Re: [Fwd: [graffis-l] Plutonium cancer risk may be higher than thought]

[John Jacobus <crispy_bird@YAHOO.COM>]

The only problem is that the risk does not seem to

appear in the currently exposed populations.  The

bystander effect is interesting biology, but does not

change the epidemiological results.  Our current

standards and safeguards seem to be doing an adequate

job of protection the workers and the public.



--- Norm Cohen <ncohen12@comcast.net> wrote:

> 

> 

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

> Subject: 	[graffis-l] Plutonium cancer risk may be

> higher than thought

> Date: 	Sun, 18 Jul 2004 08:03:34 -0400

> From: 	Mark Graffis <mgraffis@vitelcom.net>

> Reply-To: 	graffis-l@yahoogroups.com

> To: 	x3 <graffis-l@yahoogroups.com>

> 

> 

> 

> New Scientist

> 09:30 18 July 04

>

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996152

> Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition.

> Subscribe and get 4 free issues.

> 

> Plutonium may be many times more dangerous than

> previously thought. The

> cancer risk from exposure inside the body could be

> 10 times higher than is

> allowed for in calculating international safety

> limits.

> The danger is highlighted in a report written by

> radiation experts for the

> UK government, which has been leaked to New

> Scientist. The experts are

> unanimous in saying that low-level radiation emitted

> by plutonium may cause

> more damage to human cells than previously believed.

> Their opinion could

> provoke a rethink of the guidelines on exposure to

> radiation.

> Several tonnes of plutonium have been released into

> the environment over the

> last 60 years by nuclear weapons tests and nuclear

> plants.

> Concern over the harmfulness of plutonium is growing

> because of discoveries

> about the subtle effects of low-level radiation.

> Researchers in Europe and

> North America have shown that the descendants of

> cells that seem to survive

> radiation unharmed can suffer delayed damage, a

> phenomenon called "genomic

> instability" (New Scientist print edition, 20

> January 2001).

> 

> Bystander effect

> 

> Cells adjacent to those that are irradiated can also

> sustain damage, known

> as "the bystander effect". And an increase was found

> in the number of

> mutations in small pieces of DNA called

> mini-satellites that are passed from

> one generation to the next. The fear is that these

> effects could trigger

> cancers and other ill effects.

> The report, which is due to be published in the next

> few months, has been

> drawn up by the Committee Examining Radiation Risks

> from Internal Emitters

> (CERRIE). The committee includes 12 specialists from

> the UK government's

> National Radiological Protection Board, the nuclear

> industry, universities

> and environmental groups.

> All members of the committee agree that the margin

> of uncertainty over the

> risks of plutonium and similar radionuclides inside

> the body "could extend

> over at least an order of magnitude".

> This "should be borne in mind by those making

> judgements and policy

> decisions on low-level internal radiation", says

> CERRIE's chairman, Dudley

> Goodhead, the former director of the UK Medical

> Research Council's Radiation

> and Genome Stability Unit at Harwell in Oxfordshire.

> 

> Rob Edwards

> 

> 

> 

> 

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> 

> -- 

> Coalition for Peace and Justice

> (http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org); and

> the UNPLUG Salem Campaign

> (http://www.unplugsalem.org); 321 Barr Ave.,

> Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8583/37;

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> be late for your life" (Mary Chapin Carpenter).

> 

> 





=====

+++++++++++++++++++

"To be persuasive, we must be believable,

To be believable, we must be credible,

To be credible, we must be truthful."

Edward R. Murrow



-- John

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

e-mail:  crispy_bird@yahoo.com





		

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