UN Reports Thousands of Thyroid Cancers 25 Years After Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

[jpak]

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/UN-Reports-Thousands-of-Thyroid-Cancers-25-Years-After-Chernobyl-Nuclear-Disaster-117088228.html

Twenty five years after the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a United Nations report estimates the disaster caused thyroid cancer in more than 6,000 children in the affected area.

The world's worst nuclear accident caused thousands of cases of thyroid cancer among children, largely from drinking contaminated milk, according to a report by the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation.

University of New Mexico Radiology Professor Fred Mettler contributed to the report.

"In our report we say 6,800," said Mettler. "But now, from what I understand people from Belarus say it is 7,000. Now the question they are asking is: what percent of them are due to the accident? And the answer is, most of them."

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[tabatha]

1. Didn't you know it is nothing to be concerned about?

:sarcasm:

[valerief]

2. Free trade. Regulations hamper business. Individuals. Bootstraps. Freedom.

Liberty for the very few is more important than life for the very many.

Well, that's what the teevee pretty much tells me.

[FBaggins]

3. Do you consider that report to be reliable?

Or are they hiding the truth by orders of magnitude?

[jpak]

5. Yeah - it's that One World Gummint UN

:rofl:

[FBaggins]

6. Sorry... is that an actual "yup" or a tongue-in-cheek "yup"?

It's hard to tell sometimes. :)

You posted the article. Do you think that it's a roughly accurate description of reality? Yes or no?

[kristopher]

7. No, it isn't even close

Abstract

Problems complicating a full assessment of the effects from Chernobyl included official secrecy and falsification of medical records by the USSR for the first 3.5 years after the catastrophe and the lack of reliable medical statistics in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Official data concerning the thousands of cleanup workers (Chernobyl liquidators) who worked to control the emissions are especially difficult to reconstruct. Using criteria demanded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) resulted in marked underestimates of the number of fatalities and the extent and degree of sickness among those exposed to radioactive fallout from Chernobyl. Data on exposures were absent or grossly inadequate, while mounting indications of adverse effects became more and more apparent. Using objective information collected by scientists in the affected areas—comparisons of morbidity and mortality in territories characterized by identical physiography, demography, and economy, which differed only in the levels and spectra of radioactive contamination—revealed significant abnormalities associated with irradiation, unrelated to age or sex (e.g., stable chromosomal aberrations), as well as other genetic and nongenetic pathologies.

...

This section describes the spectrum and the scale of the nonmalignant diseases that have been found among exposed populations. Adverse effects as a result of Chernobyl irradiation have been found in every group that has been studied. Brain damage has been found in individuals directly exposed—liquidators and those living in the contaminated territories, as well as in their offspring. Premature cataracts; tooth and mouth abnormalities; and blood, lymphatic, heart, lung, gastrointestinal, urologic, bone, and skin diseases afflict and impair people, young and old alike. Endocrine dysfunction, particularly thyroid disease, is far more common than might be expected, with some 1,000 cases of thyroid dysfunction for every case of thyroid cancer, a marked increase after the catastrophe. There are genetic damage and birth defects especially in children of liquidators and in children born in areas with high levels of radioisotope contamination. Immunological abnormalities and increases in viral, bacterial, and parasitic diseases are rife among individuals in the heavily contaminated areas. For more than 20 years, overall morbidity has remained high in those exposed to the irradiation released by Chernobyl. One cannot give credence to the explanation that these numbers are due solely to socioeconomic factors. The negative health consequences of the catastrophe are amply documented in this chapter and concern millions of people.

The most recent forecast by international agencies predicted there would be between 9,000 and 28,000 fatal cancers between 1986 and 2056, obviously underestimating the risk factors and the collective doses. On the basis of I-131 and Cs-137 radioisotope doses to which populations were exposed and a comparison of cancer mortality in the heavily and the less contaminated territories and pre- and post-Chernobyl cancer levels, a more realistic figure is 212,000 to 245,000 deaths in Europe and 19,000 in the rest of the world. High levels of Te-132, Ru-103, Ru-106, and Cs-134 persisted months after the Chernobyl catastrophe and the continuing radiation from Cs-137, Sr-90, Pu, and Am will generate new neoplasms for hundreds of years.

A detailed study reveals that 3.8–4.0% of all deaths in the contaminated territories of Ukraine and Russia from 1990 to 2004 were caused by the Chernobyl catastrophe. The lack of evidence of increased mortality in other affected countries is not proof of the absence of effects from the radioactive fallout. Since 1990, mortality among liquidators has exceeded the mortality rate in corresponding population groups. From 112,000 to 125,000 liquidators died before 2005—that is, some 15% of the 830,000 members of the Chernobyl cleanup teams. The calculations suggest that the Chernobyl catastrophe has already killed several hundred thousand human beings in a population of several hundred million that was unfortunate enough to live in territories affected by the fallout. The number of Chernobyl victims will continue to grow over many future generations.

