Introduction
9/11 was America’s Hiroshima – spike in cancers
WTC Health Program:
– 5972 members with cancer linked to WTC
– 6188 cancers in total
– 5105 responders with cancer
– 867 survivors with cancer
– 5298 cancers in 5105 responders with cancer
– 890 cancers in 867 survivors with cancer
– 5972 members with cancer out of a total 75,732 members
– 6188 cancers in 5972 enrollees with cancer
– 6188 cancers in a population of 75,732 members
– 1200 members being diagnosed with cancer* every year (since 2013)
Total number of cancer certifications: 6188 as of Dec 31 2016; total number of enrollees with cancer: 5972; total numbers of enrollees in program: 75,732 CDC Dec 2016
It is hard to believe that the demolitions of six buildings in the WTC complex would produce such an explosion of cancers: 6000+ cancers in WTC health program members. It is believed that 6,188 cancers in 5,972 members with cancer are linked to the WTC site and Fresh Kills landfill site (“Cancer Alley”) where the WTC debris and dust was moved to. Staten Island shows an 11% increase in cancers over the rest of the state. It has the shortest life expectancy out of the five boroughs of NYC. Staten Island is a breast and lung cancer hot spot.
The statistics from the WTC Health Program do not include the number of people who have already died of cancers linked to the WTC. It is estimated by the authors of this site that the number who have already died of cancer related to the WTC September 11 attacks is over 1,000.
Cancer is a disease of the elderly. Such high cancer rates seen in the health program are unusual in this mostly non-elderly population of people who worked at the WTC or who were exposed to the WTC dust and debris. There is evidence that fallout from the nuclear explosion is also affecting residents in eastern New Jersey. The research in this site does not examine the effects of (radioactive) fallout drifting over adjacent regions causing cancer in these populations. If these people are included, the final cancer toll from the September 11 attacks could be much higher. Some cancers have long latency periods, and these cancers are expected to present in the future, which will increase the overall cancer toll.
The other characteristics of the people with cancer related to September 11 are the variety of cancers presenting and the unusual nature of some cancers that are showing up, including high frequencies of rare cancers and the appearance of cancers of the elderly in younger age groups.
Childhood cancers have been added to the WTC cancer registry. Many people who were children at the time of the September 11 attacks and lived near the WTC and landfill site on Staten Island are being diagnosed with cancers many years later.
Demolitions of office towers are a normal event in cities of any industrial society. They are not known to cause spikes in cancer among demolition workers or people living or working near demolition sites. And what about Fresh Kills landfill workers who were not exposed to the cloud of dust that descended on lower Manhattan on September 11? Fresh Kills workers are also developing cancers at a high rate, the same as Ground Zero workers.
Only a highly carcinogenic agent can produce such a high incidence of cancers and the same profile of cancers: fifty-five different cancers have been diagnosed in the exposed population, including rare cancers and cancers unusual for that demographic. Radiation is one of the strongest carcinogenic agents known to man. It can cause cancer in every organ of the human body. It is well known that radioactive fallout is produced in a nuclear explosion and causes cancer spikes in exposed populations – see Hiroshima and Pacific Atolls. Many different types of cancer have appeared in these groups. The cancer rate depends on the dose of radiation. A cumulative dose of 1000 milliSieverts will produce excess cancers in 5 out of 100 people. (Theoretically, a high enough cumulative dose of radiation can produce cancers in 100% of the exposed population.)
Other carcinogenic agents, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHC), asbestos and silicates, do not produce such a wide spectrum of cancers; nor do they produce such a pronounced increase in cancers. The cancer profile of the exposed population does not match the cancer profile of these toxic agents. This is one reason why health authorities have not linked the cancers to the September 11 attacks. Radiation as a causative factor in the cancers has received only scant examination by health authorities, on the basis that there is “no evidence” that radionuclides or radioactivity was present at the affected sites. However, as shown by the studies done on the dust and debris at the WTC by US government scientists, there is plenty of evidence that radionuclides, including those found in the decay chain of uranium, the primary element used in the manufacture of the explosive core in nuclear weapons, were present at the WTC site.
US health authorities have still not provided an adequate explanation for this spike in cancers in the exposed population. A cause of the cancer spike must exist. A proper forensic examination of all the evidence, including chemical, medical and physical evidence, shows clearly that radiation was present at the WTC site, as this website will demonstrate.
Many of the workers who died early of cancer were rescue personnel–the “first responders”. These people went into the heart of where a nuclear explosion had just taken place, and they would have received the dose of radiation that would have been present at the hypocenter of a nuclear explosion at that time, which would have been extremely high, before decontamination procedures could be started. These workers entered the site with no protection against radiation whatsoever. Only simple face masks were worn: these would have been adequate against most inhaled toxins but not against radiation. This is the equivalent of sending workers to clean up a nuclear reactor site that has just undergone a meltdown, without giving the workers any protection against the radiation.
The finding of radioactive elements, including uranium, tritium, strontium, barium, beryllium, cesium, niobium, thorium, cobalt, yttrium, and molybdenum, in significant amounts in the dust and coatings of WTC beams, confirms that radiation is the cause of this cancer spike. Radionuclides are a signature of nuclear explosions.
Other evidence is presented to show that nuclear explosions took place at the WTC on September 11, 2001.
*first primary cancer diagnosis
Table: Relationship between radiation dose and effects
Overview of the Evidence
– Radiation can cause many different types of cancers due to its ability to cause mutations in many different cells of the body; radiation is associated with all the cancers in the list of responder cancers (see below). As many as 55 different cancers were found in responders
– Radiation causes dose-dependent increase in cancer; a dose of around 1000 milliSieverts cumulative dose causes 5 people out of 100 exposed people to develop cancers; 1000 milliSieverts is consistent with the radiation released from detonation of a nuclear device.
– Large spike in cancers
- prevalence of total cancers in the responders
- incidence of myelomas is high in responders
– Radiation causes mesothelioma
- thorium exposure (Thorotrast xray contrast medium – thorium dioxide) causes mesothelioma
- atomic energy workers have increased chance of mesothelioma
- cases of mesothelioma in atomic bombing victims
- patients received radiation therapy have developed mesothelioma
- Mesothelioma associated with radiation can have short latency period of 7 years.
– Characteristics of radiation-induced mesothelioma are different to asbestos-induced mesothelioma
- latency periods can be short with radiation-caused mesothelioma: one study reports a latency period of 0-4 years as well as longer latency periods – in the WTC cases, 1 WTC worker Deborah Reeve exposed died of mesothelioma in 2004 aged 41, and another worker died of mesothelioma in 2006. Asbestos.com
- mesothelioma of the epithelial type can be found; this type is not seen in asbestos-related mesothelioma
- mesothelioma of the peritoneum can occur in the radiation type.
– Arguments against asbestos
- asbestos causes only mesothelioma; 55 different cancers were found in responders
- association with leukemia not proven
- long latency period before mesothelioma appears when exposure to asbestos is involved. Minimum of 25 years in one study. Cancers among responders are appearing earlier than this.
- wearing a mask reduces exposure to asbestos significantly
– Cancer prevalence rates
There is a prevalence increase of 2-3x in certain age groups. For example, in September 11 responders aged 35-44 years of age, the prevalence rate was 24.54 per 1000. In the general population, males in the age group 30-39 years showed a prevalence rate of 7.8 per 1000. In males aged 40-49 years, the prevalence rate was 15.9 per 1000. Such high prevalence rates, which are increasing with time, is consistent with exposure to a highly carcinogenic agent. Radiation and aflatoxins are the two strongest carcinogens that exist. Aflatoxins cause cancer of the liver. Radiation can cause cancer in every organ of the body.
– Latency period of the first appearance of the cancer spike
2006 was the year when the cancer cases started to appear. Many unusual cancers for younger age groups started to show up. Leukemia has a relatively short latency period of 5 years and is one of the first cancers to appear after an event releasing radiation such as the detonation of an atomic bomb. The time of appearance of these leukemia cases matches the latency period for cancers to develop after radiation exposure at the WTC site on September 11.
CANCERS AT GROUND ZERO
UPDATE: In 2016, 15 years after the September 11 attacks, it was reported that 5,400 people were receiving treatment for cancer linked to September 11 attacks.
5,400 diagnosed with cancers linked to September 11 attacks
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/15/health/september-11-cancer-diagnoses/
A reporter from CNN in this article from 2013 states that:
“Potential cancer-causing agents such as asbestos that coated the World Trade Center buildings’ lower columns, and benzene, a component of jet fuel that caused uncontrollable fires when planes barreled into the twin towers, have long been a cancer concern for researchers.”
However, there is no study that shows asbestos causes leukemia or other hematopoietic cancers (blood cancers), which are the most common cancers seen in the WTC workers.
“Conclusively, there is insufficient evidence to prove a causal link between asbestos exposure and leukemia”
http://www.mesotheliomasymptoms.com/leukemia
There is no study that shows a causal relationship between benzene and multiple myeloma, a cancer that had an unusually high frequency among WTC workers. In contrast, there is a strong causal relationship established between hematopoietic and lymphatic cancers, including leukemias and multiple myelomas, and ionizing radiation, which is released in nuclear events.
No increased association was found between multiple myeloma and benzene exposure or exposure to chemical groups that included benzene. The odds ratios from these analyses approximated 1.0.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1996/Suppl-6/bezabeh.html [Environ Health Perspect 104(Suppl 6):1393-1398 (1996)]
This study below performed on firefighters in the US showed only a modest increase in cancers and no significant increase in hematopoietic cancers. This study shows that normal office fires do not cause a cancer spike in firefighters, and significantly, do not cause a leukemia spike in firefighters, as is being seen among WTC workers, including firefighters.
Consistent with previous reports, modest elevations were observed in several solid cancers; however, evidence of excess lymphatic or haematopoietic cancers was lacking.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24142974
No causal relationship has been established between jet fuel and cancer.
“A cohort of men exposed to jet fuel, aviation kerosene and other fuels in the Swedish Air Force had no increased cancer risk during ten years of follow-up.” [IARC: Jet Fuel (Group 3)]
http://www.inchem.org/documents/iarc/vol45/45-04.html
Jet fuel (JP-4 and JP-7) contains less than 0.5% benzene.
“No reports of possible effects of JP-4 or JP-7 on hematologic parameters have been reported in exposed humans. Leukopenia was reported in animal studies, possibly from the benzene in jet fuel.” [ATSDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine: Jet Fuel Toxicity. September, 1993. p. 4, 9]
http://www.haz-map.com/benzene.htm [Haz-map June 29, 2008]
This graphic shows the types of cancer that were seen in WTC workers in 2006. Later, more types of cancers would appear such as thyroid cancer.
From the 2016 CNN report above:
Among those in the program, 4,692 are first responders, emergency responders, recovery and cleanup workers, and volunteers who helped in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The other 749 people are other survivors who lived, worked or went to school near the World Trade Center on September 11 or in the subsequent months. Almost half of the 5,441 with cancer diagnoses range from ages 55 to 64.
People enrolled in the program have been diagnosed with 6,378 separate cancers, indicating that several people have been afflicted with more than one type of cancer linked to 9/11. Many of the cancer diagnoses are believed to have resulted from exposure to known and suspected carcinogens and pollutants after the attacks.
The health program issues certifications when a person is approved for treatment within the program. Although the number of cancer certifications issued by the program stands at 6,378, a certification does not necessarily signify a new cancer diagnosis.
“It’s possible that the person had already been diagnosed and wanted to get treatment through the program. Other members may have enrolled to get compensation through [the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund], and there are some new enrollees who are potentially new cancer cases,” Spring said.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on September 11. Since then, tens of thousands have experienced related health problems.
