[ RadSafe ] Fwd: [New post] Birth defects from nuclear radiation

Sun Nov 22 03:45:35 CST 2015

I scrutinized that "article" when it came out in March:
http://numbersopinions.blogspot.se/2015/04/another-take-on-s-congenital.html

I see that one can reach the article on the journal web site in 
different ways. On this page there are comments from me and others in 
the bottom:
http://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=54828#.VRyHDI8-s_A

Jeffrey Beall brought it up on the blog Scholarly Open Access:
http://scholarlyoa.com/2015/04/23/more-published-pseudo-science-from-chinese-publisher-scirp/

The blog post by Beall led to some attention and a hilarious response, 
including some biblical quotes, from SCIRP:
http://blog.scirp.org/medicine-healthcare/ojped/controversial-article-and-editorial-board-activities/

Best wishes,
Mattias Lantz

-- 
Mattias Lantz - Researcher, PhD
ランツ マティアス
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Division of Applied Nuclear Physics
Uppsala University, Box 516
SE - 751 20, Uppsala, Sweden
phone:  +46-(0)18-471-3754
email:  mattias.lantz at physics.uu.se

On 11/21/2015 04:23 AM, Roger Helbig wrote:
> Mangano and Sherman continue to baffle and confuse while pretending to
> be scientists - too bad that they have misused doctoral educations
> that much
>
> Roger Helbig
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: nuclear-news <comment-reply at wordpress.com>
> Date: Fri, Nov 20, 2015 at 5:12 PM
> Subject: [New post] Birth defects from nuclear radiation
> To: rwhelbig at gmail.com
>
>
> Christina MacPherson posted: "The first documented excesses of
> congenital anomalies were among children of survivors of the Hiroshima
> and Nagasaki bombings. The 1986 meltdown at Chernobyl produced
> numerous reports of certain congenital anomalies among populations
> subject to fallout"
> Respond to this post by replying above this line
>
> New post on nuclear-news
>
> Birth defects from nuclear radiation
>
> by Christina MacPherson
>
> The first documented excesses of congenital anomalies were among
> children of survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
>
> The 1986 meltdown at Chernobyl produced numerous reports of certain
> congenital anomalies among populations subject to fallout from the
> stricken reactor
>
> Open Journal of Pediatrics
> Vol.05 No.01(2015), Article ID:54828,13 pages
> 10.4236/ojped.2015.51013
>
> Changes in Congenital Anomaly Incidence in West Coast and Pacific
> States (USA) after Arrival of Fukushima Fallout   Joseph Mangano*,
> Janette D. Sherman
>
> Radiation and Public Health Project, New York, USA
>
> ABSTRACT
>
> Radioactive fallout after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown
> entered the U.S. environment within days; levels of radioactivity were
> particularly elevated in the five western states bordering on the
> Pacific Ocean. The particular sensitivity of the fetus to radiation
> exposure, and the ability of radioisotopes to attach to cells,
> tissues, and DNA raise the question of whether fetuses/newborns with
> birth defects with the greater exposures suffered elevated harm during
> the period after the meltdown.
>
> We compare rates of five congenital anomalies for 2010 and 2011 births
> from April-November. The increase of 13.00% in the five western states
> is significantly greater than the 3.77% decrease for all other U.S.
> states combined (CI 0.030 – 0.205, p < 0.008). Consistent patterns of
> elevated increases are observed in the west (20 of 21 comparisons, 6
> of which are statistically significant/borderline significant), by
> state, type of birth defect, month of birth, and month of conception.
>
> While these five anomalies are relatively uncommon (about 7500 cases
> per year in the U.S.), sometimes making statistical significance
> difficult to achieve, the consistency of the results lend strength to
> the analysis, and suggest fetal harm from Fukushima may have occurred
> in western U.S. states.
>
> 1. Introduction
>
> The harmful effects of radiation exposure to chromosomes have been
> known for nearly a century, starting with the discovery of chromosomal
> deformities in irradiated fruit flies [1] . Experiments with mice [2]
> [3] and rats [4] confirmed this knowledge, and documented elevated
> risk for congenital defects, at relatively low doses of exposure.
> Populations exposed to pre-conception X-rays have been shown to have
> higher congenital anomalies [5] as were those living in areas with
> relatively high background radiation [6] [7] .
>
> One form of radiation, byproducts of uranium or plutonium fission, was