Chapter II. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for Public Health
Alexey B. Nesterenko1, Vassily B. Nesterenko1,†, Alexey V. Yablokov2
Article first published online: 30 NOV 2009 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04822.x © 2009 New York Academy of Sciences

[FBaggins]

8. Then why would jpak post it?

I mean... it clearly debunks your offt-repeated-but-baseless claims that hundreds of thousands of people were killed... but that couldn't have been his intent.

[kristopher]

9. So by your standards a reporter knows more than the NY & Russian Academies of Sciences?

Here, read the abstract again then explain how a reporter debunks this valid, peer reviewed original source material. I can't figure which came first, your love of nuclear power or your poor judgment.

Abstract

Problems complicating a full assessment of the effects from Chernobyl included official secrecy and falsification of medical records by the USSR for the first 3.5 years after the catastrophe and the lack of reliable medical statistics in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Official data concerning the thousands of cleanup workers (Chernobyl liquidators) who worked to control the emissions are especially difficult to reconstruct. Using criteria demanded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) resulted in marked underestimates of the number of fatalities and the extent and degree of sickness among those exposed to radioactive fallout from Chernobyl. Data on exposures were absent or grossly inadequate, while mounting indications of adverse effects became more and more apparent. Using objective information collected by scientists in the affected areas—comparisons of morbidity and mortality in territories characterized by identical physiography, demography, and economy, which differed only in the levels and spectra of radioactive contamination—revealed significant abnormalities associated with irradiation, unrelated to age or sex (e.g., stable chromosomal aberrations), as well as other genetic and nongenetic pathologies.

...

This section describes the spectrum and the scale of the nonmalignant diseases that have been found among exposed populations. Adverse effects as a result of Chernobyl irradiation have been found in every group that has been studied. Brain damage has been found in individuals directly exposed—liquidators and those living in the contaminated territories, as well as in their offspring. Premature cataracts; tooth and mouth abnormalities; and blood, lymphatic, heart, lung, gastrointestinal, urologic, bone, and skin diseases afflict and impair people, young and old alike. Endocrine dysfunction, particularly thyroid disease, is far more common than might be expected, with some 1,000 cases of thyroid dysfunction for every case of thyroid cancer, a marked increase after the catastrophe. There are genetic damage and birth defects especially in children of liquidators and in children born in areas with high levels of radioisotope contamination. Immunological abnormalities and increases in viral, bacterial, and parasitic diseases are rife among individuals in the heavily contaminated areas. For more than 20 years, overall morbidity has remained high in those exposed to the irradiation released by Chernobyl. One cannot give credence to the explanation that these numbers are due solely to socioeconomic factors. The negative health consequences of the catastrophe are amply documented in this chapter and concern millions of people.

The most recent forecast by international agencies predicted there would be between 9,000 and 28,000 fatal cancers between 1986 and 2056, obviously underestimating the risk factors and the collective doses. On the basis of I-131 and Cs-137 radioisotope doses to which populations were exposed and a comparison of cancer mortality in the heavily and the less contaminated territories and pre- and post-Chernobyl cancer levels, a more realistic figure is 212,000 to 245,000 deaths in Europe and 19,000 in the rest of the world. High levels of Te-132, Ru-103, Ru-106, and Cs-134 persisted months after the Chernobyl catastrophe and the continuing radiation from Cs-137, Sr-90, Pu, and Am will generate new neoplasms for hundreds of years.

A detailed study reveals that 3.8–4.0% of all deaths in the contaminated territories of Ukraine and Russia from 1990 to 2004 were caused by the Chernobyl catastrophe. The lack of evidence of increased mortality in other affected countries is not proof of the absence of effects from the radioactive fallout. Since 1990, mortality among liquidators has exceeded the mortality rate in corresponding population groups. From 112,000 to 125,000 liquidators died before 2005—that is, some 15% of the 830,000 members of the Chernobyl cleanup teams. The calculations suggest that the Chernobyl catastrophe has already killed several hundred thousand human beings in a population of several hundred million that was unfortunate enough to live in territories affected by the fallout. The number of Chernobyl victims will continue to grow over many future generations.

Chapter II. Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe for Public Health
Alexey B. Nesterenko1, Vassily B. Nesterenko1,†, Alexey V. Yablokov2
Article first published online: 30 NOV 2009 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04822.x © 2009 New York Academy of Sciences

[FBaggins]

10. A reporter?

He's citing a report from the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation.

This is a major report that's substantially better sourced and reviewed than the paper you're citing. You might want to take the time to read it before jumping to further conclusions.

knows more than the NY & Russian Academies of Sciences?

That's a paper published in a magazine printed by the NY Academy of Sciences. That doesn't mean that it represents the unanimous opinion of said academy.

On edit. Oh I forgot. UNSCEAR is part of the nuclear industry, isn't it?

[kristopher]

11. Perhaps you could read the report and respond with substantial criticsm

...instead of tripe? What the NYAS act of publication tells us is that ALL of the findings are supported by valid scientific research. Let's unpeel just one paragraph of the abstract and give you a chance to actually discuss content.


