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Mangano urges new studies of TMI health effects
LancasterOnline.com
TMI health studies hit
By Ad Crable
Published: Aug 17, 2004 2:23 PM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - A new, critical analysis of more than three-dozen
studies into the health effects since the 1979 accident at the Three Mile
Island nuclear plant concludes ?it is likely a full accounting of health
effects will never be known.?But the truth could and should be documented,
argues researcher Joseph Mangano of the nonprofit Radiation and Public
Health Project.
His article, ?Three Mile Island: Health Study Meltdown,? is published in
the new edition of the peer-reviewed Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Mangano criticizes the medical community for fixating on stress-related
health effects from the accident and not doing extensive research into
cancer rates in residents beyond five miles of the plant, where wind-blown
radiation may have settled.
Both the Bulletin and the Radiation and Public Health Project have been
critical of nuclear power.
?Twenty-five years after the largest accident in the history of the U.S.
nuclear power industry, the research completed to date is limited,? says
Mangano, who has published 20 medical journal articles on radiation health
effects.
?Nothing exists in the literature on infant mortality, hypothyroidism in
newborns, cancer in young children, or thyroid cancer, even though data
for all of these were routinely collected in 1979.
?All these conditions are especially sensitive to ionizing radiation. Many
prominent journals have remained silent. Why??
In partial answer to his own question, Mangano asserts that the official
position of the federal and Pennsylvania governments that the accident had
negligible health effects has had a chilling effect.
That?s very unfortunate, he says, because the ?effects of ionizing
radiation may take decades to manifest as the onset of a disease like
cancer. So monitoring of disease patterns and dose-response comparisons
should continue.?
Mangano?s own research of public health data shows that death rates of
Dauphin and Lebanon county residents who were children in 1979 continue to
be well above average to this day.
Both areas were downwind of TMI during the accident.
?The degree to which this reflects the latent effects of Three Mile Island
should be explored, especially since no risk factors in these two counties
are obvious,? Mangano says.
Evidence surfaced after the accident that radiation releases traveled long
distances. Both Albany, N.Y., and Portland, Maine, documented elevated
radioactivity levels several days after the accident, according to Mangano.
?But these findings were largely ignored by health officials, and
potential health effects in downwind areas further than 10 miles from the
plant never examined.?
Furthermore, Mangano maintains his examination of health data shows that
in the two years after the accident, the infant death rate rose in 13 of
the 19 counties downwind from the plant. Lancaster was not one of the
counties identified as being down wind during the accident.
He also rues that only five articles examining the link between radiation
exposure and cancer near TMI have made it to medical journals. Four of
those found no link between the accident and cancers near the plant.
Effects of radiation may take decades to show up and scientists?
understanding of the health effects from low-dose exposure continues to
change, Mangano writes.
The fact that there were no accurate readings of radiation levels outside
the plant and that TMI health research has proved controversial should not
deter scientists from seeking answer to unanswered TMI questions, Mangano
asserts.
?If the public?s health is to be protected to the greatest degree
possible, it is imperative we learn the full lessons of an event like
Three Mile Island,? he said.
Eric Epstein, head of the local Three Mile Island Alert safe-energy group,
praised the study, saying it ?clearly demonstrates that further studies on
the health effects on the accident are warranted.?
At a press conference today, Epstein said he would ask the state Health
Department to reopen its examination of adverse health effects from the
accident.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by the Educational
Foundation for Nuclear Science, was founded in 1945 by scientists who
worked on the Manhattan Project. Based at the University of Chicago, it
warns of the dangers of nuclear weapons.
The New York-based Radiation and Public Health Project was established by
scientists and physicians to focus on the relationships between low-level
nuclear radiation and public health.
© 2004 Lancaster Newspapers
PO Box 1328, Lancaster PA 17608, (717) 291-8811
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Researcher urges new TMI health studies
Previous reports disagree on whether harm was done by the 1979 nuclear
accident.
By RICHARD FELLINGER
Harrisburg bureau
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
At bottom: á MORE ON TMI
HARRISBURG Ñ A new journal article concludes that scientific data is
lacking on the health effects of the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island,
and its author is urging public health officials to take a closer look at
whether the nation's worst nuclear accident was harmful.
Joseph Mangano, national coordinator for the New York-based Radiation and
Public Health Project, wrote the article that appears in the
September/October issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He held
a news conference in the Capitol rotunda Tuesday to discuss the article
that grew out of his research into the 25th anniversary of the accident on
March 28.
Mangano found five journal articles on the health effects of the accident
and said their conclusions don't agree. Some researchers, such as those
from Columbia University and the University of Pittsburgh, found no risk
to nearby residents, while researchers from North Carolina University
reported a link between the accident and cancer.
But the state Department of Health does not see a need to study the
accident further because it conducted 31 studies in the nearly 20 years
following the accident, said spokesman Richard McGarvey.
Of the state's 31 studies, only one reported harmful effects Ñ an increase
in babies with low birth weight. McGarvey said the department followed up
with another study of those babies and found no long-term problems.
Mangano, who describes his own group as a small nonprofit, said government
health agencies should be responsible for more research because they have
the best resources.
He also suggested that public health officials offer screenings to
determine whether people near TMI are at risk for ailments such as thyroid
disease.
"This is not just something we are looking at in the past," Mangano said.
"There is a lot of current relevance."
Mangano stressed the need for more research on the impact of the accident
on young children, who are more susceptible to the effects of radiation.
His article examines infant mortality rates in Pennsylvania in 1979 and
reports that five midstate counties experienced increases Ñ Adams,
Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster and Lebanon.
At his news conference, Mangano acknowledged that infant deaths are caused
by factors such as poor diet and a lack of prenatal care as well as
exposure to radiation.
Mangano criticized researchers for spending too much time examining the
link between psychological problems and the TMI accident. Researchers
delved into psychological issues after the Kemeny Commission, established
by President Jimmy Carter, concluded that mental distress was the only
health threat from the accident.
A spokesman for Exelon, which owns TMI, declined comment on Mangano's
article but maintained that studies have shown no health effects from the
accident.
"There have been a variety of studies shortly after the event that have
conclusively proven that there have not been health effects from it," said
Exelon spokesman Pete Resler.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has asserted that the accident has had
"negligible effects on the physical health" of nearby residents.
Local nuclear watchdog Eric Epstein said the Bulletin of the Atomic
Scientists is a reputable journal that regularly publishes articles from
nuclear power critics and proponents. Epstein is chairman of Three Mile
Island Alert and a candidate for the state Senate's 15th District.
Comparing the TMI accident to "a crime scene," Epstein echoed Mangano's
call for more research.
"We need more objective and detailed forensic investigations into the
impact on our community," Epstein said.
MORE ON TMI
For recent coverage of the 25th anniversary of the accident at Three Mile
Island, visit http://www.ydr.com/tmi.
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