Chernobyl's Continuing Thyroid IMpact

[Norman Cohen <ncohen12@comcast.net>]

Here's a different point of view:



> Chernobyl's Continuing Thyroid Impact

> by Mary J. Shomon

> http://thyroid.about.com/health/thyroid/library/weekly/aa051100a.htm

>

> On April 26th, 1986, the worst nuclear accident in history took place in the

> small town of Chernobyl, located in the Ukraine region of the former Soviet

> Union. The Chernobyl nuclear plant, located approximately 80 miles north of

> Kiev, experienced a chain reaction explosion that blew off the reactor's

> lid, releasing dangerous radiation. More than 30 people were killed

> immediately, and in the ten days after the accident, clouds of deadly

> radioactive materials were released into the atmosphere, exposing the people

> of Chernobyl to radioactivity levels estimated to be 100 times greater than

> the Hiroshima bomb. Radiation also traveled downwind, exposing Eastern

> Europeans to high levels of radiation, and contaminating food supplies that

> then affected other areas of Europe as well.

>

> The radioactive materials released during the Chernobyl contained high

> levels of radioactive iodine, a material that accumulates in the thyroid.

> People, especially children, in heavily contaminated areas, which included

> Belarus, the Ukraine, and other areas of Eastern Europe, were heavily

> exposed to these iodines (particularly iodine-131, with a half-life of 8

> days) via food, primarily contaminated milk, and also via breathing the

> radioactive clouds.

>

> One of the continuing health effects of the Chernobyl accident has been the

> dramatic increase in thyroid cancer among children in the affected area.

>

> According to the World Health Organization, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

> will cause 50,000 new cases of thyroid cancer among young people living in

> the areas most affected by the nuclear disaster. Specifically, the rate of

> thyroid cancer in adolescents aged 15 to 18 is also now three times higher

> than it was before the 1986 disaster took place. The incidence of thyroid

> cancer in children rose 10-fold in children who lived in the Ukraine region.

>

> The most dramatic rate increase is in children who were 10 or younger when

> the Chernobyl accident occurred, and most specifically, those who were under

> 4. Researchers have found that in certain parts of Belarus, 36.4 per cent of

> children who were under four when the accident occurred can expect to

> develop thyroid cancer. This rate is higher than earlier estimated, and is

> far above the rates for those exposed to radiation in other parts of the

> world. Researchers believe this high rate may be due to iodine deficiency in

> that geographic region.

>

> According to the journal Cancer (2000;68:1470-1476) among children living in

> Belarus, thyroid cancer is more common and more severe in children who were

> younger than 2 years old at the time of the 1986 accident. The researchers

> believe that the rapid cellular growth that occurs in children under 2

> facilitated a quicker and broader development of the cancer.

>

> In addition to thyroid cancer, there is another thyroid related problem due

> to Chernobyl's radiation release. According to the medical journal, Lancet,

> children exposed to radioactive iodine due to the Chernobyl nuclear

> explosion may be more likely to develop hypothyroidism. Research conducted

> at the University of Pisa showed that exposure to Chernobyl's radiation

> caused the children to have more antithyroid antibodies than other children.

> These antibodies may cause the children to later develop hypothyroidism.

>



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