RE: UNSCEAR distorts scientific info?

["yuan-chi luan" <nbcsoc@hotmail.com>]

Dear RSH friends:



I do not know whether UNSCEAR tried to distort information, but UNSCEAR did 

try to suppress certain information for supporting the LNT hypothesis just 

as other radiation protection authorities did. As I still remember the facts 

of the UNSCEAR moderator to harass me to present our paper about the 

beneficial health effects of chronic radiation observed in the Taiwan Co-60 

contamination incident in 1999 WONUC symposium, and the IRPA-10 refused to 

accept our paper, but accept 10 other papers on the incident radiation 

harmful to the contaminated residents, and the LANCET refused to peer review 

our paper about radiation could benefit the residents, but publish 3 papers 

about radiation could harm residents, I am deep sorry that I could not 

refrain in expressing our personal feeing, but if our feeling are forgiven 

and could make NSCEAR and other organizations to have open attitude to the 

nuclear scientific information, the health effects of chronic radiation 

might render tremendous benefits to humans.



I do not know the mechanism of thyroid cancer, and the hypothyroidism 

treatment with I-131, but have also some information might be good for 

reference. We have also follow-up whether the high accumulated doses 

received by the irradiated resident in Taiwan have any harmful effects in 

thyroid cancers. After the both reports of IAEA in one decade after 

Chernobyl conference in 1996, and the 2000 UNSCEAR report to general 

assembly had indicated no excess cancers to the workers observed, except 

quite high thyroid cancers observed among the children, all the hospitals 

and scientists in Taiwan paid particular attention to the thyroid cancer, 

and had found 5 residents suffering thyroid abnormalities, included one 

cancer. But we did not pay much attention to this situation, as the thyroid 

cancer death in Taiwan is only a tiny risk to public. The total cancer 

deaths recently in Taiwan were over 300,000 persons of 15 different cancer, 

the thyroid cancer death was never listed in the 15 cancers. The 15th cancer 

is usually brain or kidney cancer, and usually < 1% or < 100 persons. So 

that the thyroid cancer mortality is hard to observe by epidemiological 

statistics, it must be in few ten or few one. The cytogenetic studies did 

show the big number of spontaneous cancer deaths of the residents reduced, 

did not show tiny number of thyroid cancer decreased. Even the thyroid 

cancer mortality could increase as UNSCEAR indicated in 2000 report, it 

would be hard to observe in Taiwan, as there were only about 10,000 

residents, their normal cancer deaths could be only more than 200 persons in 

20 years, thyroid cancer could be only one or two. The big number of thyroid 

cancer incidence among Russian children could be induced by high dose of 

I-131 from fission products, but we doubt the Co-60 chronic radiation could 

cause thyroid cancers. The big number of children thyroid cancer in Russian 

was incidence, not death. We had asked the Russian correspondence author of 

their studies on what was the difference of thyroid cancer deaths before and 

after the Chernobyl accident, but no reply was given...



UNSCCEAR indicated the thyroid cancers in the patients with I-131 therapies 

with I-131 elevated. We think it is possible, as the thyroid exposed to the 

acute high dose radiation from I-131, just like the Japanese survivors 

received high acute doses of gamma and neutron, and their leukemia deaths 

greatly increased as the results obtained by the RERF group, and established 

the LNT model for using as the basic radiation protection policy for the 

nuclear industry until today. But based on RERF data, the acute radiation 

harmless at least to 85% survivors, and even might be beneficial to them 

according to Dr Kondo and others, yet the rest 15% of survivors received 

high doses of the acute radiation had their leukemia deaths obviously 

increased, though leukemia is also a low mortality cancer, but might much 

higher than thyroid cancer. The radiation received in the peaceful use of 

nuclear energy is similar to the radiation received by the residents living 

the contaminated houses is chronic radiation which has different health 

effects to humans, the higher dose received, even high up to high level will 

benefit humans, and a proper high does could prevent the cancers as a 

vaccine.     .       .



I wish my explanation could be helpful for your consideration of this issue! 

In case you wish also to further care about the beneficial health effects of 

chronic radiation, we would certainly appreciated.



Best regards



Y. C. Luan   Senior scientist of NuSTA and Consultant of NBC Society.





----------------------------original message----------------------------



>From: "Jim Muckerheide" <jmuckerheide@cnts.wpi.edu>

>To: <rad-sci-l@WPI.EDU>

>Subject: UNSCEAR distorts scientific info? Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 11:15:38 

>-0500

>

>Friends,

>

>Forwarding a bounced msg.

