[ RadSafe ] [DU-WATCH] "Today, Senator Maria Cantwell sent a letter to Donald Rumsfeld on ... (DU) aerosols, NPI has learned."

[Dukelow, James S Jr]

Roger Helbig and R Rands wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl on behalf of Roger Helbig
Sent: Fri 4/14/2006 11:42 PM
To: radsafelist
Subject: [ RadSafe ] [DU-WATCH] "Today,	Senator Maria Cantwell sent a letter to Donald Rumsfeld	on ... (DU) aerosols, NPI has learned."
 
> From: "R Rands" <rrands at bigpond.net.au>
> Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 09:56:04 +1000
> Subject: [DU-WATCH] "Today, Senator Maria Cantwell
> sent a letter to Donald Rumsfeld on  ...  (DU)
> aerosols, NPI has learned."
> 
> Friday, April 14, 2006
>
http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2006/04/cantwell-sends-letter-to-rumsfeld.html
> 
> Cantwell sends letter to Rumsfeld demanding answers
> on depleted uranium
> Today, Senator Maria Cantwell sent a letter to
> Donald Rumsfeld on the 
> question of medical research on servicemembers
> exposed to depleted uranium 
> (DU) aerosols, NPI has learned.
> 
> David Edelman, who has put a lot of energy into
> researching this, explains:
> 
> The core of the letter relied on questions that Dr.
> Tim Takaro and I framed 
> after a month-long examination of the Department of
> Defense's so-called 
> "Capstone Study." I have been assured that Sen.
> Cantwell's commitment to 
> this issue will extend beyond this letter. I hope to
> have more news in the 
> near future.
> 
> While this letter is not the end of the depleted
> uranium issue, it is an 
> accomplishment that comes after a great deal of
> work. In particular, I'd 
> like to recognize Dr. Tim Takaro of Simon Frazier
> University, without whose 
> help this letter would not have been possible.
> 
> I'd also like to thank task force members Amy
> Hagopian and Aaron Katz 
> (University of Washington) and Alice Woldt (36th
> District Democrats) for 
> their support, advice and practical help.
> 

   <snip>

> Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude
> to Sen. Cantwell for 
> demonstrating her commitment to this critical issue.
> We applaud Senator Cantwell for sending this letter.
> We hope she will 
> continue to demonstrate to progressives that she
> does care about these very 
> important matters. 
> 
Anyone know anything about any of the members of this "dedicated" group.. intriguing that the message has gained its legs from arch-activist in Australia.  Anyone in Australia know anything about Robert Rands?

Roger Helbig

===================

Dr. Tim Takaro (then at Univ. of Washington) was part of the leadership team of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study, a large epi study (managed by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle) that compared thyroid disease among residents of several counties surrounding the Hanford site (with thyroid exposures to I-131 estimated by the earlier Hanford Dose Reconstruction Study) with residents of several northern Washington counties (presumed to have no significant I-131 exposure from either the Hanford site or Nevada open-air bomb tests and with a similar inland environment and diet).  They found and reported that there were no significant differences in thyroid disease between the exposed and control populations.

I had the impression that that result was not what they expected to find or wanted to find, but they reported it straight and defended their study against criticism from activists who were also expecting a different result.

Best regards.

Jim Dukelow
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA
jim.dukelow at pnl.gov

These comments are mine and have not been reviewed and/or approved by my management or by the U.S. Department of Energy.