Health Impacts
EVENT May 11: Radiation — Unseen and everywhere
From fracking to Fukushima Join us! Wednesday, May 11, 2022; 7:00 PM ET for Sierra Club NYC Group’s Sustainability Series. There are many types and levels of radiation, some occurs naturally, some are made by man. But there is no safe amount. We will look at radiation and health. You will learn how people are…
Read MoreRadiation Symposium April 23: Health lessons from Rocky Flats
Join Physicians for Social Responsibility, Colorado for a symposium on April 23, exploring health and environmental contamination. While the symposium is centered on issues still plaguing the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, much of the information is applicable to other contaminated sites. Rocky Flats produced plutonium triggers for atomic weapons from 1952 until 1989. It…
Read MoreChornobyl radiation makes Russian soldiers sick?
Russian troops are suffering from “acute radiation sickness”, according to the Daily Beast, after digging trenches in the Chornobyl area. As they were disturbing the highly-contaminated soil in the Red Forest of the Exclusion Zone — an area where not even highly-specialized Chornobyl personnel venture — the soldiers began falling ill and were transported to…
Read MoreEleven years out: For Fukushima victims, landmark decision
Japan’s Supreme Court has ordered Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power station, to pay 12 million dollars to 3,700 people, compensating them for damages suffered as a result of the nuclear catastrophe that began on March 11, 2011. It was the first among 30 similar lawsuits to reach such…
Read MoreLow-dose radiation: April report release for public comment
The National Academies hosted what was most likely the last of seven virtual public meetings examining how to move forward on low-dose radiation research. Video of the two-day meeting is available. At the meeting, public members pointed out conflicts of interest of the chairman, Joe W. Gray, PhD, who failed to state publicly that he…
Read MoreUranium Atlas now in French
For our French and Francophone friends, the Uranium Atlas has now been published in French. The Uranium Atlas literally maps the use of uranium across the globe, from mining to its use for nuclear power and nuclear weapons as well as the lethal waste trail it has left behind. First published in German, the English…
Read MoreSix Fukushima victims file suit over thyroid cancers
The Japan Times is reporting that “six people are set to sue Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (Tepco) over thyroid cancer that they claim they developed due to exposure to radioactive substances released from the 2011 triple reactor meltdown at its stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.” They are represented by campaigning lawyers…
Read MoreLAST CHANCE! Attend and comment on the future of radiation research
The National Academies is hosting what will probably be the last of 7 virtual public meetings examining how to move forward on low-dose radiation research. The two-day meeting is on Monday and Tuesday, January 24-25, 2022, starting at 2 PM Monday. Public comment times are 6:30-6:45 PM Monday and 11-11:30 AM Tuesday. Agenda subject to…
Read MoreImpacted communities speak out on radiation impacts
The National Academies hosted a virtual public meeting over two days in October 2021, to examine how to move forward with low-dose radiation research. This was part of a larger NAS effort, which will end with a report of recommendations. To NAS’s credit, the October meeting featured powerful and important presentations by downwinder and other…
Read MoreReference Girl: She is needed for now
As a health protection model, Reference Girl will afford more protection to our entire population fairly easily under the current regulatory regime. However, she cannot represent the totality of the exposure damage to our entire lifecycle. For that, we would need a Reference Fetus, a more complicated standard and one that would better account for…
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