Speculative Fiction and Radiation Science

["Schroeder, Gary L" <schroede@bnl.gov>]

This may be of interest to those of you have have followed Alec Baldwin's
forays into the radiation epidemiology field, as well as those who track Jay
Gould.

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             RADIATION AND HEALTH SEMINAR

             Alec Baldwin

             On behalf of

             ONE IN NINE BREAST CANCER ACTION COALITION
             RADIATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH PROJECT (RPHP)
             STAR (STANDING FOR TRUTH ABOUT RADIATION)

             Cordially invites you to a discussion of the baby tooth
             study and cancer rates on Long Island

             RADIATION AND HEALTH SEMINAR

             May 25, 1999, 7 p.m., Westhampton Performing Arts
             Center

             PROGRAM

             Ernest Sternglass, Ph.D., Co-Director,RPHP Baby Teeth
             Study, Professor Emeritus, Radiological Physics,
             University of Pittsburgh Medical School. TOPIC: The
             baby teeth study past and present.

             Janette D. Sherman, M.D., Internal Medicine specialist,
             STAR Advisory Board, RPHP Research Associate. TOPIC:
             Nuclear radiation, chemical carcinogens and breast
             cancer

             Jan Schlictmann, Attorney at Law, STAR Board of
             Directors. TOPIC: Woburn, Massachusetts and Toms River,
             New Jersey contamination cases

             Dr. Minna Barrett, One in Nine Breast Cancer Action
             Coalition. TOPIC: Breast cancer on Long Island

             Alec Baldwin, Moderator, Board of Directors, STAR

             For information contact STAR FOUNDATION, (516) 324-0655

             Recently, Actor Alec Baldwin sent a letter to 15,000
             families in New York and New Jersey asking them to
             donate their children?s baby teeth to the ?Tooth Fairy
             Project? a national, scientific study of American?s
             exposure to radioactivity. The study will measure
             levels of radioactive strontium-90 in the teeth of
             children.

             Why Study Baby Teeth? The chemical structure of Sr-90
             is so similar to that of calcium that the body deposits
             Sr-90 in the bones and teeth instead of calcium,
             continually emitting cancer-causing beta radiation.
             Most of the strontium in the baby teeth is transferred
             to the fetus from the mother during pregnancy.

             By studying the discarded teeth of young children, we
             can identify where and when the babies were born, and
             where the mother lived while carrying. As result, we
             can accurately determine when and where radioactivity
             was absorbed from the environment.

             Our Federal Government no longer measures strontium-90
             uptake in baby teeth and, therefore does not track
             exposure from nuclear reactors and other radioactive
             sources. As a result, the Radiation and Public Health
             Project (RPHP) has launched its own national study of
             the levels of radioactivity in American baby teeth.
             This study will gather the necessary clinical evidence
             to determine whether nuclear reactors and Federal
             laboratories affect our public health and contribute to
             America's cancer epidemic.

             Study history: In 1958 dental associations in St.
             Louis, organized by Dr. Barry Commoner, concerned about
             increasing fallout from aboveground nuclear tests,
             independently began collecting baby teeth. The goal of
             the effort was to ascertain strontium-90 levels and to
             investigate the impacts of fallout from aboveground
             bomb tests that had began in 1945. More than 60,000
             teeth were collected in St. Louis showing that by 1965
             levels increased fifty-fold increase in strontium
             levels from 1951.

             In the 1970s, Sr-90 levels in baby teeth dropped back
             down to about the same level reached in the US by 1958.
             Studies published by researchers in both Denmark and
             Japan were continued until the early 1980s. These
             reveal that sometime in the mid-1970s the strontium-90
             levels in teeth leveled out, followed by a slight
             upturn.

             Unfortunately, a current study of some 6,000 baby teeth
             collected, in Germany since 1992 by the German Section
             of the International Physicians for the Prevention of
             Nuclear War--winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize
             Award--found the trend has changed. The analysis found
             a tenfold increase in Sr-90 levels in children born in
             the period following the arrival of Chernobyl fallout
             in May of 1986, as compared with children born in 1983,
             before the Chernobyl fallout.

             Co-Sponsors: NEW YORK PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP
             SEARCH (Seeking Answers for Rhabdomyosarcoma Children)

             Directions: Sunrise Hwy. To Exit 63S (Westhampton
             Beach) County Road 31- At 3rd light, continue straight
             & follow signs to Beach & business district.
             Immediately after St. Marks Church, make a left onto
             Main Street - Theater is at 76 North Main; Municipal
             parking available directly across from the theater


Gary Schroeder
Environmental Services Division
Brookhaven National Laboratory
schroede@bnl.gov


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