The entire World Trade Center Health program has approximately 75,000 members to date. In addition to those with 9/11-linked cancer diagnoses, more than 12,000 have been diagnosed with 9/11-related mental health issues. More 32,000 have been diagnosed with aero-digestive issues, such as asthma, chronic cough, gastroesophageal reflux disorder or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, connected to the attacks.
The World Trade Center Health Registry, run by the New York City Department of Health, is expected to publish a report in September on survivors with cancers linked to the 9/11 attacks.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/15/health/september-11-cancer-diagnoses/
[Quote] To date, 75 recovery workers on or around what is now known as “the Pile”—the rubble that remained after the World Trade Center towers collapsed on the morning of September 11, 2001—have been diagnosed with blood cell cancers [Endquote] http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/
COMMENT: This seems to be the highest number of blood cell cancers quoted in 2006; this is from a report dated 2006, five years after 9/11.
QUOTE: Attorney David Worby, who filed a class-action suit for 9/11 workers in 2004, said yesterday about 105 of his 10,000 clients have gotten blood cancers, one as young as 30. Most range in age from 35 to 45, he said. ENDQUOTE: [New York Post May 31, 2007]
COMMENT: The figure of 105 is the latest one, reported in 2007. There was an increase from the 75 figure reported in 2006.
QUOTE: Those 75 cases have come to light in joint-action lawsuits filed against New York City on behalf of at least 8,500 recovery workers who suffer from various forms of lung illnesses and respiratory diseases ENDQUOTE http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/
COMMENT: 75 blood cell cancers out of 8500 recovery workers. That is a percentage of 0.88%, almost 1%. This is 0.0088 which is equal to 88 per 10,000 workers or 880 per 100,000 workers. This is extraordinarily high. We need information about the incidence of blood cell cancers among the 25-45 age group.
QUOTE: The age-adjusted incidence rate [for leukemia] was 12.3 per 100,000 men and women per year ENDQUOTE http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/leuks.html NIH: Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results
COMMENT: This figure of 12.3 per 100,000 men and women per year is 0.0123%.
QUOTE: The age-adjusted incidence rate [for lymphoma] was 22.4 per 100,000 men and women per year. ENDQUOTE: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/lymph.html
QUOTE: The age-adjusted incidence rate [for myeloma] was 5.6 per 100,000 men and women per year. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/mulmy.html
COMMENT: Adding all the incidences of hematological malignancies (leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma) together, we end up with an incidence rate of 40.3 per 100,000 per year. Compare this with a figure of 880 hematological cancers among a sample of 8500 workers. If we are more conservative and take the 40,000 Ground Zero clean-up and recovery workers and use that as the sample size (40,000 is the most-oft quoted figure for the total number of workers who worked at the WTC Ground Zero site post-9/11), we arrive at a figure of 0.1875% or 0.001875 of the workers or 1875 per 1,000,000 or 187.5 cases per 100,000 people. This is more than four times the rate of the normal population.
QUOTE: the apparent cancer link, first reported in the New York news media in the spring of 2004 ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/2
QUOTE: One out of 9,000 people nationwide gets lymphoma a year; for myeloma, it’s one out of 30,000. By contrast, the 75 blood cancer patients translate into several dozen new cases a year. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/3
QUOTE: Given the fact that some cancers are slower to develop than others, it seems likely to several doctors and epidemiologists that many more reports of cancer and serious lung illnesses will surface in the months and years to come. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/2
QUOTE: 8,500 recovery workers have already banded together to sue, only five years later—with 400 total cancer patients among their number ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/2
COMMENT: The total cancer incidence figure is 400 per 40,000 GZ rescue and recovery workers as of November, 2006 (date of the “Death by Dust” news report). This is a rate of 1 in 100.
QUOTE: A study by Mount Sinai Medical Center—one that received widespread media attention two months ago—released statistics on the five-year anniversary of 9-11 that focused almost exclusively on respiratory problems and bypassed any mention of cancer today. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/2
COMMENT: Evidence of cover-up. The statistic of cancer is glaringly high and it’s obvious a study on cancer should be done; cancer should have been one of the major foci of study, along with respiratory illnesses.
QUOTE: Here are the latest tallies: Of the 8,500 people now suing the city, 400, or about 5 percent, have cancer. The biggest group by far consists of people like Vallebuona, who have blood cell cancers. Seventy-five clients suffer from lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, and other blood cell cancers; most are men, aged 30 to 60, who appeared in perfect health just five years ago. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/2
COMMENT: The men in the sample (the sample consists of workers suing the city) are aged 30-60. To reiterate: 400 have cancer, 75 have blood cell cancers (hematological malignancies). You can use a total sample figure of 8,500 (the number of people suing the city) or you can use the total sample figure of 40,000 (the estimated number of workers who worked in rescue, recovery and clean-up after 9/11). In both cases, the incidence is above the figure for the general population.
QUOTE: six prominent specialists on cancer and the link to toxins—on the faculty of the nation’s top medical schools and public health institutions—all come to the same conclusions when told these statistics. They are Richard Clapp and David Ozonoff, professors of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health; Michael Thun, director of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society; Francine Laden, assistant professor of environmental epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health; Jonathan Samet, chairman of the epidemiology department at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Charles Hesdorffer, associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. These doctors and epidemiologists agree that the incidence of cancer among this subset of workers sounds shockingly high, that they cannot and should not be dismissed as coincidence ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/2
COMMENT: Note the use of the words “shockingly high”.
QUOTE: “Those numbers seem quite outrageous,” is how Hesdorffer puts it. Now at Johns Hopkins, Hesdorffer directed until last year the tumor immunotherapy program at Columbia University Medical Center, where he treated two recovery workers who got cancer post–9-11. He notes that the average healthy adult person has a 20 percent risk of having cancer over a lifetime. Calculate that risk over five years—the time frame from the events of 9-11 until today—and it drops to about 1 percent. Yet 5 percent of the suits’ workers—1 percent of the overall worker population—have already been diagnosed with malignancies. And these patients don’t include the thousands whose illnesses have yet to be recorded because they aren’t participating in the lawsuits or in the World Trade Center medical-monitoring programs. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/2
Case Study 1 REF: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/2
Case study: Ernie Vallabuona
Age as of 2006: 41 |
QUOTE: What the experts find most telling are the types of cancer now emerging. They say the blood cancer cases seem too disproportionate to be random. Two percent of these workers have been diagnosed with what amounts to related diseases, none of which fall into the “high-frequency” category, which includes prostate cancer. One out of 9,000 people nationwide gets lymphoma a year; for myeloma, it’s one out of 30,000. By contrast, the 75 blood cancer patients translate into several dozen new cases a year. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/3
QUOTE: the latency periods for most cancers from the time of a full-blown carcinogenic exposure to a full-blown malignancy can take years, if not decades. Says Thun, of the American Cancer Society: “It is the exception rather than the rule to have cancers develop this quickly.” ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/3
COMMENT: The cancers are appearing very quickly.
QUOTE: Back in May 2004, before most doctors even contemplated a 9-11 link to cancer, Hesdorffer provided testimony to the federal government’s September 11 Victim Compensation Fund on behalf of one police officer who had developed pancreatic cancer within a year after his recovery stint. Hesdorffer finds it odd that two of his patients had been diagnosed with the rare cancer after working on the Pile. “It’s strange to have two people who were subjected to the same exposure,” he says, “developing the same cancer in the same time frame.” Now that he has learned of Worby’s statistics, he is convinced that “there is definitely more than a likely link between the 9-11 exposures and cancer.” ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/3
QUOTE: Because so many of Worby’s clients have blood cancers—which have faster incubation periods than tumor cancers, forming in as little as five years—Laden confirms that it’s not a stretch to attribute their diseases to the dust cloud. “Blood cancers are different,” ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/3
QUOTE:
Ozonoff puts it more firmly: “For an acute episode like this, it’s definitely possible these blood cancers were caused by 9-11.”
Ozonoff echoes all five of his colleagues when he draws parallels between the aftermath of 9-11 and that of another massive exposure: the atomic-bombs dropped on Japan. Bomb survivors experienced excessive spikes in leukemia rates within the first five years, a surprising discovery for epidemiologists in the mid 20th century. While this outbreak resulted from radiation, both it and 9-11 involved a sudden and intense blast of carcinogens. For bomb survivors, leukemia appeared first, followed by breast and lung cancer. “That could happen with 9-11,” says Samet, the Johns Hopkins epidemiology department chair. “It might be what we’re seeing today.” ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/3
QUOTE:
It’s also possible that the carcinogens in the Trade Center dust accelerated cancers already dormant or developing in the recovery workers, epidemiologists say. According to Richard Clapp, who directed the Massachusetts Cancer Registry from 1980 to 1989, toxins can not only instigate the genes that cause cancerous cells to divide, but also hasten their dividing. That means that a person with an undetected cancer will develop it faster and in a more virulent manner. He calls this the “promotional effect” and says some toxins associated with 9-11 have been known to speed up lymphomas and leukemias. “The promotional effect could have happened already,” he says.
Either way, Clapp adds, “It’s hard not to attribute these cancers to 9-11.” His gut, he says, is telling him one thing: “We’ll be seeing a cancer explosion from 9-11, and we’re starting to see it today.” ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/3
QUOTE:
Eur J Haematol. 2002 Aug;69(2):67-75.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence and incidence of haematological malignancies, and to compare the rates found with those reported from the Cancer Registry of Norway. METHODS: Three sources of information were used: (1) automated blood cell counts from 27 145 persons older than 24 yr (72% of those invited), participating in a population study (the Tromsø Study 1994-95); (2) patient medical records at the University Hospital of Tromsø during 1991-96; (3) the Cancer Registry of Norway. RESULTS: (1) In the population study, 13 new cases of haematological malignancies were diagnosed. For five of these the early detection was probably beneficial. (2) From the hospital records another 59 participants and 36 non-participants to the population study were found to have haematological malignancies. (3) Additionally, six cases were identified from the Cancer Registry. Totally, we thus identified 114 period prevalent cases, of which 86% had been reported to the Cancer Registry. Age-adjusted period prevalence of haematological malignancies was 4.7 per thousand in men and 2.9 per thousand in women. The prevalence increased with age. There were 84 cases with leukaemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma diagnosed at any time and still alive at 31 December 1996 (point prevalence 2.2 per thousand). Our estimated incidence of haematological malignancies did not differ significantly from that reported from the Cancer Registry. CONCLUSION: We found approximately the same rates of haematological malignancies as the Cancer Registry, although an underreporting of 14% to the Cancer Registry was detected. ENDQUOTE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12366709
COMMENT: In one Norway study, the point prevalence of hematological malignancies (leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma) was 0.22% (2.2 per 1000 or 220 per 100,000). Compare this to the point prevalence of 0.88% or 880 per 100,000 for the GZ workers (as of November 2006). The prevalence of hematological malignancies in this Norwegian study was 4.7 per thousand in men and 2.9 per thousand in women. The reason the figure in the Norway study (220) is much higher than the figure given by the NIH (40.3) is that the Norway study gives a prevalence statistic, that is, the total number of cases existing in a given population, and the NIH statistic gives an incidence statistic, that is, the number of new cases in a given population. The NIH figure is the more applicable figure as we are concerned about new cases of hematological malignancies being diagnosed since 9/11 and not with pre-existing cases of hematological malignancies.
