile dementia. Free radicals may also eat away at the protective myelin sheath around the nerves, limiting reflexes or causing multiple sclerosis.<\/p>\n

Digestive enzymes are also vulnerable to free radical assault, reducing their ability to digest and utilize food and thus limiting the absorption of nutrients. Free radicals may injure the lubricating synovial fluid around the joints, causing inflammation and pain and resulting in arthritis, bursitis or gout.\u00a0 Free radicals cause what science calls ‘cross-linking’, a hooking together of cell structures that may be partly responsible for hardening of the arteries, stiffness of joints, and wrinkling of skin–many of the manifestations of aging. Cross-linking in the lungs causes emphysema.<\/p>\n

Free radicals may damage genes, the DNA and RNA in the cell nucleus that mastermind the creation of new cells. When a cell with a damaged gene divides to make two cells, the new cell may be abnormal. When the DNA is damaged it tends to reproduce new cells very rapidly–the hallmark of cancer. Damaged DNA may produce cells that are not able to function as they were meant to, resulting in, for example, deterioration of tissue and organs and messenger hormones, among many other things.<\/p>\n

Free radicals account for nearly all of the signs and symptoms we think of as normal (and inevitable) in aging. An article in the August 1992 issue of the journal Science centered on ‘the importance of free radical damage to nucleic acids and lipids in age-related disease processes’.\u00a0 It explained what a difficult task the human body faces in counteracting free radicals, which some researchers believe are responsible for thousands of\u00a0 alterations to the DNA of each cell.\u00a0 The article concludes that a \u201cfraction of such a massive amount of damage would escape repairs by even the most sophisticated mechanisms and the accumulation of unrepaired damage could account for the age related loss of physiological function.”<\/p>\n

Free radicals can also cause malformed molecules–which the immune system sees as foreign invaders. The immune system reacts to clear them out, eventually becoming worn down and exhausted in the process–and unable to fully combat the real enemies it faces. This allows disease to take hold.\u00a0 The weakest points start to go first. In one person it may be arthritis, in another it may be extreme fatigue, in another allergies and so on. Free radical damage to cells progresses to tissues and organs and results principally in heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and diseases of immune suppression.<\/p>\n

In brief, free radicals can damage any organ system of the body. When we see these effects as laypeople, we pass them off as aging, medical scientists call them\u00a0 ‘degenerative diseases.’<\/p>\n

RADIATION > FREE RADICAL > CELL DAMAGE > TISSUE DAMAGE > DISEASE\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The immune system is the body’s protective system, which has the purpose of ensuring survival of the individual. It does this by looking out for any alien structures, and when it sees them, it engulfs and removes them. It is composed of a network of organs, hormones and special cells that defend the body from bacteria, virus and cancer cells by neutralizing them.<\/p>\n

There are about a trillion lymphocytes, white blood cells, which become differentiated by the immune system to do different jobs. The thymus gland is where white blood cells are turned into T cells. The thymus is vulnerable to free radical damage, thus affecting its function of creating T cells from white blood cells.<\/p>\n

The immune system has to be able to distinguish what should be there from what should not be there. It has the brilliant ability to differentiate between what is a part of the body and what is an alien invader. This alien might be a germ from outside or one of your own cells turned malignant. Or it could be a malformed structure caused by a free radical reaction. Mopping up too many of these odd structures will exhaust the immune system.<\/p>\n

This insidious damage to the immune system can result in:\u00a0 Down’s syndrome, cleft lip, epilepsy, kidney and liver damage, thyroid disease, increased infant mortality, infertility, genetic mutations, congenital malformations, arthritis, heart disease and diabetes and can impair intellectual ability and shorten the life span.<\/p>\n

The following health data was compiled by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in 1998 (www.nirs.org<\/a>).\u00a0 It compares the increase in disease from exposure to radiation to a relevant baseline.<\/p>\n

