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

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

James,

There has been some research indicating that in some species stress
increases the rate of mutation within a population.  There are
reasonable hypothesis as to why this would be so, both from an
evolutionary advantage perspective and from a perspective of what
happens within the body of a mother who is stressed.  If you ask any
midwife or OBGYN you will likely find that they are convinced that
stressed mothers have, as a rule, babies that are less healthy than
mothers who are not stressed.  One can reasonably argue that this
observed effect may play out at a chromosomal level, too.  

I thus strikes me that if you wish to be convincing in your claim that
uranium from projectiles are responsible for mutations in a population
living in a war zone you must first (1) demonstrate that the mutation
rate in that population is in fact higher than to be expected (no cherry
picking of data!  That decreases rather than increases the validity of
your case), and (2) you need to demonstrate that other factors, such as
stress, can not explain your observations.  

In most cases I would encourage you to look through the literature to
find relevant studies, but the evidence is conclusive that you have
problems finding relevant studies, or interpreting studies that you find
in a relevant way.  I therefore encourage you to go to Georgia and
conduct a study firsthand, tracking all women in the region from
conception through birth, and then tracking the children to adulthood,
paying particular attention to diet, drinking water, alcohol
consumption, pollution levels, political conditions, exposure to
violence, and blood uranium levels.  

When you are done, I would be happy to proofread your report, and spot
any errors that might have crept in. 

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of James Salsman
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 7:43 PM
To: bcradsafers at hotmail.com; radsafelist
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] uranium solubility and acute and chronic
exposures onthe Russia-Georgia border

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.