QUOTE: The age-adjusted incidence rate was 461.6 per 100,000 men and women per year. ENDQUOTE: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html
QUOTE: Approximately 2.7% [were diagnosed] between 20 and 34; 5.7% between 35 and 44; 14.0% between 45 and 54; ENDQUOTE: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html
QUOTE: the median age at diagnosis for cancer of all sites was 66 years of age ENDQUOTE: http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html
Case Study 2 REF: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/6
Case Study: Gary Acker
 Age as of 2006: 54 Location of work at WTC: Ground Zero (AT&T disaster recovery operations) Duration of work at WTC: 33 days Cancer: Multiple myeloma Date of diagnosis: August/September 2003 |
Case study: John Walcott
 Age as of 2006: 42 Location of work at WTC: Ground Zero and Fresh Kills, Staten Island Duration of work at WTC: 5 months Cancer: Acute myelogenous leukemia Date of diagnosis: Spring 2003 |
QUOTE: Through June 2009, 817 people who worked at the WTC site and have subsequently died have been identified. ENDQUOTE: http://www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/investigations/wtc/health_studies/fatality_investigation.htm NY State – Department of Health
Case study: Jessy McCarthy
 Age as of 2006: 48 Location of work at WTC: Downtown Manhattan as Verizon field technician, started this work in October, 2001 Duration of work at WTC: 13 months Cancer: Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma Date of diagnosis: March, 2005 |
TABLE: Deaths caused by illnesses
| Total Illness Deaths 454 | |
|---|---|
| Neoplasms 249 Lip, oral cavity and pharynx 5 Digestive organs and peritoneum 75 • Esophageal (14) • Gastric (9) • Colon (18) • Liver (9) • Pancreas (21) Respiratory and intrathoracic organs 60 • Lung (54) Skin 9 • Melanoma (9) Breast and female genital organs 14 • Breast (8) Male genital organs 7 • Prostate (7) Urinary organs 15 • Renal cell (9) • Bladder (5) Nervous system 15 • Brain (14) Ill-defined, secondary and unspecified 12 • Unknown site (9) |
Lymphoid, hematopoietic 31 • Lymphoma (11) • Lymphoid leukemia (5) • Myeloid leukemia (7) Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases 9 Diabetes mellitus 6 Nervous system 5 Circulatory system 114 Hypertensive disease 12 Ischemic heart disease 55 • Acute myocardial infarction (16) • Chronic ischemic heart disease (39) Other forms of heart disease 17 Cerebrovascular disease 17 Disease of arteries, arterioles, capillaries 7 Disease of veins, lymph 5 Respiratory system 22 Influenza and pneumonia 9 Chronic lower respiratory diseases 7 Digestive system 17 Liver 11 • Cirrhosis (9) Genitourinary 7 Renal failure 5 |
REF: http://www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/investigations/wtc/health_studies/confirmed_deaths.htm
Image: http://www.heyokamagazine.com/lung_cancer_large.jpg
URL: http://www.heyokamagazine.com/HEYOKA.4.ENVIRO.HelenCaldicott.htm
Caption: Cancerous lung caused by uranium dust
|
Jevon Thomas: sarcoma
“I kept the toilets clean at Ground Zero until November 2002, when, all of a sudden, I had a pain in my left hand. It was a sarcoma. They reconstructed my hand, but the next year it came back as another sarcoma in my elbow. I had more surgery and radiation. In 2005 they went into my lungs to remove all the nodules. They discovered I had asthma and another lung disease. I still receive chemotherapy every two weeks.”Jevon Thomas delivered and serviced the portable toilets used by rescue and recovery workers at Ground Zero for over a year. As a result of his toxic exposures, he has developed sarcomas in his hand and arm requiring surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, as well as nodules in his lungs. |
REF: http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/first_responders/ [TIME photo essays Photos by Allen Tannenbaum]
QUOTE: Worby’s client list continues to grow. It now includes Vallebuona, Acker, and McCarthy, all of whom came to him after he filed the first suits in September 2004. They found out about him as most of his clients do—by word of mouth, one sick recovery worker to another, one worried spouse to another. Others have called him after hearing about the cases on TV or the radio or in the papers. Most of the clients have grown ill from respiratory problems like asthma, sinusitis, and bronchitis. But some have kidney failure, and 400 people have developed cancer. So far, 83 clients have died. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/7
QUOTE: He has become something of a gumshoe epidemiologist, compiling the data on his cancer patients that are lacking in the larger worker population, tracking their diseases, ages, diagnosis dates, and their 9-11 exposures. “Look at the cancers my clients have,” he says, flipping through a dozen pages of a document entitled “Seriously Ill Clients.” It’s updated every month; this one is dated September 13, 2006. The document outlines what he calls his “cancer clusters” and lists rare cancers often associated with the 9-11 toxins, such as thyroid (30 people), tongue and throat (25), testicular (16), and brain (10). He keeps a separate document on the 75 people with blood cancers. Two dozen of them have various forms of leukemia; the remaining four dozen have various forms of lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other blood cell cancers. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/8
QUOTE: In September, the Mount Sinai Medical Center released data from its WTC Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program, which has tested 17,500 recovery workers to date. In that analysis, doctors found that nearly 70 percent of the 9,500 subjects they surveyed experienced new or worsened respiratory symptoms at ground zero; close to 60 percent saw those symptoms persist for years. Doctors have seen chronic sinusitis, laryngitis, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disorder, and disabling musculoskeletal conditions. Even the famous World Trade Center cough has lasted much longer than anticipated. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/8
QUOTE: Over the past year, the police union has fielded a steady increase in calls from members who have developed cancer since working at ground zero. Last July, the PBA started its own World Trade Center health registry for its members, listing seven cancer cases at the time. Today, there are 20 cases; they include the 35-year-old who worked on the Pile and at Fresh Kills and now has multiple myeloma, the 45-year-old who surveyed the Trade Center site for two years and now has leukemia, and the 41-year-old who manned the landfill morgue for three weeks and now has myeloma. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/9
COMMENT: The conditions under which the Ground Zero and Fresh Kills recovery and rescue workers worked under had strange features. Strange glow Vallebuona and Walcott, NYPD police officers were first responders, arriving shortly after the crash of the towers.
QUOTE: Vallebuona encountered a giant cloud of dust and smoke so hazy and dense, he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. He circled the periphery of what he thought was the scene, following the blaring sirens and running past pumper trucks and police cruisers twisted up like discarded tin cans. The dust caked his eyes and coated his lips. It filled his nostrils with a horrible smell, like burned plastic and flesh. Vallebuona happened to have a bandanna in his pants pocket, which he wrapped across his face. It did little to ward off the rancid odor. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/4
QUOTE: Walcott was also experiencing the noxious effects of the chemical brew. While the massive cloud had dissipated, the crystalline particles hung in the air like speckles in a snow globe. He waded though mounds of pulverized dust, knee-deep, tasting it on his lips, spitting it out of his mouth. Without a mask, he was coughing immediately. First came the black mucus and ashen chunks, then the dry heaves and blood. For hours, he wiped away dark gunk dripping from his eyes. He couldn’t help but think that something was wrong. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/4
QUOTE: Acker arrived on the scene 24 hours later, after driving with 11 team members up the East Coast in a company trailer equipped with satellite transmission consoles and multiplex cables. He would spend the next 33 days in and around ground zero—first setting up a satellite at 1 Police Plaza, then manning phone lines across the street from what came to be known as the Pile. The plume enveloped the area from the moment he set foot there until he left. Many nights, he’d oversee the satellite atop 1 Police Plaza, just east of ground zero, and watch as the prevailing winds subsided and the bright-blue smoke settled in. It hung so heavily on the city that he couldn’t see the guards stationed across the street. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/4
COMMENT: These workers were exposed to the radioactive dust and received inadequate protection from the radioactivity. The masks they were given were inadequate. The surgical masks would have been ineffective against the fine dust of only 20 microns or less in diameter. Not only were the workers not protected against the radioactive dust that they breathed in in large quantities, but they were also not shielded against the residual radiation that existed in the area from the radioactive materials, for example, the steel that was emitting radiation (neutron capture and secondary radiation). The neutrons, gamma rays and beta particles could easily enter their bodies. The surroundings were full of dust, presumably radioactive. The workers also ate in the Ground Zero area and radioactive dust would have settled on their food and contaminated it. Furthermore, the workers would have had to take off their masks (which gave them minimal protection anyway) in order to eat and drink, increasing the amount of radioactive dust ingested and inhaled.
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John McDonald: colon cancer
“He cut the bad piece of my liver, out resected my colon, took a piece of my stomach out because the tumor pushed into it, took my lymph nodes and a gall bladder, and installed a pump for my liver. I’ve had radiation, chemotherapy. I have nodules in my lungs now that weren’t there. Biggest one is less than a centimeter. My doctor said it was one of the most aggressive tumors that he’s ever seen in a colon. My oncologist is a firm believer in that what I have is from the Trade Center.”Firefighter John McNamara, at home in Long Island, is fighting colon cancer after 9/11 and Ground Zero toxic exposures. He arrived at Ground Zero on 9/11 and worked there until March 2002. He’s had four surgeries for cancer and is facing more. At home in Blue Point, New York, June 17th, 2008. (Deceased 2009) |
REF: http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/first_responders/ [TIME photo essays Photos by Allen Tannenbaum]
QUOTE: In these early days, Acker, Vallebuona, and Walcott all struggled to protect themselves from the toxic dust. The foul odor clogged the air for the three months that Vallebuona ended up working at the site—first on the Pile, hauling rubble with buckets, then around the perimeter, providing security and escorting residents to their dust-laden homes. When he and Walcott searched the rubble as part of the initial bucket brigade, they wore nothing over their faces but surgical masks. Respirator masks came weeks into their months-long recovery work; sometimes they came with the wrong filters. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/5
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Greg Quibell: leukemia “On 9/11 I thought, ‘This is World War Three – this is it.’ It was like a living hell to walk into that. I got sick to my stomach – some of the body bags looked like spam inside. It was horrible. I cried. I have no regrets of being there. If I recovered 100% from this and it happened again, I’d go right back. That’s what I hate about the whole thing – it just stopped my whole life.”New York State Corrections Officer Greg Quibell, 53, at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, April 2, 2007. He worked at Ground Zero from September 12, 2001 until Thanksgiving 2001, and has endured four rounds of chemotherapy to combat leukemia. Greg died on August 27, 2008. |
REF: http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/first_responders/ [TIME photo essays Photos by Allen Tannenbaum]
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Ralph Geidel: carcinoma of tongue and lymph nodes “When we first got there it was actually like working inside of a volcano – it was extremely hot. We were digging by hand. There was this orange-yellowish smoke coming out. Our skin was turning maroon. We were hoping to find someone alive but it was just bodies. I knew my brother Gary had a skin graft on his heel. I removed firefighters’ socks and boots trying to find him. It was horrible from day one to the very end – it was a nightmare.”Former FDNY Firefighter Ralph Geidel worked on The Pile for 230 days after 9/11 searching for the remains of his brother, Firefighter Gary Geidel of Rescue 1, who died on 9/11. Ralph, who had a radical neck dissection to remove cancerous lymph nodes and a carcinoma from his tongue, wants the search for remains to continue at the Deutsche Bank Building, shown here behind him, before it is torn down. Ground Zero, July 24, 2006. |
REF: http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/first_responders/ [TIME photo essays Photos by Allen Tannenbaum]
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John Walcott: leukemia; Rich Volpe: IgA nephropathy “My doctor said ‘You got leukemia, you got a week to live, get to the hospital.’ My form of leukemia is a toxin form, not a hereditary cancer – caused by exposure to benzene which is in jet fuel.””My diagnosis was IgA nethropathy. The filters in my kidneys are shutting down. It’s causing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high levels of uric acid so I get gout very often which is probably the most painful thing I ever felt in my life.”Former NYPD Detectives John Walcott and Rich Volpe in the office of their attorney, David Worby. Walcott, battling leukemia, and Volpe, fighting kidney disease, are part of the class action lawsuit against New York City and its contractors |
REF: http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/first_responders/ [TIME photo essays Photos by Allen Tannenbaum]
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Amit Friedlander: Hodgkin’s lymphoma
“Anecdotal evidence of rescue workers at Ground Zero getting similar kinds of cancer made me think that my Hodgkin’s Disease might be related to 9/11. I think getting sick opened my eyes to potential health problems and trying to make sure that everyone who was exposed to all this toxic debris after 9/11 is going to have the means for health screening and treatment for their 9/11-related illnesses.”Stuyvesant High School Graduate Amit Friedlander was in class just a few blocks from the World Trade Center on 9/11. He experienced the debris cloud and was in school during the debris transfer operation at Pier 25 next to the school. Amit has battled Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system, and has graduated from college. |
REF: http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/first_responders/ [TIME photo essays Photos by Allen Tannenbaum]
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Reggie Hillaire: thyroid cancer and multiple myeloma
“I just thought that if it was that bad they would have shut us down. No way our government, which just suffered the worst terrorist attack in the country, would open the first responders up to something like that. If it was that bad, they wouldn’t have sent us there. I wasn’t really thinking about the toxins. One of the reasons I kept going was because Christie Todd Whitman said that the air was safe to breathe.”NYPD Officer Reggie Hillaire, here in an examination room at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has cancer related to post 9/11 toxic exposures. Officer Hillaire had his thyroid removed due to thyroid cancer and now has multiple myeloma. |
REF: http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/first_responders/ [TIME photo essays Photos by Allen Tannenbaum]
QUOTE: Because Walcott was a detective, he ended up spending his five-month stint not just at ground zero, but also at Fresh Kills. As much as he choked on the Lower Manhattan air, he dreaded the Staten Island landfill. Walcott knew everything in the towers had fallen—desks, lights, computers. But apart from the occasional steel beam, the detritus that he sifted through there consisted of tiny grains of dust—no furniture pieces, no light fixtures, not even a computer mouse. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/5
COMMENT: Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island is where most of the debris was taken for sorting and sifting through. Walcott was not able to find much intact pieces of furniture, not even a computer mouse, because everything had been atomized in the atomic explosion of the Twin Towers. At the landfill, Walcott would have been exposed to secondary radiation from radioactive materials: steel, concrete etc as well as exposed to the radioactive dust.
