Subj: Phikent (Radioactive iodine) Date: 97-07-29 04:23:26 EDT From: Ndunlks To: Phikent U.S. Atomic Tests in '50s Exposed Millions to Risk, Study Says By MATTHEW L. WALD WASHINGTON -- Atmospheric nuclear bomb tests in Nevada from 1951 to 1962 exposed millions of American children to large amounts of radioactive iodine, a component of fallout that can affect the thyroid gland, the National Cancer Institute said on Monday. The releases were larger than earlier estimates, and at least 10 times larger than those caused by the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine. Under federal rules implemented in 1992 to deal with accidents at nuclear power plants, some of the tests would require protective actions like moving cows to shelter, or dumping their milk that would tend to have high concentrations of radioactive iodine. But no such precautions were taken at the time of the Nevada tests. The cancer institute could not say whether any cases of thyroid cancer were caused by the fallout. But several experts said the levels of exposure could justify special monitoring for some people -- particularly those who were children in the 1950s and 1960s. The information is from a 100,000-page study by the cancer institute that was ordered by Congress in 1982. The study was begun in 1983 and a draft report was completed in 1994. It has been undergoing revisions and rewriting since then. A summary of the study, prepared for internal use at the Department of Energy and obtained by The New York Times, says that according to formulas in international use for calculating radiation damage, the doses were large enough to produce 25,000 to 50,000 cases of thyroid cancer around the country, of which 2,500 would be expected to be fatal. But the accuracy of those formulas is not certain, experts at the Department of Energy and elsewhere say, because the data on exposures at that level are limited. The Department of Energy did not play a role in the study beyond providing some of the raw data. The department is a successor to the Atomic Energy Agency, which detonated most of the bombs. The leader of the cancer institute study, Dr. Bruce Wachholz, said it was not clear that the exposures were high enough to increase the cancer risk. Studies of people in Utah immediately downwind from the test site did not find a clear association with thyroid cancer, Wachholz said. The new study says the average dose to the approximately 160 million people living in the country in that period was 2 rads, a unit that stands for "radiation absorbed dose" and refers to the amount of energy absorbed by flesh. But, the cancer institute said on Monday, people living in "Western states to the north and east of the test site" received doses averaging 5 to 16 rads. Children aged 3 months to 5 years had doses 10 times higher, the institute said. The main pathway for radioactive iodine exposure is through milk, which children consume in larger quantities than adults, especially in comparison to their body weight. When the contaminated milk is consumed, the human body delivers the iodine to the thyroid, where it can cause the development of cancerous nodules. In addition, children's thyroids are smaller, and an equal quantity of the radioactive iodine in a smaller gland would deliver more energy per kilogram of tissue. In contrast to the 50 to 160 rads those children are believed to have received, federal rules for nuclear power plant accidents call for taking protective action when the dose to human thyroids is anticipated to reach 15 rads. And another government agency, a branch of the Public Health Service, studying thyroid exposures around a government nuclear bomb factory at Hanford, Wash., has recommended medical monitoring for adults who absorbed 10 rads or more as children. "There's a reasonable association" between radioactive iodine exposure and cancer, said Dr. Robert Spengler, the assistant director for science of the agency that made the recommendation, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. He said the association was demonstrated by a growing body of literature, from people in the Marshall Islands, where tests were also conducted, and elsewhere. But Wachholz said "we really don't understand the dose-effect relationship" for radioactive iodine. He said studies by his agency in the 1980s of 2,500 adults in Utah who had also been studied as children in the 1960s had not found a basis for a firm statistical finding of an association. "I think it raises some serious questions," said E. Cooper Brown, chairman of the National Committee for Radiation Victims, a coalition of groups that includes soldiers exposed in the field, uranium miners and people who lived downwind of the test site. "I don't think you can say, 'aha, definitely.' That would be stepping way out of bounds. But you can't just shrug your shoulders and say, ah, it probably didn't hurt anybody." The iodine form in question, iodine 131, is created when