Re: RADSAFE digest 3135

["D. Kosloff" <dkosloff@ncweb.com>]

When fewer people die from other causes (like the flu, childbirth, and
smallpox) and generally live longer, they still eventually die.  One of the
diseases of old age is cancer.  So increases in cancer need to be
age-adjusted.  The cancer death rate that is increasing the most for women
is lung cancer due to individual decisions to smoke.  More women now die
from lung cancer than die from breast cancer.

Dr. Gould's quote is certainly cryptic.  Greatest risk could mean 50.1
percent vs 49.9 percent; statistacally insignificant.  So if you live 100
miles from a
nuclear reactor and next to an oil refinery (inhaling benzene), work as a
manicurist (inhaling toluene regularly), live on Diet Coke and Slim Jims,
drink enough to have a reasonably pleasant life, smoke and pump your own gas
(benzene exposure); your breast cancer is
caused by the nuclear reactor.  I would suspect that 100 miles would
conveniently include most US urban areas, which conveniently have higher
cancer rates than rural areas.  Also often people from rural areas with
breast cancer would go to a more urban area for treatment and unfortunately
often death.  I suspect that you could take Dr. Gould's statement and
substitute "major airport", "non-nuclear power plant" or "industrial
chemical facility"
and if it is true, it would remain true.  With the substitutions the risk
(which was not stated) might even be greater.  A person with a BA in psych
and MA in History should be able to look at Dr. Gould's statement
objectively and see that it actually says nothing substantive, but would
successfully evoke a transient emotional response.

----- Original Message -----
From: Norman & Karen Cohen <norco@bellatlantic.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2000 8:19 PM
Subject: Re: RADSAFE digest 3135


> The breast cancer stats come from Dr Jay Gould's book "The Enemy Within",
surely one
> of this list's favorite books. ;) and from a flyer put out by RPHP. ON the
flyer,
> Gould's quote is"
> of the 3000-odd counties in the US, women living in about 1300 nuclear
counties
> (located within 100 miles of a reactor) are at the greatest risk of dying
from
> breast cancer." (from pg 187 with map).
>
> INfant mortality claims are all from Mangano's previous work. What I have
on hand is
> his Salem (NJ) study from June of 1999.
>
> Now, I'm not a cancer expert (among the many things I'm not an expert on).
I do
> recall reading about the huge increases in breast cancer in this country.
I'm sure
> you all have the stats. The Tooth people would certainly consider breast
cancer as
> one of the 'soft tissue' cancers that are
> affected by emissions from nuke plants.


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