[ RadSafe ] The Teeth Projects

[Roger Helbig]

As I recall, this teeth project and the research of Dr Jay Gould are pretty much unsubtantiated.  A number of lists were just hit with a brief message encouraging people to go to this project.  I want to respond to two of them that I belong to with the facts about radioactive elements and teeth.

Thanks.

Roger Helbig

 http://www.radiation.org/projects/tooth_fairy.html

The RPHP "Tooth Fairy Project-" grew out of the work of Dr. Jay Gould, Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) and author of The Enemy Within: The High Cost of Living Near Nuclear Reactors. 
By analyzing 50 years of US National Cancer Institute data, Dr. Gould proved that...

 
...of the 3,000-odd counties in the United States, women living in about 1,300 nuclear counties (located within 100 miles of a reactor) are at the greatest risk of dying of breast cancer.  
 

Dr. Gould found even higher risks for prostate cancer among men living in nuclear counties.

Why study baby teeth?
Since their inception, nuclear power plants and bomb facilities have been emitting fission products through accidental releases and through regular allowable emissions that the government classifies as below regulatory concern.

Radioactive Strontium-90 (Sr-90) is one of these elements, and one of the deadliest. The chemical structure of Sr-90 is so similar to that of calcium that the body gets fooled and deposits Sr-90 in the bones and teeth where it remains, continually emitting cancer-causing radiation.

Most of the strontium in the baby teeth is transferred to the fetus by the mother during pregnancy. Because we know when and where the baby was born, and where the mother lived while carrying, we can accurately determine when and where radioactivity was absorbed from the environment.

The Federal Government no longer measures strontium intake in baby teeth. Yet RPHP believes it is important to know what the facts of our radioactive exposure actually are. Thus, RPHP has launched its own national study of the levels of radioactivity in American baby teeth.

What will RPHP's study do?