uranium or plutonium is split, in a reactor or a bomb. It is intensely radioactive, losing half of its radioactivity every eight days, meaning that within a few weeks it has disappeared. But if the release is large enough, it can be carried thousands of miles in the upper atmosphere and come to earth with enough energy remaining to deliver substantial doses. The cancer institute said that its dose estimates were subject to "a large degree of uncertainty" because they were based on a small number of radiation measurements made at the time. One factor in estimating the dose is calculating the average amount of milk consumed, and its average time to market. The institute said it had accomplished two of the goals that Congress set for it in 1982: developing a way to estimate the dose, and making the estimate. The third, assessing the risk of cancer from the exposures, is still to be finished, the institute said. It released the information after several days of reports about the contents of the study, which it plans to complete by October. The cancer institute warned doctors in 1977 that the incidence of thyroid cancer had risen, to 3.9 cases per 100,000 population in a 1969-71 survey, from 2.4 cases in 1947. Among white people aged 20 to 35, the increase was "twofold to fourfold," the institute said, referring to people who were children at the time. But the cause is not clear; doctors had been using radiation to treat everything from acne to deafness from the 1920s on. Thyroid cancer is a relatively rare disease. According to the American Cancer Society, it will kill about 1,230 people this year, out of a total 560,000 deaths from all forms of cancer. The disease has a cure rate of 90 percent to 95 percent, although patients require drug therapy for the rest of their lives. The size of the doses being estimated surprised experts. "This is especially tragic, because it could have been avoided," said Arjun Makhijani, the president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, a nonprofit group based here that specializes in nuclear weapons. "They knew when the tests were and chose not to warn the population, and they located the test site in the West, knowing there would be fallout over the whole country." The Department of Energy summary contrasted the new estimate of radiation dose to an estimate submitted to the old Joint Committee on Atomic Energy in 1959, which was .2 to .4 rads, or more than 100 times smaller than the average now cited for Western states. The new study attempts to reconstruct the effects of 90 blasts at the Nevada Test Site, which was used by this country and Britain, across the 3,070 counties in the 48 contiguous states. The study found Iodine 131 "hot spots" from a series of tests in 1953 that included large areas of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Iowa, Wisconsin, New York and Massachusetts, including one event in the Troy/Albany area. That event was briefly described by the Defense Nuclear Agency in 1982, when it said people living there may have received a dose of 2 rads to the whole body, and was widely reported at that time. The Department of Energy summary of the new study, however, puts the Troy/Albany event in a new light, since 2 rads would not necessarily have required protective action under the rules that would be adopted later. But the thyroid dose there was high enough to have required protective action, had those rules been in effect at the time, the summary said. http://www.seas.gwu.edu./nsarchive/radiation/dir/mstreet/commeet/meet6/brief6/tab_l/br6l1a.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 October 1949 IN REPLY REFER TO: CMIWR-SP 322/61 SUBJECT: Pubic Release on RW Tests at Dugway Proving Ground TO: Director of Logistics General Staff, U.S. Army Washington 25, D. C. 1. It is the opinion of the Chemical Corps that a public release of some type should be made relative to the forthcoming tests of RW muitions at Dugway Proving Ground, Tooele, Utah, starting 18 October 1949. 2. A properly worded statement by the Department of the Army seems preferable to the sometimes irresponsible scare stories emanating from poorly informed reporters. A peacetime operation of this type will probably draw public notice sooner or later regardless of the security procedures adopted. The territory being used for the tests is being surveyed continually by prospectors for radioactive ore, so that an unusual amount of radioactivity found by such prospectors would certainly draw attention to the area. 3. Dr. Joseph G. Hamilton, Chairman of the RW Test Safety Panel, has indicated that he thinks a public release on the RW munitions tests should be made. He has suggested that the release state that tests with radioactive materials will be conducted at Dugway and that the purpose of these tests is to obtain decontamination data for use in preparing defensive doctrine. 