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Re: Fwd: Editorial in Asbury Park Press
The Jan. 9 letter to the editor from Jeanette Sherman omitted one very salient fact: She is listed on the Radiation and Public Health Project's Web site as a "research colleague and lecturer" for the group, and is in fact a co-author for the group's papers. In addition, she is also listed as a director. The views she expresses are therefore not independent thinking, but propaganda to support the group's position. For Sherman to fail to note this is at best disingenuous, but most likely is a deliberate attempt to mislead readers of the Asbury Park Press.
Sherman provides no references for her allegations concerning thyroid disorders. Her other comments are equally dubious. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has reviewed the allegations of Joseph Mangano, Sherman and their co-authors, and the agency's deconstruction of their work is found on the NRC's Web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/tooth-fairy.html .
please not these are my opinons only.
Patricia A. Milligan, CHP
USNRC
pxm@nrc.gov
301-415-2223
>>> "Norm Cohen" <ncohen12@comcast.net> 01/10/05 10:00AM >>>
------- Forwarded message -------
Subject: Editorial in Asbury Park Press
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 09:49:35 EST
Dear Friends: This editorial, written by Dr. Janette Sherman, is a good
summary of the importance of the Tooth Fairy Project in creating a safer
nuclear
policy. Best wishes, Joe Mangano
APP.COM - Risk to humans from nuclear-plant radiation is well documented
ASBURY PARK PRESS
Published in the Asbury Park Press 1/09/05
The "baby teeth" project has demonstrated that when seven
nuclear power plants closed, the health status of children
improved in the areas surrounding the plants.
It is irresponsible that AmerGen Energy Co., owner of the
Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey, made misleading
statements about nuclear radiation in a recent mass mailing sent
to residents.
What is quoted from the National Academy of Sciences is true:
We do have a lot of information and that information,
accumulated over decades, points to damage caused by nuclear
radiation.
It is true as well that there are natural sources of radiation
from the earth and outer space. What is important is the
difference between "natural" radiation and that generated by
nuclear power plants. Every plant, in the course of operation,
continually gives off some 200-plus radioactive elements. Some
of these have short half-lives, some long; they emit beta, gamma
and alpha radiation of varying energies. They are taken up by
living plants, animals and humans, and concentrate in various
organs in the body.
For example, the radioactive forms of iodine (I-129 and I-131)
concentrate in the thyroid gland. Both congenital hypothyroidism
and thyroid cancer have increased in the population in proximity
to nuclear power plants.
Radioactive strontium (Sr-90) acts like calcium and
concentrates in the bones and teeth of the unborn and young
children. Sr-90 never existed before the advent of the nuclear
industry. Sr-90 is a powerful beta emitter, radiating the tissue
in which it embedded. It decays to yttrium (Y90), which gives
off a second beta particle, increasing the likelihood of damage
to cellular structures and DNA. Increasing levels of Sr-90 are
linked to increased fetal losses, neonatal deaths and cancer in
children as well as adults living in proximity to nuclear power
plants.
The AmerGen letter states: "Adverse health effects from low
doses of radiation from a nuclear power plant .'.'. cannot be
distinguished from health effects from other sources of
low-level radiation." That is why the research by the Radiation
and Public Health Project, collecting baby teeth and measuring
levels of Sr-90, has been so important. That research has proved
that Sr-90 is highest in proximity to nuclear plants, and has
linked it to increasing incidence of cancers and other adverse
health effects. Furthermore, the project has demonstrated that
when seven nuclear power plants closed, the health status of
children improved in the areas surrounding all seven plants.
Other radioactive elements interchange with nonradioactive
elements in animals and plants, and result in damage. Carbon-14,
with a half-life of some 5,000 years, accumulates in any portion
of the body or plant as it displaces a nonradioactive carbon
atom.
The European Committee on Radiation Risk has clearly
demonstrated the adverse health effects of low-level nuclear
radiation risk. High levels of nuclear radiation may kill a
cell. Low levels damage the machinery of the cell, allowing for
altered repair and the development of genetic and carcinogenic
alterations.
Hundreds of research articles have been published, linking
radioactive elements to damage to humans, animals and plants.
There are safer, less costly ways to generate electricity.
These include solar, wind, natural gas and hydroelectric power.
And lastly, conservation is important.
Some 15 to 20 percent of U.S. electrical power comes from
nuclear plants. It is very likely that if the public understood
the contribution of nuclear power to cancer in children and
adults, and fetal and neonatal loss, most citizens would be more
than willing to cut their use of electrical power by 20 percent
to prevent the illnesses and losses that so many are bearing.
Dr. Janette D. Sherman
INTERNAL MEDICINE AND TOXICOLOGY
ALEXANDRIA, VA.
--
Coalition for Peace and Justice
UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave, Linwood
NJ 08221; 609-601-8583; cell 609-742-0982
ncohen12@comcast.net; http://www.unplugsalem.org
http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org
"Life is a jelly donut. You don't really know what
its about until you bite into it. Then, just when you decide
its good, you drop a big glob of jelly on your best t-shirt."
Janet Evanovich
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