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Fwd: [Know_Nukes] Sr-90--->The cancer time bomb facing Scots born during ColdWar
>From: magnu96196@aol.com
>To: undisclosed-recipients:;
>Source:
><A
>HREF="http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=72452002";>http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=72452002</A>
>==========================================================
>20 Jan 2002
>
>The cancer time bomb facing Scots born during Cold War
>
>CAMILLO FRACASSINI HEALTH CORRESPONDENT
>
>HUNDREDS of thousands of Scots born in the mid-Sixties face a higher risk
>of
>developing cancer after being exposed to record levels of nuclear fallout
>from Cold War atomic tests.
>
>Findings from a covert research project, obtained by Scotland on Sunday,
>reveal that contamination by the radioactive isotope Strontium 90 from
>nuclear tests peaked in babies born in 1964.
>
>The alarming findings have raised fears that the 104,355 people born in
>Scotland that year may face a higher risk of developing cancers of the
>blood,
>bone marrow or muscle.
>
>But the hundreds of thousands of Scots born during the 1950s and 1960s will
>also have been exposed to higher than usual levels of radioactive
>contamination and are at risk of developing fatal diseases as a result.
>
>Exposure to Strontium 90, which is released in nuclear explosions and
>stored
>in the bones in the same way as calcium, can increase the risk of
>developing
>leukaemia and sarcoma.
>
>Researchers at Yorkhill children’s hospital in Glasgow tested 2,111 thigh
>bones from dead babies and children between 1959 and 1970 as part of an
>international project to discover the threat posed to humans by the testing
>of nuclear weapons.
>
>Most of the children came from the west of Scotland, while a small number
>came from Perthshire, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland and Orkney. Scientists
>found the average concentration of Strontium 90 in children’s bones had
>reached a level nearly four times the maximum dose many experts consider
>acceptable for adults.
>
>Some babies and children had Strontium 90 levels far higher than the
>average
>and all the bones tested had ‘hot spots’ of contamination which posed
>an
>even greater risk, researchers said.
>
>Babies and toddlers up to the age of two were at greatest risk from the
>radioactive fallout from tests of ‘dirty’ hydrogen bombs during the
>1950s
>and 1960s, the study found. The peak year was found to be 1964, when many
>children were found to have up to six times the maximum recommended levels
>of
>Strontium 90 in their bones.
>
>Children were chosen for the research because their bones grow faster than
>adults, taking in more of the radioactive element. Glasgow became the main
>centre for research in the UK because of its high rainfall level, bringing
>the fallout in the atmosphere to ground level faster.
>
>The findings of the 11-year study, organised by the Medical Research
>Council
>and UK Atomic Energy Authority, caused such alarm that they were used to
>push
>the case for the introduction of the 1963 Test Ban Treaty - banning the
>testing of nuclear devices in the atmosphere.
>
>Dr Chris Busby, an independent expert on radiation risk, said: "Exposure of
>this kind will have already had a consequence in terms of cancer levels and
>genetic damage to the people involved, and it will still be doing damage.
>
>"People exposed in the 1960s will be coming up to 40 now so they will not
>be
>getting their full whack of cancers until they begin to hit 50 or 60.
>
>"There is no safe level of Strontium 90 and while government agencies may
>try
>to compare it to natural background levels, it is like the difference
>between
>eating a hot coal and warming yourself in front of a fire.
>
>"People exposed in the 1960s should be worried but the sad thing is that it
>is too late to do anything about it."
>
>A transcript of evidence given to a government expert group currently
>investigating the ethics of the research, reveals the full extent of the
>contamination problem in Scotland.
>
>Former pathologist Professor Gavin Arneil, who was involved in the study at
>Yorkhill, said: "All cow’s milk, and every tin of national dried milk
>contained Strontium 90. Every mother’s breast milk included Strontium 90.
>
>"All vegetation and all animals were known to be contaminated."
>
>He added: "Our aim was to measure the likely increase in Strontium 90
>levels
>as hydrogen bombs continued to explode and levels approached concentrations
>at which real concern would be felt.
>
>"This level was reached at the peak in 1964 by the 0-6 month age group."
>
>Doctors had drawn up a plan to limit children’s exposure to Strontium 90.
>However, because of the secrecy of the research, it was never publicised.
>
>Professor David Hole, of the west of Scotland cancer surveillance unit, has
>carried out research tracking 600,000 children born between 1959 and 1970
>in
>the west of Scotland up to the age of 20.
>
>Holes said: "The 1964 group had Strontium 90 levels up to six times the
>background dose.
>
>"We didn’t see any major increase in the high risk 1963 to 1966 group up
>to
>the age of 20 but you might expect to see these sorts of cancers until
>people
>are in their 50s or 60s. The high risk group are only in their 30s now."
>
>Sue Roff, an expert on the fallout from nuclear weapons tests, based at
>Dundee University’s centre for medical education, said the significance
>of
>the evidence from the 1960s should not be underestimated.
>
>"This evidence caused so much concern that it stopped atmospheric nuclear
>weapons testing," she said.
>
>cfracassini@scotlandonsunday.com
>
>=========================================================
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