[ RadSafe ] uranium solubility and acute and chronic exposures on the Russia-Georgia border

[James Salsman]

Dear Dr. Cedervall,

You wrote, "If you are trying to imply that a mutation burden could
lead to some genetic changes on a population level it just tells that
you haven't studied any of the key messages from the evolution
biologists and what they developed over the last 80 years."

That is false.  When does a mutation burden not result in genetic
changes?  Certainly the evolution biologists should get more attention
than the creationist biologists, who tend to say silly things that,
for example, imply that evil has parents, or roots, and is not often
the result of the spontaneous chance events such as nuclear decay.

The quantification of uranyl's genotoxicity, reproductive toxicity and
neurotoxicity, has been censored by CHPs who much prefer to discuss
the kidney.  However, the kidney tolerates chronic uranium exposure,
unlike the chromosomes:

Pellmar, et al. (1999) "Electrophysiological changes in hippocampal
slices isolated from rats embedded with depleted uranium fragments."
Neurotoxicology, vol. 20., no. 5, pp. 785-792;

Maynard, E. et al. (1953) "Oral Toxicity of Uranium Compounds," in
C. Voegtlin and H. C. Hodge, eds., Pharmacology and Toxicology of
Uranium Compounds, New York: McGraw-Hill, showing reproductive
toxicity from a single dose of a soluble uranyl compound; and

Miller, A.C., and McClain, D. (2007) "A Review of Depleted Uranium
Biological Effects:  In Vitro and In Vivo Studies" Rev Environ Health,
vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 75-89.  (Israel: Freund, USD $100.)

Is the reason that CHPs ignore reproductive toxicity and neurotoxicity
because some CHPs put their economic self-interest, for example, in
fuel reprocessing, ahead of the people whose health they are supposed
to be interested in?  What if the behavioral effects are even more
profound than the chromosome mutations?  What if the chromosome
mutations are caused by the behavioral effects, or vice versa?

We will never know, and the citizens in the conflict will be denied
access to quality health care in the name of health physics.

This conflict is on topic in the same way that Health Physics
publishes articles entitled "Acute Toxicity of Uranium" which
dwell on the kidney.

James Salsman