- This section describes the spectrum and the scale of the nonmalignant diseases that have been found among exposed populations.

- Adverse effects as a result of Chernobyl irradiation have been found in every group that has been studied.

- Brain damage has been found in individuals directly exposed—liquidators and those living in the contaminated territories, as well as in their offspring.

- Premature cataracts;
tooth and mouth abnormalities; and
blood,
lymphatic,
heart,
lung,
gastrointestinal,
urologic,
bone, and
skin diseases afflict and impair people, young and old alike.

- Endocrine dysfunction, particularly thyroid disease, is far more common than might be expected, with some 1,000 cases of thyroid dysfunction for every case of thyroid cancer, a marked increase after the catastrophe.

- There are genetic damage and birth defects especially in children of liquidators and in children born in areas with high levels of radioisotope contamination.

- Immunological abnormalities and increases in viral, bacterial, and parasitic diseases are rife among individuals in the heavily contaminated areas.

- For more than 20 years, overall morbidity has remained high in those exposed to the irradiation released by Chernobyl.

- One cannot give credence to the explanation that these numbers are due solely to socioeconomic factors.

- The negative health consequences of the catastrophe are amply documented in this chapter and concern millions of people.

[FBaggins]

12. I'm quite familiar with the report that was published in the NYAS journal

You've only spammed it dozens of times.

They're quite willing to dismiss many dozens of times as substantial a set of "findings" supported by valid research. But of course you insist that we have to accept their version of events.

This section describes the spectrum and the scale of the nonmalignant diseases that have been found among exposed populations.

If you take a look at the UN report, there's FAR more extensive data on those same areas. Citing scores upon scores of studies.

Including very specific numerical estimates (and measures of course)... not just a list of scary side effects.

What the NYAS act of publication tells us is that ALL of the findings are supported by valid scientific research.

Nah... it really doesn't. There's no requirement that others validate the findings or re-perform any data-gathering. It also doesn't mean that any particular group of NYAS scientists actually agrees with their conclusions. The UN report, OTOH, is supported by scores of separate studies (all cited and - for all the one's I've checked - thoroughly peer reviewed and published in respectable publications themselves.)

[kristopher]

13. I don't believe you.

What you are "familiar with" are the ramblings of the nuclear-bloggers-circle-jerk-club that functions as an echo chamber for Rush Limbaugh style self-deception. The favorite tactics of those netwits are shallow smears on the value of publication, nasty smears on non-existent "bias against nukes" which (after a round of hearty dittos) then predisposes the clubhouse to believing the most inept and transparent of falsehoods - such as the claim that an independent study published by both the Russian and New York Academies of Sciences was debunked by the UN study instead of it being the other way around.

To claim that the UN report is somehow authoritative solely on the basis of the claim that it "is supported by scores of separate studies" is such empty rhetoric that it actually beggers the imagination that you would go there. I mean seriously are you so far gone that you actually believe the NYAS study doesn't include all that and a huge amount more? It is precisely because it goes well beyond the previous work that it has received so much attention.

I doubt that breaking down another couple of paragraphs from the abstract will make any difference to you but what the hey...

Problems complicating a full assessment of the effects from Chernobyl included official secrecy and falsification of medical records by the USSR for the first 3.5 years after the catastrophe and

the lack of reliable medical statistics in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.




Official data concerning the thousands of cleanup workers (Chernobyl liquidators) who worked to control the emissions
are especially difficult to reconstruct.





Using criteria demanded by

the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)

resulted in marked underestimates of the number of fatalities and the extent and degree of sickness among those exposed to radioactive fallout from Chernobyl.





Data on exposures were absent or grossly inadequate, while mounting indications of adverse effects became more and more apparent.





Using objective information collected by scientists in the affected areas —

comparisons of morbidity and mortality in territories characterized by identical physiography, demography, and economy, which differed only in the levels and spectra of radioactive contamination—

revealed significant abnormalities associated with irradiation, unrelated to age or sex (e.g., stable chromosomal aberrations), as well as other genetic and nongenetic pathologies.




In all cases

when comparing the territories heavily contaminated by Chernobyl's radionuclides

with less contaminated areas that are characterized by

a similar economy, demography, and environment,

there is a marked increase in general morbidity in the former.



Increased numbers of sick and weak newborns were found in the heavily contaminated territories in Belarus, Ukraine, and European Russia.

[NNadir]

4. Really? Did anyone in the Ukraine ever die of lung cancer from normally operating coal plants?

How many lung cancer deaths does it take to equal one thyroid cancer death in an anti-nuke's imagination?

1.6 million?

That, um, is the figure for the number of deaths attributed to air pollution last year alone, accroding to the World Health Organization, half of them in children under the age of 5.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/index.html

To bad those 350,000 dead children under 5, um, last year didn't have a fetishist to care about them.

Nuclear power need not be perfect to be vastly superior to all the stuff that anti-nukes couldn't care less about, and in fact, everything else.

It only needs to be vastly superior than everything else, which it is.

Got it?

No?

I thought as much.

Have a nice day tomorrow.