Critics Allege Infant Mortality Rate

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

I am forwarding this on from a colleague. Please note the absurd 
allegations and information being spwewed by Ms. Brinkley on National 
TV talkshows (where most of middle America obtains their scientific 
information):

>    April 24, 2000    
>
> Critics Allege Infant Mortality Rates
> Decline When Nuclear Plants Close
>
> Allegations that infant mortality rates around five nuclear power plants
> dropped after the reactors closed will be made April 26  at a press
> conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.  That day also
> is the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident.
>
> The press conference will feature: model Christie Brinkley; Rep. Michael
> Forbes
> (D-NY); Joan Claybrook of Ralph Nader's Public Citizen; Joseph Mangano,
> who has authored several papers alleging health effects from nuclear
> facilities; Janette Sherman, M.D.; and Randy Snell, the father of a child
> with cancer.  The event will be sponsored by Standing for Truth About
> Radiation (STAR), Public Citizen, and the Radiation and Public Health
> Project (RPHP), which is supported by actor Alec Baldwin.
>
> In an appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell television talk show April 17,
> Brinkley told viewers that a report would be released that "indicates
> very, very heavily that the second you close a nuclear reactor, I mean,
> immediately, infant mortality rates go down."
>
> In a media advisory on the April 26 briefing, the organizers added a new
> element to the allegations - "the federal government does not consider
> potential health effects when renewing (nuclear plant) licenses."
>
> Background:
>
> For more than 30 years, claims have been made that there is a link between
> low-level radiation and/or radiation from nuclear facilities and various
> forms of cancer, low Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, babies with low
> birth weights, and breast cancer among women living near nuclear plants.
> Mainstream scientists, state health departments, and investigations by
> various news media do not support these allegations.
>
> This new allegation was raised by Joseph Mangano in October 1998 and again
> earlier this year in an article - "Improvements in local infant health
> after nuclear power reactor closing"- in Environmental Epidemiology and
> Toxicology.  In the article, Mangano said:  "Immediately after the (Rancho
> Seco) reactor closed, local rates of deaths from all causes, deaths from
> congenital anomalies, and cancer cases declined faster than the U.S.
> average.
> The fall in mortality was especially sharp for congenital anomaly deaths
> ages 0-1 and 1-4."  It is important to note that in conclusion, he said:
> "Finally, radiation exposure is just one of many potential factors
> affecting infant health, and it is very difficult exactly to determine
> what proportion of disease rate decline is due to Rancho Seco's closure."
> The article focuses on Rancho Seco, with references to four other plants -
> LaCrosse, Fort St. Vrain, Trojan and Millstone/Haddam Neck - in an
> appendix.
>
> Talking Points:
>
> *  Despite the allegations in his article, Mangano points out that
> "radiation exposure is just one of many potential factors affecting infant
> health, and it is very difficult exactly to determine what proportion of
> disease rate decline is due to Rancho Seco's closure."
> *  Radiation from commercial nuclear power facilities and its impact on
> public health has been studied extensively by national scientific
> organizations and state health agencies.  None of these studies has
> substantiated any of the allegations.  (See Tooth Fairy Project Raises Old
> Allegations:  Thirty years of rebuttals from the scientific community
> debunk similar allegations at http://member.nei.org and click on Key
> Issues, then click on Radiation Protection, then click on Tooth Fairy
> Project.  (You may also wish to review the radiation response package
> distributed to industry communications Aug. 31, 1999.)
> *  The largest and most comprehensive study of cancer mortality near
> nuclear plants - by the National Cancer Institute - found no evidence of
> increased risk of death from a wide range of cancers. The study found no
> impact on public health.
> *  Operations of U.S. nuclear plants are constantly monitored and
> measured.  Strict radiation standards set by the U.S. Environmental
> Protection Agency and enforced by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
> with oversight by many state agencies, assure that the public is
> protected.  Ongoing monitoring programs around the plants provide timely
> and accurate information that is made available to the public.  In fact,
> monitoring programs began several years before each plant went into
> operation as part of a federal program designed to identify and document
> background radiation and other baseline information.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
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Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

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