4. It is understood that the Committee on Atomic Energy of the RDB, in a meeting during May 1949, considered an agenda item containing a draft of a letter to the Secretary of Defense which recommended a release on the general RW program. It is further understood that this meeting overruled the desirability of such a letter to the Secretary. 1 CMIWR-SP 3 October 1949 SUBJECT: Public Release on RW Tests at Dugway Proving Ground 5. The inclosed draft of a public release on tests to be conducted at Dugway has been written in the vien suggested by Dr. Hamilton. There is no reference to the general RW program or to the use of radioactive materials in the Dugway area for the purpose of formulating defensive doctrine. This type of release should provide sufficient information to satisfy the curious who might hear of the tests and should quell any fears for individual safety that could arise from inopportune stories. 6. A decision on the desirability of a release such as that inclosed is requested. FOR THE ACTING CHIEF, CHEMICAL CORPS: /s/ WILLIAM M. CREASY Colonel, CM1 C Chief, Cm1 C Res & Eng. Div 1 Incl: Draft of release ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.livelinks.com/sumeria/health/em.html Electromagnetic Pollution Evidence is building that exposure to low level electromagnetic radiation that is given off by power lines, electric blankets, video display terminals (VDT's) and even some electric clocks can cause cancer, birth defects, miscarriages, and other health problems. This information has been suppressed or downplayed for years by the electric utility industry, manufacturers and the media. Result: Millions of americans are still at risk. Electromagnetic Radiation What It Is And Where It Comes From Electromagnetic radiation consists of electric fields produced by voltages and magnetic fields produced by electrical currents. Although electrical fields can be shielded by conducting materials, magnetic fields can penetrate almost anything that stands in their way, including the human body. Power lines give off extra low frequency (ELF) electric and magnetic fields whose waves vibrate back and forth 60 times per second. The magnetic fields can be particularly strong in houses that are close to high voltage transmission lines and to the ordinary high current distribution lines that can be found in almost every city, suburb and town in the US. In fact, millions of americans may be living in homes that are penetrated by strong magnetic fields from power lines. ELF radiation is also strong near power substations, VDT's, dial face electric clocks, on top of electrically heated water beds and under electric blankets and heating pads. Because the magnetic fields from these sources vibrate back and forth at 60 times per second, the same to-and-fro movement will occur in the brain and body molecules of the human beings who are exposed to them. Electromagnetic Radiation And Disease More than a dozen studies of men whose work exposed them to ELF electromagnetic radiation found an increased incidence of leukemia, lymphoma, and brain cancer. And two epidemiological studies have found that a statistically high number of children in Denver who had died of cancer had lived near high current electrical lines. A recent study of New York State telephone workers by an epidemiologist at John Hopkins University showed that these people, who are exposed to magnetic fields on a daily basis, have an increased risk of developing leukemia and almost all types of cancer. Although scientists don't know exactly how exposure to ELF radiation causes cancer, many of them suspect that it impairs the ability of the T-lymphocyte cells, the infection fighting "soldiers" of the immune system to combat cancer. With the great increase in breast cancer in women between 20 and 45, it's hard to overlook the fact that millions now spend eight hours a day working inches from VDT's that emit the type of magnetic fields that have been shown to promote the growth of tumors. And neither lead aprons nor radiation screens that are sold for VDT's shield one iota of the magnetic fields that completely penetrate the body. Birth Defects Although few animal studies have been done in the US to analyze the effects of ELF radiation on pregnancies, dairy farmers have known for years not to pasture herds or let them breed close to electrical lines. If they do they have more stillborn and stunted calves and lower milk production. Within the next five to ten years, ELF radiation will also be linked to many degenerative neurological disorders including multiple sclerosis, autism, and quite possibly Alzheimer's. The Big Cover-Up The government, the electric utility industry and appliance manufacturers all maintain that there's not enough proof to make them take action. This is the same thing people said for years about asbestos, until it was proven to be a killer. Hundreds of thousands of people could die before it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that electromanetic radiation is truly