4 ms·

> We know that because we have 30 years of Ukrainian data and we can see that there was no measurable increase in cancers or cancer related deaths from people i

> We know that because we have 30 years of Ukrainian data and we can see that there was no measurable increase in cancers or cancer related deaths from people in the surrounding area. What? There is plenty of evidence of increased cancer in the surrounding area. https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/press-releases/2011/ChernobylRadiation https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/press-releases/2011/Chern... http://chernobyl.cancer.gov http://chernobyl.cancer.gov http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html Note that many of the rosy assessments are about people who weren't really affected. If you live in France, you got a little radiation from Chernobyl, but not enough to measurably affect your health. That's good! It's reassuring to most of the population of Europe! But the health impact on people local to the event who got significantly more radiation exposure is far from zero. We should also keep in mind that the country receiving the most fallout, Belarus, is a dictatorship that is essentially a black hole of public health data and does not report radiation problems.

ChuckMcM 10y ago
The cancer research is developed from the absorption of I-131 (iodine is taken up by the body and accumulates in the thyroid). There is a really fabulous look at I-131 levels post Fukishima and post Chernobyl here: http://hps.ne.uiuc.edu/rets-remp/PastWorkshops/2011/presentations/6A1-Comparison%20of%20I-131%20releases%20from%20Fukush.pdf http://hps.ne.uiuc.edu/rets-remp/PastWorkshops/2011/presenta... and of particular interest to readers of these comments will be Slide #70 (overlaying the two) showing that Fukishima sent nearly an order of magnitude less I-131 into the environment than Chernobyl did. Further you generally have to eat or drink I-131 to get it inside your body[1] and as all of Japan was undergoing the tsunami disaster at the time, many of the crops were destroyed. Credible sources such as the CDC[2] and the IAEA have been studying this risk with obviously limited data sets and have concluded that unless you are on site and hit with a high dose of radiation, you are going to be fine. [1] "Human exposure to I-131 released from nuclear power plant accidents comes mainly from consuming contaminated water, milk, or foods. People may also be exposed by breathing dust particles in the air that are contaminated with I-131." -- https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/nuclear-accidents-fact-sheet https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/r... [2] "The long-term recovery process after a radiation emergency can lead to increased emotion and psychological distress. In addition, people who receive high doses of radiation could have a greater risk of developing cancer later in life, depending on the level of radiation exposure. For people who receive low doses of radiation, the risk of cancer from radiation exposure is so small that is cannot be separated from exposure to chemicals, genetics, smoking or diet. Health officials will monitor people affected by radiation emergencies for any long-term health effects." -- https://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/emergencyfaq.asp#24 https://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/emergencyfaq.asp#24

ChuckMcM 10y ago

The cancer research is developed from the absorption of I-131 (iodine is taken up by the body and accumulates in the thyroid). There is a really fabulous look at I-131 levels post Fukishima and post Chernobyl here: http://hps.ne.uiuc.edu/rets-remp/PastWorkshops/2011/presentations/6A1-Comparison%20of%20I-131%20releases%20from%20Fukush.pdf http://hps.ne.uiuc.edu/rets-remp/PastWorkshops/2011/presenta... and of particular interest to readers of these comments will be Slide #70 (overlaying the two) showing that Fukishima sent nearly an order of magnitude less I-131 into the environment than Chernobyl did. Further you generally have to eat or drink I-131 to get it inside your body[1] and as all of Japan was undergoing the tsunami disaster at the time, many of the crops were destroyed. Credible sources such as the CDC[2] and the IAEA have been studying this risk with obviously limited data sets and have concluded that unless you are on site and hit with a high dose of radiation, you are going to be fine. [1] "Human exposure to I-131 released from nuclear power plant accidents comes mainly from consuming contaminated water, milk, or foods. People may also be exposed by breathing dust particles in the air that are contaminated with I-131." -- https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/nuclear-accidents-fact-sheet https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/r... [2] "The long-term recovery process after a radiation emergency can lead to increased emotion and psychological distress. In addition, people who receive high doses of radiation could have a greater risk of developing cancer later in life, depending on the level of radiation exposure. For people who receive low doses of radiation, the risk of cancer from radiation exposure is so small that is cannot be separated from exposure to chemicals, genetics, smoking or diet. Health officials will monitor people affected by radiation emergencies for any long-term health effects." -- https://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/emergencyfaq.asp#24 https://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/emergencyfaq.asp#24