Re: Critics Allege Infant Mortality Rate

[Ernesto_Faillace@notes.ymp.gov]

As the father of a new infant, I am somewhat confused by the alleged "infant
mortality" decreases after power plants shut down.  This appears to be the
effect of reduced I-131 levels around the plants after shutdown (although I am a
bit skeptical about the statistical significance of the reported drops).  The
implication is that infants drink lots of milk which may contain radioiodine.
Sure, they do, but how much of this milk is from the source of potential
contamination?  My baby drinks mother's milk supplemented by Enfamil formula.  I
can see how the mother's milk "may" be contaminated indirectly through the diet
of the mother (but not nearly as directly as milk from a cow grazing downwind of
the facility in question).  The formula (which in the period in question was
probably used even more than these days of awareness of the benefits of mother's
milk) could almost certainly NOT be contaminated by the power plant!

I am defining an infant as 0-1 years old (the age when they are given
exclusively breastmilk and/or formula), but I have not read the study and
perhaps the author included older children (toddlers and pre-schoolers) as well.

One other (far-fetched) hypothesis: could mothers fearful of the nuclear power
plant's effects have been biased into giving their infants more formula than
breastmilk during the plant's operation and then switched to breastmilk after
the plant shut down?  There are well-known health-protective benefits of
breastmilk over formula, which may contribute to the sudden drop in infant
mortality after women switch to breastmilk.  This could also be a factor in the
decline without any consideration of power plant activity.  In recent years,
mother's have become more aware of the health benefits of breast-feeding and a
larger proportion have accordingly decided to breastfeed....

Ernesto Faillace CHP
efaillace@earthlink.net

Confounded by confounding factors



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