QUOTE: One day, he was sitting in the shed with his colleagues, eating candy bars and drinking sodas, when some FBI agents entered. They were dressed in full haz-mat suits, complete with head masks, which they had sealed shut with duct tape to ward off the fumes. As Walcott took in the scene, contrasting the well-protected FBI agents with the New York cops wearing respirator masks, one thought entered his mind: What is wrong with this picture? ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/5
COMMENT: Compare the protection Walcott got and the protection the FBI agents wore. Walcott should have been outfitted the same way at the very least. Even better, the whole Manhattan area and Staten Island (where the debris had been moved to) and a surrounding zone of ten kilometers should have been declared a nuclear-irradiated area and evacuated.
QUOTE: The same thought would cross Acker’s mind only fleetingly, and only after weeks of working near ground zero, while he was hacking so hard he vomited something akin to chewed-up licorice. During his first days at the site, he wore the painter’s mask that an NYPD lieutenant had given him, but it soon became too filthy from debris. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/5
COMMENT: Acker was inhaling large quantities of radioactive dust consisting of fine particles and coarse particles. The air in Manhattan in Ground Zero was thick with this radioactive dust. The workers were not protected and the authorities were negligent in not doing a radioactivity assay of the dust, and a radiation survey by helicopter over Manhattan. This was first done in 2005, four years after 9/11, too late to detect the radiation. The workers should have been given radiation badges to measure radiation. Geiger counters should have been deployed in many places and radioactivity levels assessed.
QUOTE: He arrived for his first assignment in early October and wound up staying downtown for the next 13 months, going from basement to basement, moving from Wall Street skyscrapers to Chinatown walk-ups. The first thing he saw in the company terminals was the Trade Center dust, piled on top of consoles, crammed into corners. He had to wipe down the equipment with his bare hands to see the wires. The dust had an orange hue; at times, it twinkled. And it always stunk, an unforgettable smell he struggled to get past every time. Invariably, he’d find it in his hair, on his eyelashes, in his tool belt, even under his fingernails. Sometimes, he’d gaze at the ceiling and get the sense of standing in the middle of a meadow thick with pollen. He could see the soot and dust floating in the air. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/5
COMMENT: The dust had a strange quality. It had an acrid smell (MacCarthy). It had high alkalinity levels. It also twinkled and had an orange hue (Cahill). The smoke from the Pile fluoresced blue. Uranium and thorium-contaminated dust can ‘twinkle’ or fluoresce.
QUOTE: Most fluorescent minerals are not radioactive but some uranium and thorium containing minerals are both slightly radioactive and fluorescent. ENDQUOTE: http://home.comcast.net/~jtozour/Page13RadioactiveMinerals/Page13RadioactiveMinerals.html
IMAGE: Radioactive minerals under shortwave UV light.
REF: http://home.comcast.net/~jtozour/Page13RadioactiveMinerals/Page13RadioactiveMinerals.html
QUOTE: In one disturbing analysis done by the U.S. Geological Survey, the dust had such high alkalinity levels it rivaled liquid Drano. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/
QUOTE: In reality, the 9-11 fallout was like nothing anyone had been exposed to before. Everything in the towers had been ground into dust—concrete, steel, glass, insulation, plastic, and computers. Dust analyses would detect glass shards, cement particles, cellulose fibers, asbestos, and a mixture of harmful components, including lead, titanium, barium, and gypsum. In all, the dust contained more than 100 different compounds, some of which have never been identified. And then there were the fires that smoldered for three months. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/5
QUOTE: Thomas Cahill, a physicist who sent a team to analyze the plume from a rooftop a mile away from ground zero, says he got worried once he noticed the color of the smoke had turned a fluorescent blue. That’s a sure sign that ultra-fine particles (which can go deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream) were coming off the Pile and permeating the air. When his team tested the plume, the scientists found higher levels of sulfuric acid, heavy metals, and other insoluble materials than anywhere else in the world, even in the Kuwaiti oil fields.
Today, Cahill is trying to identify what exactly the recovery workers were inhaling, but the data are incomplete. He does know one thing for certain: “You’d have to stand by a busy highway for eight years to get what these people on the site got in just four weeks. ENDQUOTE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-11-21/news/death-by-dust/6
COMMENT: The people who say benzene is at fault for the cancers are not correct. The professor says you would have to stand by a busy highway for eight years to get the same amount of pollution exposure the workers got from working at the Pile in four weeks. However, there was not enough benzene from the plane crash spilling oil and from the burning of this oil to cause exposure that equals eight years by a busy highway worth.
BACK TO BLOOD CELL CANCERS
QUOTE: “The kind of thing that worries us is that we have a handful of cases of multiple myeloma in very young individuals . . . a condition that almost always presents late in life,” said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the program at Mount Sinai Hospital.
“That’s the kind of odd, unusual and troubling finding that we’re seeing already,” she says in an interview with the New England Journal of Medicine, which comes out today. ENDQUOTE: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/item_w8ZWugaBW5KNN42NEleOVO;jsessionid=5CDFA97D70B0CAB20028E8A9DCB0A284 [NY Post May 31, 2007]
QUOTE: Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, said researchers who have screened 20,000 of the estimated 40,000 Ground Zero workers are “most concerned” about lymphatic and blood cancer cases …… “The kind of thing that worries us is that we know we have a handful of cases of multiple myeloma in very young individuals, and multiple myeloma is a condition that … almost always presents later in life,” she added. “That’s the kind of odd, unusual and troubling finding that we’re seeing already.” ENDQUOTE: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/06/01/wtc-blood-cancer.html (Associated Press June 1, 2007)
QUOTE: First responders who were exposed to caustic dust and toxic pollutants following the 2001 World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attacks suffer from asthma at more than twice the rate of the general U.S. population, according to data presented by Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers at CHEST 2009 ENDQUOTE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103144818.htm (ScienceDaily (Nov. 3, 2009) )
QUOTE: The researchers looked at 28,252 emergency responders who spent time amid ground zero dust and found eight cases of multiple myeloma …. four of the people who fell ill were under age 45, and multiple myeloma is thought to be more rare among people of that age. Under normal circumstances, researchers would have expected to find only one case of the disease in that age group … Those four young multiple myeloma patients included one officer who was caught in the dust cloud on 9/11 and then spent months working long hours at the site. Another spent 111 days at the Staten Island landfill where the rubble was sifted. Two others had less exposure, working 12 and 14 days each in the pit and rubble pile … Moline said, “You shouldn’t be seeing so many cases of myeloma in younger folks.” The median age of diagnosis for that cancer in the general public is 71 …. The timing of the four cases examined by the team at Mount Sinai also raised questions about whether they are related to their work at ground zero, she said.
Most research on multiple myeloma indicates that it usually takes 10 to 20 years for someone to develop that cancer after an environmental exposure to a carcinogen. In these cases, the cancers were diagnosed in as little as three to four years after the attacks, suggesting that something else caused the disease. ENDQUOTE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32349670 (Associated Press, 8/10/2009)
Case study: Ken Specht
Age as of 2006: 41 as of 2010, 37 when diagnosed |
Case study: Bernie Cornell
Age as of 2006: 43 as of 2008 |
REF: http://www.thebravest.com/FDNYNewsArchive/08/0908/21a.htm [Concord Monitor September 21, 2008]
QUOTE: An attorney representing thousands of workers and residents said that more than 100 of his clients have blood cell cancers. About eight have multiple myeloma, David Worby said. Most of his clients are in their 30s or 40s, and the youngest is 29, he said.
More than half of all cases of multiple myeloma, a plasma cell cancer that spreads throughout bone marrow, occur in people over 70, and about one per cent of cases occur in people under 40, according to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in Norwalk, Conn.
ENDQUOTE: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/06/01/wtc-blood-cancer.html (Associated Press
June 1, 2007)
QUOTE: In a study of first responders released last Thursday, doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital’s WTC Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program found that nearly three-quarters of the 1,138 subjects they surveyed experienced new or exacerbated respiratory problems while working at ground zero; half had respiratory ailments that persisted for an average of eight months after their cleanup work had ended. The doctors have seen persistent sinusitis, chronic throat irritation, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), reactive-airways syndrome, and asthma. Then there’s “the Cough,” that infamous World Trade Center cough, which rescue workers once wore like a badge of honor, because it proved they were there. Few of them probably imagined they’d still be stuck with it today. “My tonsils look like strawberries—that’s a quote from my doctor,” says John Graham, an EMT and one of the screening program’s first patients. “They’re red and pitted with burns.” ENDQUOTE: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sept11/features/9875/ (New York Magazine May 21, 2005)
COMMENTED: Lymphoid tissue like the tonsils are extremely vulnerable to radiation as lymphoid tissues proliferate at a higher rate.
QUOTE: Their doctors have also seen twenty cases of the chronic lung disease sarcoidosis, as opposed to the usual rate of two per year; four bizarre cases of something akin to miner’s lung; and a slight increase in thyroid cancer, a trend they’ll be monitoring closely. ENDQUOTE: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/sept11/features/9875/index1.html (New York Magazine May 21, 2005)
THYROID CANCER IN WTC WORKERS
QUOTE: Doctors have begun probing whether recovery work amid toxins at Ground Zero caused thyroid cancer — apparently the first tumor cancer to come under close scrutiny, The Post has learned …. A February 2009 court report listed 51 cases among the 10,000 cops, firefighters, hardhats and others suing the city.
Thyroid cancer strikes mostly women. The National Cancer Institute puts the incidence rate at 4.3 per 100,000 men. ENDQUOTE: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/docs_launch_cancer_probe_KWSZw221nOZ5Eo1VJ9tjHL?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME= [New York Post July 4, 2010]
Case study: Reggie Hillaire
Age as of 2006: 39 |
QUOTE: A spate of recent deaths of New York police and fire officers who took part in the emergency operation at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks has heightened fears that it could be the start of a delayed epidemic of cancer-related illness.
