[ RadSafe ] markey-connection between infant mortality and nukes

[Norm Cohen]

NEWS FROM ED MARKEY
United States Congress			Massachusetts Seventh District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                            		CONTACT:  	Mark Bayer
February 18, 2005								Michal Freedhoff
(202) 225-2836

NEW STUDY SUGGESTS SPIKE IN INFANT MORTALITY ASSOCIATED WITH RADIATION  
 FROM NUKE PLANTS
  Markey Questions NRC on Health Risks of Living Near Nuclear Reactors

Washington, DC:  Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House  
Energy and Commerce Committee, the panel which oversees nuclear power  
regulation, today released a letter he sent to the Nuclear Regulatory  
Commission (NRC) regarding health risks for communities who live close to  
nuclear reactors.  A new study released today by Dr. Ernest Sternglass of  
the University of Pittsburgh suggests that infant mortality increased  
significantly in 2002,  after operating capacity at 104 nuclear power  
stations reached its highest levels.

“The nuclear industry and the NRC have automatically dismissed all studies  
that link increased cancer risk to exposure to low levels of radiation,”  
said Rep. Markey. “The reality is that the data suggest that we should be  
taking this potential linkage much more seriously.”

Rep. Markey’s letter to the NRC was motivated by the ordeals of the Sauer  
family, former residents of Minooka, IL, which is located close to the  
Dresden nuclear power plant.  The family has recently relocated because of  
concerns about the health impacts associated with living near the Dresden  
plant, which were heightened because of their daughter’s brain cancer.  In  
June 2003, the NRC was presented with data obtained from the Illinois  
Department of Public Health (IDPH) that indicate that in Grundy County, IL  
between 1995-99, the infant mortality rate has doubled, there has been a  
nearly 400% increase in pediatric cancer and a 38% increase in cancer  
among those aged 28-44 years old (while the same statistic for all of IL  
decreased by 8%).  Moreover, other statistics show that the incidence of  
leukemia was 50% higher in men and 100% higher in women in Grundy County  
than it was in the rest of the State. In its responses to the Sauers, NRC  
personnel have ignored these statistics and have instead cited a 1990  
National Cancer Institute (NCI) study entitled “Cancer in Populations  
Living Near Nuclear Facilities”, which has numerous flaws in design,  
since, as the authors themselves stated, the limitations in the design  
were accepted so that “it could be completed in a timeframe that was  
relatively short for a survey of such magnitude.”

In addition to the Sauer case, Rep. Markey’s office has been made aware of  
additional studies and data:
·	Today, Dr. Ernest Sternglass of the University of Pittsburgh is  
releasing data at the American Association for the Advancement of Science  
meeting in Washington DC indicating a spike in infant mortality that  
occurred in 2002, coming after operating capacity at 104 nuclear power  
stations reached its highest levels and increased at the highest rate in  
the U.S. between 1997 and 2001.  His work also refers to a scientific  
paper indicating that low levels of radiation exposure during pregnancy is  
directly related to low birth weight which, in addition to infant  
mortality, has also been implicated in numerous chronic diseases,  
including autism, asthma, cognitive dysfunction, rheumatoid arthritis,  
anemia, obesity, heart disease and cancer.
·	A 2003 article by Joseph Mangano et al in Archives of Environmental  
Health found elevated levels of childhood cancers in populations living  
within 30 miles of nuclear power plants between 1988-1997.  For example,  
in Plymouth County, MA (near the Pilgrim Power plant), there was found to  
be a 14.6% increase in the numbers of childhood cancers as compared to the  
rest of the country.  And in Essex County, MA and Rockingham County, NH  
(near the Seabrook Power plant), there was found to be a 24.8% increase in  
the numbers of childhood cancer mortalities.

“The NRC needs to study – not summarily dismiss - the connection between  
serious health risks and radiation released from nuclear reactors.  I am  
urging the agency to investigate these risks, and I will continue to  
closely monitor the NRC’s progress in this important area,” Rep. Markey  
concluded.

For a copy of the letter sent to the NRC, please see www.house.gov/markey





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Coalition for Peace and Justice
UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave, Linwood
NJ 08221; 609-601-8583; cell 609-742-0982
ncohen12 at comcast.net; http://www.unplugsalem.org
http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org

"A time comes when silence is betrayal.
Even when pressed by the demands of
inner truth, men do not easily assume
the task of opposing their government's
policy, especially in time of war.
Nor does the human spirit move without
  great difficulty against all the apathy
of conformist thought, within one's own
bosom and in the surrounding world."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

 


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