PERCENT INCREASE IN CANCER INCIDENCE, CANCER MORTALITY, AND OTHER HEALTH EFFECTS OF HUMAN EXPOSURE TO IONIZING RADIATION<\/center> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1.<\/td>\n1500% increase in incidence of testicular and ovarian cancer in children on Navaho\u00a0 reservation in uranium mining area<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2.<\/td>\n500% increase in bone cancer in children affected by uranium
\n250% increase in leukemia (all ages) in the Navaho population<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3.<\/td>\n200% increase in each of the following non-cancer effects: miscarriage, infant death,\u00a0 congenital defects, genetic abnormalities, learning disorders.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4.<\/td>\n500% increase in birth defects when compared to the national average.
\n(Southwest Research and Information Center. \u201cUranium Legacy.\u201d The Workbook, v 8,\u00a0 no 6.\u00a0 Albuquerque, NM: 1983.)
\nBASELINE for 1-4:\u00a0<\/b>Navajo residents living near uranium facilities were compared to\u00a0 Navajo residents in non- uranium areas<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5.<\/td>\n400% increase in leukemia incidence in the population living downwind of the Pilgrim nuclear power reactor in Massachusetts in the first 5 years after fuel was known to have leaked excess radioactivity.
\nBASELINE for 5<\/b>: Disease in population before and after Pilgrim radioactive releases and comparison to upwind population. (Morris M. Knorr R. The Southeastern Massachusetts Health Study 1978-1986-Report of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. October 1990. See also: Clapp R, Cobb S et al. \u201cLeukemia Near Massachusetts Nuclear Power Plant.\u201d Letter in Lancet. December 5, 1987.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6.<\/td>\n300-400% increase in lung cancer in the general population within the plume of the Three Mile Island accident releases<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7.<\/td>\n600-700% increase in leukemia in the general population within the plume of Three Mile Island accident releases.
\nBASELINE for 6 & 7<\/b>:\u00a0 Disease in population upwind (out of the radiation plume path) is compared to disease in population downwind (in the pollution plume.) (Wing S. Richardson D. et al. \u201cA Reevaluation of Cancer Incidence Near the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant: The Collision of Evidence and\u00a0 Assumptions.\u201d Environmental Health Perspectives, v 105, no 1. National Institutes of Health.\u00a0 Bethesda, Maryland. January 1997.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8.<\/td>\n50% increase in childhood cancer incidence in the Three Mile Island area for each 10\u00a0 millirem increase in radiation exposure per year.
\nBASELINE for 8<\/b>: Children living with different radiation levels are compared for evidence of disease. (Hatch M. et al. \u201cBackground Gamma Radiation and Childhood Cancers Within Ten Miles of a US Nuclear Power Plant.\u201d International Journal of Epidemiology, v 19, no xx1990.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9.<\/td>\n8000% increase in thyroid cancer in Belarussian children living near Chernobyl. reported 6 years after the meltdown.
\nBASELINE for 9<\/b>:\u00a0 Comparison of population health before and after the Chernobyl explosion. (Hudson RL. \u201cChild Cancers Found to Rise Near Chernobyl.\u201d The Wall Street Journal. September 3, 1992. The article they quote was published in Nature on the same day and was researched by the World Health Organization.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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*\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0<\/center>
\nThe whole body can be damaged by radiation exposure but among body systems the thyroid gland is especially vulnerable.\u00a0 It is located on the lower part of the neck and weighs only about one ounce, yet it has an enormous effect on overall body functions.\u00a0 A malfunctioning thyroid can manifest symptoms physically, mentally and emotionally.\u00a0 It can be a factor in heart disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, allergies, auto immune disease and repeated infections.\u00a0 In general, low thyroid function reduces human operating potential. According to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists more than 27 million Americans have thyroid problems.\u00a0 A key variable in the recent epidemic of thyroid dysfunction is exposure to radioactivity.<\/p>\n

The 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear power plant accident caused a great number of malfunctioning thyroids and a ten-fold increase in thyroid cancer in twelve adjacent countries after the gas cloud containing radioactive iodine-131 spread over the region.<\/p>\n

Even if there were never another nuclear power plant accident, their routine operations release radioactive Iodine-131, which has been documented to cause hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer.<\/p>\n

Two reports from 2009 by the Radiation and Public Health Project document the health impact of radioactive Iodine-131 as released from the normal operation of nuclear power plants.\u00a0 The first report discusses the nearly double rate of hypothyroidism in newborns near the Indian Point nuclear reactors (30 miles north of New York City) compared to the U.S. rate.\u00a0 The second article details the incidence of thyroid cancer in an area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and southern New York, a region that has 16 nuclear power reactors.<\/p>\n

The following report is an examination of the high rate of hypothyroidism in newborns near the Indian Point reactors in New York state.\u00a0 From 1997 to 2007, in the 20 mile radius around the plant there was a 92% higher rate of hypothyroidism than the overall U.S. rate.<\/p>\n

NEWBORN HYPOTHYROIDISM NEAR THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR PLANT<\/b><\/center> <\/p>\n
Joseph Mangano, Executive Director
\nRadiation and Public Health Project
\nNovember 25, 2009 Available online at:
\nhttp:\/\/www.radiation.org\/reading\/reports.html<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n