Five firefighters and police officers, all of whom were involved in the rescue and clear-up at the site of the collapsed Twin Towers, have died of cancer in the past three months, the oldest being 44. Three died last month within a four-day period. ENDQUOTE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/11/cancer-new-york-rescuers [Guardian November 11, 2009
COMMENT: The oldest of the five who died in this group was 44. Three of those who died were Robert Grossman, a Harlem-based police officer who spent several weeks at the emergency site and died of a brain tumour aged 41; fellow police officer Cory Diaz, 37; and firefighter Richard Mannetta, 44. [REF: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/11/cancer-new-york-rescuers (Guardian November 11, 2009)]
COMMENT: The cancer deaths comprise an epidemic. There will be more ‘spates’ of deaths from cancer. This is to be expected after a mass irradiation event with a nuclear weapon involved.
QUOTE: A staggering number of FDNY firefighters are now reportedly suffering from a cancer that may be linked to their work at the World Trade Center site.
The New York Post reports at least eight firefighters have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer over the past five years.
The paper says another five have had their thyroids either fully or partially removed because of abnormal cell growth that could lead to cancer. Attorney David Worby tells the paper that many of the firefighters were 9/11 first responders.
The National Cancer Institute says usually only four out of every 100,000 men get diagnosed with thyroid cancer. It is a more common form of cancer in women.
The Post cites the Uniformed Firefighters Association as saying at least 125 firefighters who worked at the site have contracted some type of cancer since the attacks. ENDQUOTE: http://www.ny1.com/?SecID=1000&ArID=71482 (NY1 News 07/08/2007)
COMMMENT: The figure quoted is 90,000 liters of oil present on the planes. This amount of fuel is not enough to cause the amount of cancers.
Case study: John McNamara
Age as of 2006: Died aged 44 (2009) |
Case study: Candace Baker
| Age: 42 (as of 2010) Duration and location of 9/11 work: 400 hours at Staten Island refill; wore a particle respirator Cancer type and details: Breast cancer |
[REF: http://www.physorg.com/news188930232.html (Associated Press March 27, 2010)]
Case study: Jim Ryan
Age as of 2006: 48 when deceased (2009) |
REF: http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-9-11-hero,0,3121309.story (WPIX.com December 26, 2009)
OTHER TOXINS
QUOTE: Dust to Dust [movie] boldly supers on the screen some of the 2,500 contaminants that erupted from the explosions of the World Trade Center towers, Tower Seven and the two, fuel-laden jetliners, turning into a toxic gray dust that hung in the air as well as settled in people’s lungs and on area streets, vehicles, buildings, residences, both outside and inside the city for months . . .
* Over 400 tons of asbestos, which once inhaled in any quantity cannot be expelled by the lungs
* 90,000 liters of jet fuel containing benzene, a carcinogen that suppresses the immune system and causes leukemia
* Mercury from over 500,000 fluorescent lights that is toxic to the nervous system, and damaging especially to the kidneys
* 200,000 pounds of lead and cadmium from personal computers, toxic to the respiratory track, especially damaging to kidneys
* Polycystic aromatic hydrocarbons that cause lung, laryngeal and throat cancers
* 130,000 gallons of transformer oil with PCBs, causing serious skin rashes and liver damage
* Crystalline Silica from 420,000 tons of concrete, sheetrock and glass (tiny particulates that lodge in heart, causing ischemic heart disease)
* . . . and so on and on and on . . .
ENDQUOTE: http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2845.shtml (Online Journal Jan 16, 2008)
STATEN ISLAND
COMMENT: Staten Island was where much of the 9/11 debris from the WTC was removed to for sorting (1.62 million tons). Many recovery workers including NYPD and FDNY personnel worked on Staten Island Fresh Kills landfill site in this work of sorting. Here they were exposed to radiation. Many of the materials were radioactive from secondary contamination (neutron radiation). This is why working at the Fresh Kills landfill was just as deadly in terms of cancer induction as working at Ground Zero was. In 2005, there was an aerial radiation survey carried out over the New York area. This was the first survey of this kind done. Even though it was done four years after 9/11, radioactivity was detected including hotspots of radioactivity in unusual locations (that is, not in hospitals, granite statues). The GAO issued a report in 2006 re the aerial radiation survey carried out. In this report, it is noted that there are 80 unexpected hotspots of radiation including a ‘stunning peak’ over the Israeli embassy [sic] (should be consulate) in East Manhattan. Also notable is the peak of radiation detected over a park in Staten Island, later identified as the Great Kills Park (AKA Gateway National Park). This is where the WTC debris was removed to. Radium was then detected in this area.
QUOTE: in 2005, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) asked DOE to conduct a survey of the New York City metro area … NYPD officials indicated that the survey was tremendously valuable because it identified more than 80 locations with radiological sources that required further investigation to determine their risk …. While investigating the 80 locations, they found an old industrial site contaminated with radium-a radiological material linked to diseases such as bone cancer-and used this information to close the area and protect the public. ENDQUOTE: http://cryptome.org/gao-06-1015.htm [GAO Report 2006] [Other link: pdf file http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-1015%5D
QUOTE:
There is a disturbing and potentially dangerous find on Staten Island: radioactive material found after an aerial search.
Anti-terrorism officials were conducting an aerial survey in 2005 of the city’s radiation sources in preparation for a “dirty bomb” attack. That survey showed dangerously high levels of radium at Gateway National Recreation Area in Great Kills, according to officials.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, officials found 80 “hot spots” around the city.
The GAO report found that the survey picked up sources of low-level radiation from expected places, like granite statues and medical isotopes at hospitals, but it also found dozens of other sources of unexpected radioactivity.
“NYPD officials indicated that the survey was tremendously valuable because it identified more than 80 locations with radiological sources that required further investigation to determine their risk,” the report said
…. National Park Service spokesman Brian Feeney said the area is a one-acre piece of the 570-acre Great Kills Park, part of the larger Gateway park ENDQUOTE: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=4586185 [ABC Eyewitness News September 21, 2006]
QUOTE: Anti-terrorism officials conducted a helicopter survey of New York City’s radiation sources in preparation for a so-called “dirty bomb” attack — and discovered a Staten Island park with dangerously high levels of radium, a new report found …. At the Staten Island park, sensors detected large quantities of radium in the soil. Long-term exposure to radium increases the risk of developing lymphoma, bone cancer and leukemia. ENDQUOTE: http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/86759.php?contentType=4&contentId=209765 [Associated Press September 21, 2006]
QUOTE:
But officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration – which hunts for terror weapons within the U.S. – said in a letter to the GAO that helicopter surveys to detect “low-intensity” sites are unreliable.
That means there could be hundreds more radioactive sites in New York besides the 80 identified already. ENDQUOTE: http://web.archive.org/web/20070108115333/http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/454825p-382701c.html [New York Daily News Sept 22, 2006]
QUOTE: Hundreds of damaged cars were recycled at Fresh Kills. ENDQUOTE: http://www.epa.gov/http://bobtailcat.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=531&action=edit&message=1wtc/pictures/pages/13a.htm [EPA last updated 07/25/2007]
IMAGE: Hundreds of damaged cars were recycled at Fresh Kills. ENDQUOTE: http://www.epa.gov/http://bobtailcat.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=531&action=edit&message=1wtc/pictures/pages/13a.htm [EPA last updated 07/25/2007]
IMAGE: Recovered metal debris at Fresh Kills Landfill REF: http://www.epa.gov/wtc/pictures/pages/12.htm [EPA]
COMMENT: Some of the material that ended up at the Fresh Kills Landfill ended up being recycled. This included metal and gypsum. The radioactive material ended up being used by the general community.
QUOTE:
Slightly lower on the hill, the great beams and columns of the trade center lie in stacks as much as 30 feet high. The steel is bent and torn in ways that veteran scrapmen find shocking.
”You don’t see this — ever,” said Bob Kelman, senior vice president and general manager at Hugo Neu Schnitzer East, a scrap metal firm in Jersey City that will cut up these beams for recycling, as he stared at the pile.
In some places, the sets of three parallel beams held together by steel spandrels, which framed the twin towers’ windows and gave the buildings much of their strength, were twisted up like spring rolls. One 30-foot I-beam, made of steel six inches thick, was curved almost like a racetrack. Another huge I-beam had somehow been twisted so violently that it resembled a giant double helix. Mr. Kelman struggled for a comparison in the tangible world. ”It’s like a licorice twist,” he said finally. ENDQUOTE: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/nyregion/fresh-kills-journal-mountains-of-twisted-steel-evoking-the-dead.html (NY Times October 1, 2001)
QUOTE: The discovery of radium-contaminated soil has forced the closure of the ballfields in Great Kills Park …
The first underground “hot spot” of radiation in Great Kills Park was identified in summer 2005 during an aerial sweep of the park by the NYPD to map the city’s radiation sources, as part of an anti-terrorism initiative …. In March 2007, five more low-level spots of radiation were discovered — three near the model airplane field in a swath cleared by a three-alarm brush fire, one along the road leading to the airplane field and one on the outer edge of ballfield number 1. ENDQUOTE: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/radium_found_at_staten_island.html [SI Live March 2009]
QUOTE: after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, the landfill was temporarily reopened to receive and process much of the debris from the destruction. The debris was never removed and is buried in a 40 acre portion of the landfill … Fresh Kills was temporarily in use as a sorting ground for roughly one third of the rubble from Ground Zero … About two million tons of material obtained from Ground Zero was taken to the landfill for sorting. Thousands of detectives and forensic evidence specialists worked for over 1.7 million hours at Fresh Kills Landfill to try to recover remnants of the lives lost in the attacks. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_Kills_Landfill [Wikipedia]
DEADLY DUST
QUOTE: Radionuclides. We analyzed the gamma spectrum of the samples using an EG&G/Ortec high-purity Ge detector (50% relative efficiency) gamma counter (EG&G/Ortec Instruments, Inc., Oak Ridge, TN). We analyzed approximately 50 peaks based on statistical significance (counting/lack of interferences). These included thorium, uranium, actinium series, and primordial radionuclides. Liquid scintillation analyses were conducted for emissions on the total dust and smoke samples using a Packard Tri-Carb Model 2770 TR/SL (Packard Instrument, Meriden, CT). The MDA for alpha radioactivity was 0.30 DPM (0.14 pCi) based on a NIST-traceable 226Ra standard (National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD). When placed in the liquid scintillation fluid, the WTC samples are somewhat darker than the backgrounds and calibration standard, which may cause slight underreporting of the beta activity due to quenching and standard-to-sample efficiency bias. ENDQUOTE: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2002/110p703-714lioy/lioy-full.html
Chart showing the elements found in the dust and smoke of the WTC samples.
IMAGE: Elements found in the dust and smoke samples. REF: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2002/110p703-714lioy/lioy-full.html [Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 110, Number 7, July 2002]
COMMENT: Note the high levels of strontium and barium in the samples.
