[ RadSafe ] Study Considers Children's Exposure to "Dirty Bomb"

Sat Nov 3 15:29:51 CDT 2007

It would seem to me that what we should do is prevent
future terrorist attaches.  However, this
Administration is making it clear that after all the
billions spent on security and the war in the Middle
East it is unable to do so.

--- "Brennan, Mike  (DOH)" <Mike.Brennan at DOH.WA.GOV>
wrote:

> While I don't disagree with the conclusion (even
> though I think it
> boarders on the "Well, duh"), nor do I think it was
> a waste of time for
> the research to be done, I don't think that it is
> overly productive to
> present it in this way.  At a guess, I suspect that
> pretty much
> everything about any terrorist attack will effect
> children differently
> (and probably more strongly) than it will adults.
> 
> I would be surprised if a gas attack, like in Japan
> several years ago,
> would not have greater short and long term effects
> on children than on
> adults.  It is pretty much a given that many of the
> chemicals from
> burning or collapsed buildings (mercury vapor from
> lights, for example)
> would have more effect on children than adults.  I
> suspect that the
> stress of the event affects children at least as
> deeply as it does
> adults, and much of what some people think of as
> "the resiliency of
> youth" is actually a lack of vocabulary.
> 
> I also don't see what those responding to a
> terrorist attack would do
> differently in light of this information. 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
> Behalf Of Hansen, Richard
> Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 8:15 AM
> To: radsafe at radlab.nl
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Study Considers Children's
> Exposure to "Dirty Bomb"
> 
> The following news story is on Global Security
> Newswire for the Nuclear
> Threat Initiative. 
> 
> 
> 
> Wednesday, October 31, 2007
> Study Considers Children's Exposure to "Dirty Bomb"
> http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2007_10_31.html
> 
> A new report indicates that children's bodies would
> respond differently
> than those of adults to exposure to radiation from a
> "dirty bomb,"
> meaning younger victims would require different
> medical treatment, the
> University of Rochester Medical Center in New York
> announced today (see
> GSN, May 25, 2006).
> 
> Researchers exposed juvenile and adult mice to a
> small amount of
> radiation [0.5 and 10 gray, according to the
> Rochester Medical Center
> release] intended to simulate the detonation of a
> radiological weapon.
> "The tissue response of the younger mice indicated
> that radiation was
> more damaging, possibly causing long-term harm to
> the body's structure
> and function," according to a press release.
> 
> "It's difficult to think about developing strategies
> for a horrific,
> hypothetical event," researcher Jacqueline Williams
> said in the release.
> "But our work is teasing out some important nuances
> about how children
> and adults ... respond to exposure to radioactive
> particles.  Our work
> could also apply to the clinical setting, as we
> learn how to better
> protect normal tissue from radiation exposure."
> 
> Further investigation is planned to determine why
> researchers found
> different responses to radiation among mice of
> different ages.
> 
> Researchers also plan to study the potential effects
> on humans and
> animals of inhaling or ingesting radioactive
> material, which are likely
> to be different than exposure to external sources of
> radiation.  
> 
> "When a person receives external radiation to treat
> cancer, for example,
> he or she does not become radioactive.  The exposure
> stops once the
> therapeutic radiation beam is turned off," the
> release states.  Ongoing,
> internal exposure to radioactive material, however,
> could constitute a
> health risk.
> 
> The dirty bomb study was one project funded through
> a $21 million 2005
> grant from the National Institutes of Health
> (University of Rochester
> Medical Center release, Oct. 31).
> 
> See the University of Rochester Medical Center
> release for more details.
>
http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/news/story.cfm?id=1712
> 
> 
> Rick Hansen
> Senior Scientist
> Counter Terrorism Operations Support Program
> National Security
> Technologies, LLC, (NSTec) hansenrg at nv.doe.gov
>
www.nv.doe.gov/nationalsecurity/homelandsecurity/responder.htm
> 
> NSTec was not involved in this research. 
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+++++++++++++++++++
"If you guard your toothbrushes and diamonds with equal zeal, you'll probably lose fewer toothbrushes and more diamonds."
- Former national security advised McGeorge Bundy
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com

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