> first introduced into the environment from weapons and reactors seven
> decades ago [8] -[10] . These isotopes bind with cells, tissues, and
> DNA of the unborn, and thus risks of congenital defects in irradiated
> populations have been studied. The first documented excesses of
> congenital anomalies were among children of survivors of the Hiroshima
> and Nagasaki bombings. [8] -[10] . During the 1950s, reports of
> various defects among newborns in the Marshall Islands, the site of 67
> large-scale U.S. nuclear weapons tests, were made public. Other
> studies found links with between atmospheric tests and elevated birth
> defects, including a high rate of Down Syndrome in northwest England
> in 1963-1964, the peak period of global fallout from tests [11] .
> Another report documented elevated birth defect incidence near the
> Hanford nuclear weapons plant in Washington state (USA) [12] .
>
> The 1986 meltdown at Chernobyl produced numerous reports of certain
> congenital anomalies among populations subject to fallout from the
> stricken reactor. One documented a doubling of congenital
> developmental anomalies among infants born to fathers who worked as
> liquidators to contain the meltdown [13] . Various analyses presented
> elevated congenital anomaly rates in various parts of the Belarus
> region, which received the greatest doses of radioactivity from the
> meltdown, in the years following Chernobyl [14] -[22] . Other research
> also found high birth defect rates in the Ukraine [23] [24] , Bulgaria
> [25] , Croatia [26] , and Germany [27] -[30] including areas with
> fallout levels well below those Belarussian sites closest to the
> reactor.
>
> Post-Chernobyl studies also identified elevated rates of specific
> anomalies, the most-analyzed of which was Down syndrome (Trisomy-21),
> mostly in Germany [31] -[39] . Other conditions included neural tube
> defects in Turkey [40] -[43] , cleft lip/palate in Germany [44] [45] ,
> and anencephaly in Turkey [46] . Meta-analyses concluded that a
> pattern of elevated congenital anomaly rates was associated with
> exposure to the Chernobyl meltdown [47] -[49] .
>
> No published reports exist on the change in congenital defects rates
> in Japan after the March 2011 meltdown at Fukushima. However, at least
> one report examines morphological abnormality rates in aphids in the
> first sexual reproduction period after the meltdown, and found a 13.2%
> rate close to Fukushima vs. 3.8% in seven control areas [50] .
>
> Changes in the rate of one type of birth defect, congenital
> hypothyroidism, have been reported. In the five U.S. states bordering
> on the Pacific Ocean, with the most elevated levels of environmental
> radiation after the meltdown, a 16% increase in incidence of the
> disorder was observed in the nine months following the meltdown,
> compared to a 3% decrease in 36 other U.S. states [51] . The gap was
> particularly large (28% increase vs. a 4% decrease) in the first 14
> weeks after the arrival of fallout. In addition, the rate of
> California newborns with a Thyroid Stimulating Hormone score of 19
> micro international units per milliliter of blood during initial
> screening, was 27% greater in the nine months after the meltdown
> compared to other periods in 2011-2012 [52] . The known affinity for
> radioactive iodine to attack cell membranes and DNA in the thyroid
> gland indicates a potential link between Fukushima fallout and
> congenital hypothyroidism.
>
> Historical reports linking exposure to ionizing radiation with
> congenital anomaly risk, plus the initial reports on congenital
> hypothyroidism in the western U.S. suggest further analysis be
> conducted on other birth defects.
>
> The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes
> national data collected by state health departments on incidence of
> five congenital anomalies in the nation. These include Anencephaly,
> Cleft Lip/Pa- late, Down Syndrome, Omphalocele/Gastroschisis, and
> Spina Bifida/Meningocele [53] . Approximately 7500 cases of these five
> defects occur in the U.S. each year. As of mid-2014, the CDC web site
> contained complete birth defect data for the years 2007 to 2012.
>
> These five specific anomalies to be addressed in this report, merit
> some discussion, including their suspected link with radiation
> exposure………http://file.scirp.org/Html/13-1330400_54828.htm
>
> Christina MacPherson | November 21, 2015 at 1:12 am | Categories:
> children, Reference | URL: http://wp.me/phgse-l98
>
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