QUOTE: In urban air, the [average concentration] of barium was 5 (range 0-1500) ng/cu m in 18 USA cities. REF: http://www.speclab.com/elements/barium.htm
QUOTE: A relatively high [concentration] of strontium in air dust (600 ug/cu m) was reported ENDQUOTE: http://www.speclab.com/elements/strontium.htm
CHART
IMAGE: Chemical analysis of the WTC dust and girder coating. Elements that are highlighted are the same radioactive elements that are found in spent nuclear fuel. REF: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0429/chem1/index.html [USGS Spectroscopy Lab – WTC USGS Bulk Chemistry Results]
| Radioactive poisons in spent nuclear fuel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A americium-241 americium-242m antimony-125 antimony-126 actinium-225 actinium-227 B bismuth-208 bismuth-210 bismuth-210m beryllium-10 C cobalt-60 carbon-14 calcium-42 cadmium-113m cesium-134 cesium-135 cesium-137 cerium-144 curium-244 E europium-154 |
europium-155 H hydrogen-3 (tritium) hafnium-182 I iodine-129 iron-55 K krypton-81 krypton-83 L lead-205 M molybdenum-93 N niobium-93 niobium-94 neptunium-237 nickel-59 nickel-63 P phosphorus-32 potassium-40 |
palladium-107 promethium-147 polonium-210 protactinium-231 protactinium-233 protactinium-234 plutonium-238 plutonium-239 plutonium-240 plutonium-241 plutonium-242 R rubidium-87 ruthenium-106 rhenium-187 radon-222 radon-223 radium-224 radium-225 radium-226 radium-228 S strontium-90 selenium-79 |
silicon-32 T technetium-99 tin-126 tellurium-125m tantalum-182 thorium-227 thorium-228 thorium-229 thorium-230 thorium-231 thorium-232 thorium-234 U uranium-232 uranium-233 uranium-234 uranium-235 uranium-236 uranium-238 Y yttrium-90 Z zirconium-93 |
COMMENT: Dust analysis
QUOTE: Another, sometimes more severe hazard of neutron radiation, is neutron activation, the ability of neutron radiation to induce radioactivity in most substances it encounters, including the body tissues of the workers themselves. This occurs through the capture of neutrons by atomic nuclei, which are transformed to another nuclide, frequently a radionuclide. This process accounts for much of the radioactive material released by the detonation of a nuclear weapon ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_radiation [Wikipedia – Neutron radiation]
COMMENT: This is why the area remains highly radioactive for a long time after a nuclear weapon has been deployed. Radioactivity has been induced in the material in the area of the detonation. The materials capture the neutrons released in the weapon detonation and become unstable – radioactive. That is why many of the workers at the Fresh Kills Landfill acquired cancer. The debris had become radioactive from neutron activation. You can see in the Fresh Kills Landfill a lot of rusty metal that had been removed to the Fresh Kills Landfill from the WTC. The metal had become rusty not because of a kerosene fire but from the effects of the nuclear weapon detonation. This is similar to the way equipment in a nuclear installation becomes radioactive and degrades (metal equipment becomes rusty and brittle, and cracks form). The equipment becomes radioactive waste itself with the resultant problem of safe disposal. In the case of 9/11, the radioactive waste was not even disposed of safely – it was not even recognized as being radioactive. Some of the scrap metal was shipped to China for recycling and some of it was recycled in the USA. For example, hundreds of damaged vehicles were recycled by US recycling companies (see the EPA report).
Neutron radiation is considered the most harmful radiation to living beings.
QUOTE: Neutrons also degrade materials; bombardment of materials with neutrons creates collision cascades that can produce point defects and dislocations in the materials. At high neutron fluences this can lead to embrittlement of metals and other materials, and to swelling of some of them. This poses a problem for nuclear reactor vessels, and significantly limits their lifetime (which can be somewhat prolonged by controlled annealing of the vessel, reducing the number of the built-up dislocations). ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_radiation [Wikipedia – Neutron radiation]
QUOTE: Neutrons readily pass through most material, but interact enough to cause biological damage. Due to the high kinetic energy of neutrons, this radiation is considered to be the most severe and dangerous radiation available … in living tissue, neutrons have a relatively high relative biological effectiveness, and are roughly ten times more effective at causing cancers or LD-50s compared to photon or beta radiation of equivalent radiation exposure. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_radiation [Wikipedia – Neutron radiation]
Neutron capture:
QUOTE: Neutron capture is a type of nuclear reaction in which a target nucleus absorbs a neutron (uncharged particle), then emits a discrete quantity of electromagnetic energy (gamma-ray photon). The target nucleus and the product nucleus are isotopes, or forms of the same element. Thus phosphorus-31, on undergoing neutron capture, becomes phosphorus-32. The heavier isotope that results may be radioactive, so that neutron capture, which occurs with almost any nucleus, is a common way of producing radioactive isotopes. ENDQUOTE: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/410970/neutron-capture [Encyclopedia Britannica]
QUOTE: Neutron activation is the process in which neutron radiation induces radioactivity in materials, and occurs when atomic nuclei capture free neutrons, becoming heavier and entering excited states. The excited nucleus often decays immediately by emitting particles such as neutrons, protons, or alpha particles. The neutron capture, even after any immediate decay, often results in the formation of an unstable activation product. Such radioactive nuclei can exhibit half-lives ranging from fractions of a second to many years … The lasting radiation from a nuclear weapon is in part due to the neutron activation of the bomb itself and the surrounding material, in addition to fission products. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_activation [Wikipedia – Neutron activation]
QUOTE:
Slightly lower on the hill, the great beams and columns of the trade center lie in stacks as much as 30 feet high. The steel is bent and torn in ways that veteran scrapmen find shocking.
”You don’t see this — ever,” said Bob Kelman, senior vice president and general manager at Hugo Neu Schnitzer East, a scrap metal firm in Jersey City that will cut up these beams for recycling, as he stared at the pile.
In some places, the sets of three parallel beams held together by steel spandrels, which framed the twin towers’ windows and gave the buildings much of their strength, were twisted up like spring rolls. One 30-foot I-beam, made of steel six inches thick, was curved almost like a racetrack. Another huge I-beam had somehow been twisted so violently that it resembled a giant double helix. Mr. Kelman struggled for a comparison in the tangible world. ”It’s like a licorice twist,” he said finally.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/nyregion/fresh-kills-journal-mountains-of-twisted-steel-evoking-the-dead.html The New York Times Oct 1, 2oo1
QUOTE: Neutron radiation has the tendency to be absorbed by the nuclei of its target material, turning it radioactive. Most of the radioactive material produced during the explosion of a nuclear bomb is created in this fashion. ENDQUOTE: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-neutron-radiation.htm [Wise Geek]
QUOTE: It takes special equipment to detect neutron radiation; a Geiger counter won’t pick them up … The effects of neutron radiation on living tissues depends on the neutron’s energy. High-energy neutrons kill cells by indirectly ionizing molecules or from gamma rays that can result when a neutron hits a nucleus. A nucleus can capture low-energy neutrons and become radioactive. The most immediate effect of higher-energy neutrons is cell death; having too many damaged molecules will kill it. Though DNA can repair some forms of damage, too much will lead to mutation or cancer …. Neutron radiation reacts similarly with nonliving matter. With large amounts of radiation, metals and plastics degrade and become radioactive and brittle with time. Machinery, pipes and other equipment in nuclear reactors eventually must be disposed of as low-level radioactive waste … Neutron radiation is tricky to shield against, since it comes in a wide range of energies and also involves secondary radiation from neutrons hitting atoms. If energies are high, they must be slowed, or moderated, before they can be reliably absorbed. Pools of water can be used for shielding. Special plastics have been developed to absorb low-energy neutrons. Concrete is also a good neutron absorber. Lead, surprisingly, is not good at shielding neutrons … Since neutrons have no charge, they are difficult to detect. A Geiger counter will pick up only secondary radiation from neutrons. They do leave effects on materials, however, like lithium fluoride crystals. These are used in personal badges called dosimeters, worn to monitor workers’ radiation exposure.
For real-time monitoring, detectors based on gaseous compounds like boron trifluoride respond when they absorb neutrons. As with a Geiger counter, the gas detector is connected to an electronic counter carefully adjusted for neutron radiation. ENDQUOTE: http://www.ehow.com/about_5339321_neutron-radiation-effects.html [eHow]
QUOTE: The neutron radiation serves to transmute the surrounding matter, often rendering it radioactive. When added to the dust of radioactive material released by the bomb itself, a large amount of radioactive material is released into the environment. This form of radioactive contamination is known as nuclear fallout and poses the primary risk of exposure to ionizing radiation for a large nuclear weapon.
Details of nuclear weapon design also affect neutron emission: the gun-type assembly Hiroshima bomb leaked far more neutrons than the implosion type 21 kt because the light hydrogen nuclei (protons) predominating in the exploded TNT molecules (surrounding the core of the Nagasaki bomb) slowed down neutrons very efficiently while the heavier iron atoms in the steel nose forging of the Hiroshima bomb scattered neutrons without absorbing much neutron energy.Nagasaki bomb. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions [Wikipedia – Effects of nuclear explosions]
QUOTE: Radioactive contamination can enter the body through ingestion, inhalation, absorption, or injection. For this reason, it is important to use personal protective equipment when working with radioactive materials. Radioactive contamination may also be ingested as the result of eating contaminated plants and animals or drinking contaminated water or milk from exposed animals. Following a major contamination incident, all potential pathways of internal exposure should be considered. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_contamination
RADIATION AND MULTIPLE MYELOMA
QUOTE: The researchers looked at 28,252 emergency responders who spent time amid ground zero dust and found eight cases of multiple myeloma ….
.. four of the people who fell ill were under age 45, and multiple myeloma is thought to be more rare among people of that age. Under normal circumstances, researchers would have expected to find only one case of the disease in that age group.
Those four young multiple myeloma patients included one officer who was caught in the dust cloud on 9/11 and then spent months working long hours at the site. Another spent 111 days at the Staten Island landfill where the rubble was sifted. Two others had less exposure, working 12 and 14 days each in the pit and rubble pile.
The study said it is possible the monitoring program was simply more effective at finding the illness among people who wouldn’t ordinarily be subjected to intense medical tracking …
Moline said, “You shouldn’t be seeing so many cases of myeloma in younger folks.” The median age of diagnosis for that cancer in the general public is 71 ….
The timing of the four cases examined by the team at Mount Sinai also raised questions about whether they are related to their work at ground zero, she said.
Most research on multiple myeloma indicates that it usually takes 10 to 20 years for someone to develop that cancer after an environmental exposure to a carcinogen. UNQUOTE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32349670 [Associated Press 8/1 0/2009]
COMMENT: The rate among the 28,252 emergency responders in this study experienced a rate of multiple myeloma that is four times the incidence in this age group — less than 45 years of age.
QUOTE: Studies conducted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and other nuclear facilities, as well as those exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb suggest an increased likelihood of developing multiple myeloma for those who have been exposed to ionizing radiation.
These findings are consistent with the determination of the National Research Council’s BEIR V committee that multiple myeloma has been associated with exposure to ionizing radiation. Multiple myeloma is a “specified” cancer under the EEOICPA. UNQUOTE: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:n45FA9w6-koJ:www.jsi.com/Managed/Docs/Publications/EnviroHealth/MultipleMyeloma_FactSheet.pdf+multiple+myeloma+radiation&hl=en&gl=kr [Center for Environmental Studies]
QUOTE:
Hanford, Washington: A possible increase in MM deaths was observed in 35,000 males employed between 1943 and 1972, and then followed through 1972.(51) In later studies, this finding has depended upon the assumptions used in the analysis.(18, 48, 52) Under certain assumptions, there are increasing rates of death due to MM with increasing doses of external radiation.
Mallinckrodt, St. Louis, Missouri: A possible increase in deaths from MM was observed in a study of 2,514 males who were employed between 1942 and 1966, and then followed through 1993.
Oak Ridge Y-12, Tennesee: The disease category of “other lymphatic cancer,” which includes MM (ICD 203), showed a possible increase in deaths in a study of 8,116 workers who were employed between 1947 and 1974, and then followed through 1990.
LANL contributed 37 cases of multiple myeloma to a case-control study at four DOE sites. All together, the rate of death due to MM increased with increasing whole body dose of radiation received between age 40 and 50.
UNQUOTE: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:n45FA9w6-koJ:www.jsi.com/Managed/Docs/Publications/EnviroHealth/MultipleMyeloma_FactSheet.pdf+multiple+myeloma+radiation&hl=en&gl=kr [Center for Environmental Studies]
QUOTE: Sellafield, England: A possible increase in deaths was observed due to MM in a study of 5,203 plutonium workers who were employed between 1947 and 1975, and then followed through 1992. A possible increase was seen in incidence between 1971 and 1986 in plutonium workers. In a study of 14,327 workers who were monitored for external radiation during this time period, there were increasing rates of death due to MM with increasing doses of external radiation. The researchers who conducted the study wrote: “This may represent a true radiation effect.”
