[ RadSafe ] " Seaborne Fukushima Radiation Plume Hits West Coast - How the Media Reported it Dangerously Wrong "

[Jason Meade]

"And it takes what, 70 CURIES of ingested Cs-134 to reach a TEDE of 5 rem?"

Quick (embarrassing) correction: that should read "70 *micro-CURIES*"
instead of Curies.

On Wed, Jan 4, 2017 at 8:58 AM, Jason Meade <meadeja at vcu.edu> wrote:

> "The U.S. and the EPA have considered such plans in the case of a nuclear
> accident.
> In food, the U.S. has an allowable dosage of radiation that is 12 times
> what
> Japan allows."
>
> Japan lowered their food limits after public fear and public perception
> pressure in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident.  To lower than the
> cesium levels found in some foods BEFORE the actual event (especially in
> mushrooms).
>
> And the plume of Cs-134 contains at most a Bq/m^3 of seawater actually on
> the west coast.  Even the higher concentrations far out in the ocean
> heading our direction don't bump above 5 Bq/m^3 in samples taken (around
> 1/3 of the activity of the naturally occurring K-40 in an average banana).
> And it takes what, 70 CURIES of ingested Cs-134 to reach a TEDE of 5 rem?
> Play with the maths to see exactly how absurd the teensy tiny numbers are
> for these folks trying to terrify the public about the radioactive west
> coast beaches and exactly why they are using SI units instead of Ci, and
> why they don't bother breaking out the actual epistemology or epidemiology
> numbers into play and work out the actual potential rise in cancer risks to
> the population for the current demonstrable increase in contamination (back
> to the hypothetical any radiation exposure no matter how slight is (maybe)
> lethal nonsense pumped into the public sphere that causes stampedes and
> panics).
>
> And the overstatement of bio-accumulation is also quite alarmist,
> presented in a way to provide just enough "truthiness" to make it seem
> "true."  While it is true that it is absorbed readily into the bloodstream,
> it also leaves the body comparatively quickly.
>
> On Mon, Dec 26, 2016 at 6:16 PM, Jaro Franta <jaro_10kbq at videotron.ca>
> wrote:
>
>> That's an excellent text.  Thank you !
>>
>> Unfortunately no mention of John Gofman.
>>
>>
>>  Jaro
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
>> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Otto Raabe
>> Sent: Monday, December 26, 2016 4:42 PM
>> To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] " Seaborne Fukushima Radiation Plume Hits West
>> Coast - How the Media Reported it Dangerously Wrong "
>>
>>
>>       The old Gofman ideas about radiation risk qre completely wrong!
>>       See my online book chapter.
>>
>>
>>       Ionizing Radiation Carcinogenesis - InTech
>>
>> <https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&
>> cd=8&cad=rja&uac
>> t=8&ved=0ahUKEwje9NKv6JLRAhUMwmMKHZt0DZkQFghNMAc&url=http%
>> 3A%2F%2Fcdn.intech
>> <https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwje9NKv6JLRAhUMwmMKHZt0DZkQFghNMAc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.intech>
>> open.com%2Fpdfs%2F32098.pdf&usg=AFQjCNF8M_G69_GJ8h-6xKkCD581
>> wegogw&sig2=8woQ
>> 3YiUJj_l_y11vTRQPA>
>>
>>
>> **************************************
>>
>> On 12/26/2016 12:30 PM, Jaro Franta wrote:
>> > John Gofman cited in " How the Media Reported it Dangerously Wrong "
>> >
>> > " According to Gofman's obituary in the L.A. Times, "Gofman and his
>> > colleague at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Arthur R.
>> > Tamplin, developed data in 1969 showing that the risk from low doses
>> > of radiation was
>> > 20 times higher than stated by the government.
>> > Their publication of the data, despite strong efforts to censor it,
>> > led them to lose virtually all of their research funding and,
>> > eventually, their positions at the government laboratory."
>> > Their conclusions were for the most part, later validated."
>> >
>> > "Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If
>> > an individual ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues
>> > to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the
>> body,"
>> > said Dr. Alan Lockwood, MD in an article on Fox News Health.
>> >
>> >
>> > Jaro
>> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> >
>> >
>> > http://www.environews.tv/121716-no-safe-level-period-media-got-dangero
>> > usly-w rong-fukushima-radiation-hitting-west-coast/
>> > Seaborne Fukushima Radiation Plume Hits West Coast - How the Media
>> > Reported it Dangerously Wrong
>> >
>> > bureau EnviroNews DC News Bureau