dangerous. The electrical utility industry is trying to persuade people that common household appliances are as dangerous as power lines. This is a dishonest attempt to obscure the real problem. Although it is true that your hair dryer, for instance, gives off a magnetic field, the strength of the field drops off dramatically within a few inches. Although your thumb might get a little radiation, your whole body is not being exposed to harmful radiation. Even more important, most people don't spend eight hours a day using a hair dryer, as many people do with computers or electric blankets, nit to mention living near power lines. The hazards come from long term exposure. Self Defense Until the government, the electrical utilities and manufacturers take effective measures to shield us from low level electromagnetic radiation, there are several things you should do to protect yourself. Electric Blankets Heating Pads Heated Waterbeds Throw them out! Although the industry is now designing these devices to lower the amount of electromagnetic radiation they emit, safe products have yet to reach the market. Dial Face Electric Clocks Keep them at least three feet away from your bed, your desk chair or anywhere else you spend a great deal of time. Even digital clocks should be kept at least a foot away. Power Lines Pressure must be brought on local, state and federal officials to measure electronagnetic radiation near power lines and substations. In areas where the radiation is unacceptably high, wires will have to be rerouted or buried and substations moved. Join one of the organizations that are being formed in every state to fight health problems caused by power lines. Or litigate. People are hiring lawyers to take their cases to court. In the next decade we will see an enormous amount of litigation against utilities and manufacturers of computers, electric blankets, etc. Video Data Terminals (VDT's) It's easy to redesign a workplace in which VDT's can be used safely. One organization, The Fund for the city of New York, changed its office layout so that employees sit an arms length, 28 to 30 inches from their VDT's. They found that electromagnetic radiation drops off sharply at that distance. But radiation from VDT's doesn't come from the screen, it comes out the back and sides as well. So the organization does not allow anyone to sit within 40 inches of another employee's VDT. Even safer: Laptop computers use safe liquid crystal displays (LCD's) that do not give off hazardous magnetic fields. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subj: Nuclear Fallout Location Maps Remain Secret Date: 97-07-30 03:52:22 EDT From: Ndunlks WASHINGTON (AP) - The government canceled plans to release maps Wednesday that identify 24 sites around the country that experienced intense radiation fallout from 1950s nuclear testing. Nuclear watchdog groups immediately accused the National Cancer Institute of a coverup. The NCI's 14-year, county-by-county study of nuclear fallout from the blasts found that people as far away as the East Coast - particularly children - were exposed to as much radiation fallout as residents directly downwind from the Nevada blasts. Critics say the radiation amounts could be linked to thyroid cancer later suffered by residents of those hot spots. The government said last week that it would release maps showing the hot spots on Wednesday. Now, NCI says those maps are not yet ready for release and will not say when the information will be available. "``The public has a right to know who's at risk," said Bob Schaeffer of the activist group Military Product Network, which has petitioned the government to release the information. "We want a presidential commission to investigate the ongoing coverup." AP-NY-07-29-97 1843EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subj: Nuclear Fallout Hot Spot List Date: 97-07-31 04:20:49 EDT From: Ndunlks To: Phikent List of 12 states and their counties that received unusually large doses of radioactive fallout from 1950s nuclear tests in Nevada. ARKANSAS - Benton, Washington and Madison, Baxter, Fulton, Sharp, Jackson, and Independence counties. MISSOURI - Central Missouri including parts of the Ozarks and areas above of St. Louis. NEVADA - Nye and Lincoln counties. UTAH - Kane, Garfield, Utah, Wasatch, Millard and Washington counties. KANSAS - Most of the entire state including the Wichita and Topeka areas along Kansas including Wilson, Neosho, Montgomery and Labette counties. IOWA - Three counties in the south-central part of the state that were not Immediately identifiable but are south of Des Moines. NEBRASKA - Cherry, Frontier, Lincoln and Gosper counties. MONTANA - Much of western Montana, Helena and Great Falls north to the Canadian border. Petroleum County in the east. SOUTH DAKOTA - Haakon County and part of Stanley County. COLORADO - Archuleta, Conejos, Hinsdale, Saguache, Gunnison counties. WYOMING- South central Wyoming. IDAHO - Gem County.