3 Nuclear Workforces in England: Increasing rates of death due to MM were found with increasing time since first being monitored for plutonium in a study of 12,498 workers.
Registry of Nuclear Workers in the U.K.: Increasing rates of death due to MM were found with increasing doses of external radiation in a study of 95,000 workers. UNQUOTE: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:n45FA9w6-koJ:www.jsi.com/Managed/Docs/Publications/EnviroHealth/MultipleMyeloma_FactSheet.pdf+multiple+myeloma+radiation&hl=en&gl=kr [Center for Environmental Studies]
QUOTE: Atomic Bomb Survivors: Increasing deaths due to multiple myeloma with increasing doses of radiation in a study of 86,572 A-bomb survivors. UNQUOTE: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:n45FA9w6-koJ:www.jsi.com/Managed/Docs/Publications/EnviroHealth/MultipleMyeloma_FactSheet.pdf+multiple+myeloma+radiation&hl=en&gl=kr [Center for Environmental Studies]
COMMENT: What is multiple myeloma? It is a cancer of middle to old age, characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation and disordered function of cells called plasma cells in the bone marrow. Plasma cells are white blood cells that make antibodies. Median age of diagnosis is 71 years of age. Growing older increases the chance of developing multiple myeloma. Most people with myeloma are diagnosed after age 65. This disease is rare in people younger than 40. Age is considered a risk factor. Other risk factors include being black, being male, having a brother or sister who has multiple myeloma, being exposed to atomic bomb radiation. Common symptoms are bone pain usually in the back, broken bones usually in the spine, feeling very thirsty, frequent fevers and infections, weight loss, nausea or constipation, frequent urination. Multiple myeloma affects about 3 out of 100,000 per year
QUOTE:
This study is the first to look at radiation exposure to see if it may be linked to multiple myeloma among K-25 workers. We found workers who had swallowed or breathed-in radioactive particles had a 4% higher chance of dying of multiple myeloma compared to workers not exposed this way. We found no increased chance of multiple myeloma among workers who were only exposed to radiation that was outside the body … The K-25 site (also known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant) was used to enrich uranium, a radioactive material. UNQUOTE: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cP8fEWOX53MJ:www.cdc.gov/niosh/oerp/pdfs/k25_7-06-09.pdf+multiple+myeloma+radiation&hl=en&gl=kr
QUOTE:
Exposure to ionizing radiation is more strongly linked to multiple myeloma.
Most cases of multiple myeloma occur in people over the age of 60.2 Only about 2% of the cases are attributed to people under the age of 40. The average for developing the disease is 70. The median age of onset for other cancers in the United States is about 68 for males and 66 for females, while the median age for multiple myeloma is 69 for males and 71 for female.
Multiple myeloma develops after a person has been exposed to high doses of radiation. There may also be risks of long-term lose dose exposure to radiation. Multiple myeloma has been studied in patients that were exposed to radiation from nuclear bomb blasts. The disease was studied in patients that entered Hiroshima City within 3 days after the bomb was dropped. These people were found to be at a 60% greater risk of developing multiple myeloma than those that did not enter the city. Almost one third of the deaths from multiple myeloma between 1950 and 1985 were among atomic bomb survivors.
UNQUOTE: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3946/is_200301/ai_n9209730/ [Rehabilitation Oncology, 2003 by Poulson, Bo, Gudas, Stephen A]
QUOTE: USNews.com reports that 9/11 responders may face increased risk of the hematological disease multiple myeloma … Alarmingly, though multiple myeloma is almost always a disease of the the elderly, with only 1% of cases found in patients under 40, half of the cases diagnosed in 9/11 rescue workers were identified among law enforcement officers under the age of 45. UNQUOTE: http://www.benzeneleukemialawblog.com/tags/multiple-myeloma/ [Benzene Leukemia Law Blog August 11, 2009]
QUOTE: Dr. Samuel Milham, an epidemiologist with the Washington State Department of Health, noticed a 25 percent cancer excess among Hanford nuclear workers when compared with the rates among the state’s nonnuclear workers. Milham also found four cases of multiple myeloma, when less than one would normally be expected.[10] It was the same disease found among GIs who first went into Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings. UNQUOTE: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/KillingOurOwn/KOO7.html [Killing Our Own, Wasserman and Solomon, 1982]
BENZENE AND MULTIPLE MYELOMA
QUOTE: Two case series and two epidemiological studies in the 1970s and 1980s suggested that benzene exposure might be a risk factor for multiple myeloma. An analysis has now been conducted of the published population-based and hospital-based case-control studies published through mid-1995 that permit examination of the relationship between multiple myeloma and benzene exposure or surrogates for benzene exposure. No increased association was found between multiple myeloma and benzene exposure or exposure to chemical groups that included benzene. The odds ratios from these analyses approximated 1.0. Exposures to petroleum products and employment in petroleum-related occupations did not appear to be risk factors for multiple myeloma. Cigarette smoking, as a surrogate of benzene exposure, was not found to be associated with multiple myeloma, while some studies of products of combustion described as “engine exhaust” did show a significant association with multiple myeloma. In toto, the population-based and hospital-based case-control literature indicated that benzene exposure was not a likely causal factor for multiple myeloma. UNQUOTE: http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1996/Suppl-6/bezabeh.html [Environ Health Perspect 104(Suppl 6):1393-1398 (1996)]
QUOTE: (1) There is strong evidence linking high levels of exposure to benzene with an increased risk of developing acute myelogenous leukemia. The evidence for this association satisfies all of Sir Austin Bradford Hill’s criteria, and the relationship can be judged as causal in nature. Furthermore, cell-type specific analysis indicates that the threshold is most likely around 370 to 530 ppm-years.
(2) In contrast, there is no scientific evidence to support a causal relationship between exposure to benzene or other petroleum products and the risk of developing multiple myeloma. UNQUOTE: http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/cgi/content/full/94/4/1174 [Blood, Vol. 94 No. 4 (August 15), 1999: pp. 1174-1182]
COMMENT: This study looked at other studies reporting on the possible link between multiple myeloma and benzene. Even though the other studies suggested there was a link, this report shows that after appraisal of the other studies using epidemiological and statistical analysis, that there is no causal link between multiple myeloma and benzene.
QUOTE: The most distinctive feature of myeloma is the late age of onset, with a median age at diagnosis of 72 years of age, which is somewhat older than the median age at diagnosis of all cancers. UNQUOTE: http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/cgi/content/full/94/4/1174 [Blood, Vol. 94 No. 4 (August 15), 1999: pp. 1174-1182]
QUOTE: Abstract:
Case reports have suggested an association between benzene exposure and multiple myeloma. Because petroleum workers are exposed to benzene or benzene-containing liquids, studies of these workers provide an opportunity for investigating the relationship between benzene and multiple myeloma. A large number of cohort studies of petroleum workers have been conducted. However, few of them have reported results of multiple myeloma separately. One reason is that multiple myeloma is usually grouped with other lymphopoietic cancers in the analysis. Another reason is that multiple myeloma is relatively rare, and few individual studies are large enough to provide reliable risk estimates. To determine the risk of multiple myeloma in petroleum (refinery, distribution, production, and pipeline) workers, we have identified 22 cohort mortality studies of petroleum workers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Authors of these studies were contacted, and data on the number of observed deaths and age-specific person-years of observation were requested. Data from individual studies were combined in a pooled analysis (meta-analysis). In addition to the pooled analyses, results for individual cohorts, most of which have never been reported before, are also presented. The combined multinational cohort consisted of more than 250,000 petroleum workers, and the observation period covered an interval of 55 years from 1937 to 1991. A total of 205 deaths from multiple myeloma were observed, compared to 220.93 expected, a total derived from respective national mortality rates. The corresponding standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was 0.93 and the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.81–1.07. Additional analyses were performed by type of facility and industrial process. Stratum-specific SMRs (95% CIs) were 0.92 (0.77–1.09) for refinery workers and 0.93 (0.69–1.23) for distribution workers. When individual cohorts were stratified by length of observation, no pattern was detected. The pooled analysis indicates that petroleum workers are not at an increased risk of multiple myeloma as a result of their exposure to benzene, benzene-containing liquids, or other petroleum products in their work environment. This conclusion is supported by cohort studies of workers in other industries who were exposed to benzene as well as by population-based case–control studies of multiple myeloma and occupational exposures. UNQUOTE: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WPT-45K13W0-K&_user=10&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F1997&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1394226415&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=f41fa0298b67af06609eddd88b2ec92a [Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology Volume 26, Issue 2 , October 1997, Pages 188-199 Article: Multiple Myeloma and Benzene Exposure in a Multinational Cohort of More Than 250,000 Petroleum Workers]
QUOTE: Two case series and two epidemiological studies in the 1970s and 1980s suggested that benzene exposure might be a risk factor for multiple myeloma. An analysis has now been conducted of the published population-based and hospital-based case-control studies published through mid-1995 that permit examination of the relationship between multiple myeloma and benzene exposure or surrogates for benzene exposure. No increased association was found between multiple myeloma and benzene exposure or exposure to chemical groups that included benzene. The odds ratios from these analyses approximated 1.0. Exposures to petroleum products and employment in petroleum-related occupations did not appear to be risk factors for multiple myeloma. UNQUOTE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1469740/ [Environ Health Perspect. 1996 December; 104(Suppl 6): 1393–1398. Article: Does benzene cause multiple myeloma? An analysis of the published case-control literature.]
QUOTE: OBJECTIVE–To determine the risk of developing acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and multiple myeloma in a cohort of workers exposed to benzene. The results were used to show the importance of taking specificity of disease into consideration in causation analysis. METHODS–Data were derived from a cohort of workers employed at two Goodyear plants in Ohio in the manufacture of Pliofilm. Based on data in the Pliofilm study, several papers that examined the relation between exposure to benzene and leukaemia (all cell types combined) have been published. In the current analyses based on updated data in the study, standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated for AML and multiple myeloma by cumulative exposure to benzene. The results based on AML were compared with those for leukaemia (all cell types combined) published previously. RESULTS–An exposure response relation was shown between cumulative exposure to benzene and AML. No increased risk of AML was detected for cumulative exposure to benzene below 200 ppm-years (SMR 0.91). Above 200 ppm-years, risk of AML rose drastically; reaching a significant SMR of 98.37 for > 400 ppm-years. For multiple myeloma, no relation with exposure to benzene was detected.
UNQUOTE: http://oem.bmj.com/content/52/6/380.abstract [Occup Environ Med 1995;52:380-384 doi:10.1136/oem.52.6.380 Article: Risk of acute myeloid leukaemia and multiple myeloma in workers exposed to benzene.]
Positive studies
QUOTE:
A study in Italy found that long-term exposure to benzene and other industrial solvents may increase the risk of developing multiple myeloma. The highest risk for myeloma was found in patients with 15 or more years of benzene exposure.
Benzene, a known carcinogen, enters the body through the skin, lungs, or digestive tract. This industrial solvent is currently used in the manufacture of dyes, synthetic rubber, plastic, and drugs.
Out of 43 patients, who had long-term, medium to high exposure to benzene, 19 had multiple myeloma. Symptoms surfaced 10 to 19 years after the exposure. The risk of myeloma was double the risk in cases where there was no benzene exposure.
Researchers pooled data between 1991 and 1993 from 11 regions in Italy from all cases of blood and lymphatic cancers in people 20 to 74 years old. They also gathered information on healthy individuals in the same occupation. The study included 263 cases of multiple myeloma with 1,100 healthy controls and 586 cases of leukemia with 1,278 healthy controls.