>> > by Shad Engkilterra
>> > on December 17, 2016
>> >
>> > (EnviroNews DC News Bureau) - "It is not a question any more:
>> > radiation produces cancer, and the evidence is good all the way down
>> > to the lowest doses," says the late Dr. John Gofman, Professor
>> > Emeritus at the University of California, Berkley, in his book Nuclear
>> Witnesses: Insiders Speak Out.
>> >
>> > On December 12, 2016, EnviroNews USA's own Editor-in-Chief Emerson
>> > Urry touched off a firestorm with his news article titled, "It's Finally
>> Here:
>> > Radioactive Plume From Fukushima Makes Landfall on America's West
>> Coast,"
>> > which claimed "medical science and epidemiological studies have
>> > demonstrated time and again that there is no safe amount of radiation
>> > for a living organism to be subjected to - period."
>> >
>> > In his piece, Urry also exposed other news agencies like NBC, the New
>> > York Post, USA Today and The Inquisitr, catching them with their pants
>> > down, in the act of repeating the false assertions of the U.S. and
>> > Canadian researchers, telling people not to worry about the recently
>> > detected low amounts of cesium 134 found in salmon, and that the
>> > levels were within "safe" or "accepted" thresholds for human health.
>> > [EDITOR'S NOTE: Emerson Urry recused himself from all editorial duties
>> > on this news story.]
>> >
>> > Thom Hartmann picked up the article by Urry and read it on his show.
>> > Then Hartmann offered up his own journalistic explanation on how
>> > radiation works, and addressed the problem with the proclamation that
>> > there is a "safe" level of radiation to consume or be exposed to.
>> > "As the element is decaying it is throwing off radiation, and the
>> > radiation, if it hits the DNA in the nucleolus and the nucleus of a
>> > cell, can alter that DNA in ways that can produce things like cancer,"
>> Hartmann said.
>> > "Now it can also cause simply the cell to die or it can mutate the
>> > cell in all kinds of other weird ways, and so it's kind of a numbers
>> game.
>> > If you irradiate a million cells. you might get two or three that
>> > become cancerous.
>> > That's all it takes, right? You've got cancer," Hartmann continued in
>> > his video report.
>> > "The cesium could cause no cancer, or it could cause cancer in the
>> > first cell it irradiates.
>> > To say that there is a safe level of radiation is frankly wrong. It's
>> > just wrong."
>> >
>> > VIDEO: THOM HARTMANN REPORTS ON ENVIRONEWS OREGON'S ARTICLE ON
>> > FUKUSHIMA PLUME HITTING AMERICA'S WEST COAST
>> >
>> > There's No Such Thing As A Safe Level of Radiation!
>> >
>> > Urry said later in a statement, "It's one thing for the media to
>> > regurgitate trivial facts on trivial matters, but to blindly repeat
>> > that consuming low levels of radiation is 'safe,' is irresponsible
>> > reporting and borders on dangerous.
>> >
>> > News editors should take care to do their due diligence on a matter as
>> > serious as leading readers to believe consuming any amount of
>> > radiation is 'safe' when medical science and epidemiology, dating back
>> > 50 years to the present, have demonstrated repeatedly that that's just
>> > not true.
>> > Even the smallest exposures increase the risk of cancer to the subject."
>> >
>> > According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's
>> > (ATSDR) report titled, "Public Health Statement for Cesium" from 2004,
>> > "stable and radioactive cesium can enter your body from the food you
>> > eat or the water you drink, from the air you breathe, or from contact
>> with
>> your skin.
>> > When you eat, drink, breathe, or touch things containing cesium
>> > compounds that can easily be dissolved in water, cesium enters your
>> > blood and is carried to all parts of your body. No known taste or odor
>> > is associated with cesium compounds."
>> >
>> > Cesium is similar enough to potassium that it can fool the body.
>> > This results in its bioaccumulation.
>> > When cesium enters the biological system of a fish, which is then
>> > eaten by a larger fish, the larger fish becomes contaminated.
>> > As the larger fish eats more, it becomes more contaminated.
>> > The cesium accumulates in its body.
>> > When a person eats that fish, he or she also ingests the cesium that
>> > hasn't decayed or been excreted.
>> >
>> > The more seafood that person eats, the more radioactive material he or
>> > she will be exposed to.
>> > The researchers who discovered the cesium recently also made the
>> > mistake of equating the dangers of consuming seaborne isotopes to that