>

>Regards, Jim

>

>

>-----Original Message-----

>From: "Jerry Cuttler" <jerrycuttler@rogers.com>

>To: "Whitlock, Jeremy" <whitlockj@aecl.ca>,

>         "ANS Member Exchange Listserv" <mbrexchange@list.ans.org>,

>         "RAD-SCI-L" <rad-sci-l@WPI.EDU>,

>         "cdn-nucl-l" <cdn-nucl-l@mailman1.cis.mcmaster.ca>

>Subject: Re: [cdn-nucl-l] UNSCEAR distorts scientific info? Fw: My letter 

>to

>NN, Jan 2000, Re: Dose-response follow-up for nuclear medicine I-131

>therapies

>Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 10:23:55 -0500

>

>I looked again at the Lancet paper after receiving the note below from Dr.

>Jaworowski.

>Of the 634 cancer cases diagnosed (from the 7417 patients), only 9 thyroid

>cancer cases were observed and 2-8 were expected.  Of the 448 cancer 

>deaths,

>only 5 thyroid cancer deaths were observed and 1-8 were expected.  There is

>no discussion of occult thyroid cancer.

>

>UNSCEAR and others seem to be trying very hard to link thyroid cancer to

>I-131 radiation.  Why?

>Jerry

>-----------------------

>

>     I would like to add, that the statistics in UNSCEAR ref. F13 is based 

>on

>9 thyroid cancer cases. The authors stated: "it is not posible to establish

>a relation between [thyroid] cancer incidence or mortality and a 

>radioiodine

>dose ... and that findings for thyroid cancer may reflect an association

>with thyrotoxicosis rather than radioiodine exposure".

>     The problem of thyroid cancer epidemiology is complicated by a very 

>high

>normal incidence of occult thyroid cancers, which ranges in various

>countries from about 5% in Colombia, 9% in Poland, 15% in the USA, to 35% 

>in

>Finland. Any discussion of epidemiology of radiation induced thyroid 

>cancers

>which ignores the occult thyroid cancers, and the screening effect 

>involved,

>is improper.

>     Best wishes,

>     Zbigniew

>

>   ----- Original Message -----=20

>   From: Whitlock, Jeremy=20

>   To: ANS Member Exchange Listserv ; RAD-SCI-L ; cdn-nucl-l=20

>   Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2004 12:39 AM

>   Subject: RE: [cdn-nucl-l] UNSCEAR distorts scientific info? Fw: My =

>letter to NN, Jan 2000, Re: Dose-response follow-up for nuclear medicine =

>I-131 therapies

>

>   I think the main reason why the UNSCEAR text mentions the elevated risk 

>of

>thyroid cancer and not the decreased overall cancer risk, is that it is

>excerpted from a section (pg. 497, Annex J, UNSCEAR 2000) dealing

>specifically with the elevated incidence of thyroid cancer in the

>Chernobyl-affected regions of the former USSR.   There ain't no conspiracy

>or misconduct here.

>

>   Even so, as I've mentioned, they point out the non-conclusive nature of

>SMRs and SIRs.  Thus those studies do not prove an elevated risk of thyroid

>cancer due to I-131 exposure, nor do they prove a decreased risk of overall

>cancer.  You would need a case-control study within the hyperthyroidism

>cohort to demonstrate this, and as far as I can see this was not done.

>

>   Jeremy Whitlock

>

>     -----Original Message-----

>     From: Jerry Cuttler [mailto:jerrycuttler@rogers.com]

>     Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 5:35 PM

>     To: Whitlock, Jeremy; ANS Member Exchange Listserv; RAD-SCI-L; =

>cdn-nucl-l

>     Subject: Re: [cdn-nucl-l] UNSCEAR distorts scientific info? Fw: My =

>letter to NN, Jan 2000, Re: Dose-response follow-up for nuclear medicine =

>I-131 therapies

>

>

>     We should split hairs on this very important matter.  It is crucial to

>public acceptance of all nuclear technologies.

>

>     In my view, it is improper for scientists to mislead the public about

>the health effects of radiation.  If a significant reduction in cancer

>incidence and mortality is observed and reported by credible scientists,

>then UNSCEAR should include this information in its publications, 

>especially

>in publications that comment on and reference publications that contain 

>this

>information.  Mentioning only an increase in a small cancer effect while

>ignoring a decrease in a much larger cancer effect, seems like misconduct.

>It seems to be a very common practice -- reflecting perhaps a very strong

>desire -- to tie any amount of radiation to cancer.  It must stop.

>

>     In the view of Dr. Jaworowski, too much is being made of thyroid 

>cancer.

>The link to I-131 is not that strong.

>

>

>



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