>> > of receiving an x-ray, missing the point entirely that ingested or
>> > inhaled "internal particle emitters" are known to be especially
>> hazardous.
>> >
>> > "Consuming food containing radionuclides is particularly dangerous. If
>> > an individual ingests or inhales a radioactive particle, it continues
>> > to irradiate the body as long as it remains radioactive and stays in the
>> body,"
>> > said Dr. Alan Lockwood, MD in an article on Fox News Health.
>> >
>> > "Children are much more susceptible to the effects of radiation and
>> > stand a much greater chance of developing cancer than adults," said
>> > Andrew Kanter, MD, President of the Board for Physicians for Social
>> > Responsibility (PSR) in that same Fox News Health article. "So it is
>> > particularly dangerous when they consume radioactive food or water."
>> >
>> > Those who might expect the government to protect them from
>> > contamination by radiation have only to look at the downwinder
>> > situation in Utah or the consequences of Gofman's research in the late
>> 1960s.
>> >
>> > According to Gofman's obituary in the L.A. Times, "Gofman and his
>> > colleague at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Arthur R.
>> > Tamplin, developed data in 1969 showing that the risk from low doses
>> > of radiation was 20 times higher than stated by the government.
>> > Their publication of the data, despite strong efforts to censor it,
>> > led them to lose virtually all of their research funding and,
>> > eventually, their positions at the government laboratory."
>> > Their conclusions were for the most part, later validated.
>> > "There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food,
>> > water or other sources, period," said Jeff Patterson, DO, immediate
>> > past President of PSR, in late March of 2011 in the immediate aftermath
>> of
>> the meltdowns.
>> > "Exposure to radionuclides, such as iodine 131 and cesium 137,
>> > increases the incidence of cancer. For this reason, every effort must
>> > be taken to minimize the radionuclide content in food and water."
>> >
>> > "There is no safe dose of radiation," says Prof. Edward P. Radford,
>> > Physician and Epidemiologist as quoted by GreenMedInfo.
>> >
>> > In an email to EnviroNews, nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen said Japan
>> > had raised the maximum allowable exposure by 20 times the previous
>> > number for civilians to be able to return to their homes.
>> >
>> > The U.S. and the EPA have considered such plans in the case of a
>> > nuclear accident.
>> > In food, the U.S. has an allowable dosage of radiation that is 12
>> > times what Japan allows.
>> > "Corporations get the benefit, civilians take the risk," Gundersen
>> wrote.
>> >
>> > While Urry and Hartmann have sounded the alarm, there remain
>> > unanswered questions that desperately need to be resolved.
>> > Who will clean up the contamination in the food chain?
>> > How much radiation exposure will governments continue to say is safe
>> > in spite of the medical research?
>> > How can people trust what's on their plate and in their corporate
>> > owned media?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > .
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>> >
>> > Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and
>> > understood the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
>> > http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
>> >
>> > For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
>> > visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu
>>
>> --
>> Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D.
>> Center for Health and the Environment
>> University of California
>> Davis, CA 95616
>> Office: 530-752-7754
>> Cell:   530-848-3609
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Jason A Meade, AS, BS, MHSA, RRPT, RT(T)
> Senior Radiation Safety Specialist
> Virginia Commonwealth University
>
>
> Sanger Hall, B2-016
> 1101 East Marshall St
> PO Box 980112
> Richmond, VA 23298-0112
>
> meadeja at vcu.edu
> 804-828-0594 <(804)%20828-0594> office
> 330-347-0271 <(330)%20347-0271> cell
>
> A society grows great
> when old men plant trees
> whose shade they know
> they shall never sit in.
>



-- 
Thanks,
Jason A Meade, AS, BS, MHSA, RRPT, RT(T)
Senior Radiation Safety Specialist
Virginia Commonwealth University


Sanger Hall, B2-016
1101 East Marshall St
PO Box 980112
Richmond, VA 23298-0112

meadeja at vcu.edu
804-828-0594 office
330-347-0271 cell

A society grows great
when old men plant trees
whose shade they know
they shall never sit in.