Benzene was widely used in Italian shoemaking and printing industries in the 1950s and 1960s, until a proven association with acute myeloid leukemia led to a ban in manufacturing in 1963. Since then, benzene appears only in concentrations below 2 percent in solvent mixtures. UNQUOTE: http://www.myelomabeacon.com/news/2008/11/20/long-term-exposure-to-benzene-may-increase-risk-of-multiple-myeloma/ [The Myeloma Beacon Nov 20, 2008]
QUOTE: “Our results,” the team concludes, “even if based on small numbers, are in agreement with the hypothesis that acute myeloid leukemia risk following benzene exposure declines in time while chronic lymphoid leukemia and multiple myeloma risks are not seen until a longer latency period has passed.” UNQUOTE: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4AH85R20081118 [Reuters Health Nov 18, 2008]
COMMENT: Kerosene which is the fuel used in commercial jets is a different hydrocarbon to benzene.
QUOTE: Commercial jet fuel, known as Jet-A, is pure kerosene and has a flashpoint of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius). It is a high-quality fuel, however, and if it fails the purity and other quality tests for use on jet aircraft, it is sold to other ground-based users with less demanding requirements, like railroad engines. UNQUOTE: http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Evolution_of_Technology/fuel/Tech21.htm [US Centennial of Flight Commission]
QUOTE:
Jet fuel is not an established cause of leukemia.
“A cohort of men exposed to jet fuel, aviation kerosene and other fuels in the Swedish Air Force had no increased cancer risk during ten years of follow-up.” [IARC: Jet Fuel (Group 3)]
Jet fuel (JP-4 and JP-7) contains <0.5% benzene. "No reports of possible effects of JP-4 or JP-7 on hematologic parameters have been reported in exposed humans. Leukopenia was reported in animal studies, possibly from the benzene in jet fuel." [ATSDR Case Studies in Environmental Medicine: Jet Fuel Toxicity. September, 1993. p. 4, 9] UNQUOTE: http://www.haz-map.com/benzene.htm [Haz-map June 29, 2008]
COMMENT: There are different types of fuel used in aviation. Commercial jets use JP-A. This is kerosene and is high in purity. The US Air Force uses different fuels for its jets. Some of them are Jp-4, JP-7 and JP-8. These fuels may contain benzene as they are blends of kerosene and other chemicals. [REF: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs76.html (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 1995.)]
QUOTE: How are people exposed to benzene? .. Environmental exposures: Sources of benzene in the environment include gasoline, automobile exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke, emissions from coke ovens and other industrial processes, and waste water from certain industries. While benzene is commonly found in air in both urban and rural areas, the levels are usually very low. Areas of heavy vehicular traffic, gasoline stations, and areas near industrial sources may have higher air levels. Cigarettes have been found to release between 50 and 150 micrograms of benzene per cigarette, so smoking and second-hand smoke are important sources of exposure to benzene. Cigarette smoke accounts for about half of the US national exposure to benzene and for about 89% of benzene exposure among smokers. Secondhand smoke accounts for 10% of benzene exposure among nonsmokers. Benzene has also been identified in contaminated water and food. UNQUOTE: http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/IntheWorkplace/benzene [American Cancer Society]
QUOTE: Coleman et al. determined that the major constituents of kerosene are alkanes and cycloalkanes (68.6%); benzene and substituted benzene (13.7%); and naphthalene and
substituted naphthalenes [745]. Another source states that the average chemical composition by weight is 35% paraffins, 60% naphthenes, and 15% aromatics [641].
UNQUOTE: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:oB1aJLr4ycAJ:www.nature.nps.gov/hazardssafety/toxic/kerosene.pdf+kerosene+breaks+down+benzene&hl=en&gl=kr&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShW1885MAhH63lfgaImEURTCYFY7kIQj2RmWkiDAHE1Vs0HP5y_sSDA_aS-YhJBlR6j3nto2toMiV9f-qz1Y0yzB85MnhWXUcrl-mux4wLxDXBxvkM_5JYHMLcx7_eRXeubkVYZ&sig=AHIEtbREb5_-cYBSs-27TrgQJKe3uT-HeA —- http://www.nature.nps.gov/hazardssafety/toxic/kerosene.pdf [Kerosene Environmental Hazard Survey]
QUOTE: // <![CDATA[// A kerosene composition comprising, in relation to the total composition, at least 99% by weight of n-paraffins and iso-paraffins, which composition has the properties indicated by the following formulae: (A) 6.0°C ≤ FBP (end point) – 95% distillation point ≤ 11.0°C; (B) 240°C ≤ FBP ≤ 270°C; (C) 150°C ≤ IBP (initial distillation point) ≤ 165°C. UNQUOTE: http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=2005059062 [WIPO]
COMMENT: Benzene constitutes less than 1% of kerosene. [REF: http://books.google.co.kr/books?id=NnZ23IqU4SoC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=kerosene+breaks+down+benzene&source=bl&ots=DffrESADQb&sig=7x7uFyqy_uAYh_mvh14mJXB-D4w&hl=en&ei=g8pJTIeCB5HsvQPX_cy7Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCkQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=kerosene%20breaks%20down%20benzene&f=false (Occupational, industrial, and environmental toxicology By Michael I. Greenberg)]
QUOTE: What is benzene? Benzene is the name of an aromatic hydrocarbon, C6H6 … Where does benzene come from? Benzene comes mainly from petroleum. UNQUOTE: http://healthvermont.gov/enviro/indoor_air/Benzene.aspx [Vermont Department of Health]
QUOTE: Coleman et al. determined that the major constituents of kerosene are alkanes and cycloalkanes (68.6%); benzene and substituted benzene (13.7%); and naphthalene and
substituted naphthalenes [745]. Another source states that the average chemical composition by weight is 35% paraffins, 60% naphthenes, and 15% aromatics. UNQUOTE: http://www.nature.nps.gov/hazardssafety/toxic/kerosene.pdf+kerosene+breaks+down+benzene&hl=en&gl=kr&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShW1885MAhH63lfgaImEURTCYFY7kIQj2RmWkiDAHE1Vs0HP5y_sSDA_aS-YhJBlR6j3nto2toMiV9f-qz1Y0yzB85MnhWXUcrl-mux4wLxDXBxvkM_5JYHMLcx7_eRXeubkVYZ&sig=AHIEtbREb5_-cYBSs-27TrgQJKe3uT-HeA
TYPES OF RADIATION
COMMENT: There are four types of radiation: alpha, beta, gamma and neutron. Out of these four, alpha is the most damaging type of radiation. But alpha radiation is the least penetrating. Alpha radiation can be stopped by clothing and doesn’t penetrate human skin to a great extent. However, alpha particles can be inhaled and swallowed and they will do much damage to the tissues they encounter inside the human body, particularly the lungs and the lining of the GIT. That was why the first responders have a high incidence of respiratory disorders and GIT complaints. Many of these disorders will evolve into more deadly disorders such as pulmonary fibrosis and cancer.
Secondary radiation
QUOTE:
The radiation produced by nuclear reactions interacts with living tissue in many ways depending on the type of radiation. This radiation includes high-energy, charged particles (alpha and beta), neutrons of various energies, and photons (gamma and x-rays). In addition to this primary radiation, fission also produces radioactive isotopes of many elements, which in turn can emit particles and photons, known as secondary radiation.
Many of these isotopes, such as strontium and iodine, can enter the body, where they replace nonradioactive elements and remain there emitting ionizing radiation. In many ways, the presence of these radioactive isotopes is more insidious than direct radiation from external sources that is more easily detected and reduced by proper shielding. UNQUOTE: http://www.chemcases.com/2003version/nuclear/nc-14.htm [General Chemistry Case Studies]
Ionizing radiation
QUOTE: Living tissue contains large amounts of water and the light elements, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, with lesser quantities of phosphorus and sulfur. The abundance of these light nuclei affects the interaction of nuclear radiation with living tissue. Alpha and beta particles, protons, and fission products of sufficient energy, as well as photons (gamma and x-rays), can remove the valence electrons of the elements in living materials. This process, known as ionization, changes the chemical reactivity of the affected atoms. Molecules containing ionized atoms may react to form substances that are detrimental to life. The ionizing particles and fission products may undergo thousands of collisions with the atoms before stopping thus they may cause extensive ionization in the target material. UNQUOTE: http://www.chemcases.com/2003version/nuclear/nc-14.htm [General Chemistry Case Studies]
Indirect ionizing radiation
QUOTE:
The interaction of a high-energy photon with matter is very different than that experienced by a charged particle. Instead of losing its energy through large numbers of collisions in a relatively short distance, a photon loses its energy in a single interaction with an atom of the target material. The outcome of this interaction depends on the energy of the photon; it can produce secondary electrons and photons that can continue the transfer of energy to nearby atoms.
Because gamma and x-ray photons, as well as neutrons, transfer energy to neighboring atoms by means of secondary electrons and photons, the radiation they produce is known as indirect ionizing radiation. Conversely, the radiation produced by alpha particles and protons is known as direct ionization because its energy is transferred directly to the target material.
Because neutrons have short half-lives (approximately 640 seconds) they do not exist in the absence of fission. In collisions with the light nuclei present in living material, fast neutrons produce indirect ionizing radiation. When slow neutrons are captured by target nuclei, most of their energy is dissipated as heat and thus little ionization is produced. Thus, the net effect is that neutrons damage tissue by causing both ionization and heating. UNQUOTE: http://www.chemcases.com/2003version/nuclear/nc-14.htm [General Chemistry Case Studies]
Free radicals
QUOTE: All the processes described so far are physical and occur within approximately 10-16 of a second of interacting with living tissue. After this, some energized atoms and molecules can dissipate their energy by becoming free radicals and other excited molecules. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that are electrically neutral and have an unpaired valence (outer) electron; they are extremely reactive chemical species. Because living tissue contains a large amount of water, the primary free radicals are H× and OH×; the former is a strong reducing agent and the latter, which predominates, is a strong oxidizing agent. These free radicals are known to cause abnormal chemical reactions in living substances. UNQUOTE: http://www.chemcases.com/2003version/nuclear/nc-14.htm [General Chemistry Case Studies]
Measuring radiation
QUOTE:
There are at least three ways to measure the effect of radiation. Each method has specific units of measurement associated with it:
- Curies
(Ci) and becquerels(Bq) measure the activity as number of disintegrations per second. Activity is a property of the source of radiation; it indicates nothing about the effect of the radiation on the target material.
- Rads
and grays (Gy) (Gy) are used in measuring the energy of radiation absorbed by the target material in joules per kilogram.
- Sieverts (Sv)
or rems measure dose equivalents, a quantity used in radiological protection. The units of sieverts are also joules per kilogram. The sievert and gray both measure the effect of radiation on the target, but the sievert takes into account the effects of different types of radiation on human tissue.
Equal exposure to different types of radiation does not necessarily produce equal biological effects. For example, one gray of alpha radiation will have a greater effect than one gray of beta radiation. One sievert of radiation produces a constant biological effect regardless of the type of radiation. The gray results from direct measurements made on tissue or cells, whereas the sievert is a radiological protection unit based on the best available evidence that includes quality and weighting factors.
UNQUOTE: http://www.chemcases.com/2003version/nuclear/nc-14.htm [General Chemistry Case Studies]
Penetrating ability of radiation
QUOTE: The ability to penetrate matter differs greatly among the various types of nuclear radiation. A sheet of paper, a layer of clothing, or an inch of air can stop relatively slow moving, heavy alpha particles. Thus, it is easy to shield against alpha radiation, unless the alpha-emitting substance enters the body. Beta particles are lighter and travel faster than alpha particles. They can penetrate a fraction of an inch in solids and liquids and several feet in air. Gamma rays and neutrons are electrically neutral and thus not slowed by collisions with the target materials. They do not interact strongly as the charged alpha and beta particles do and are therefore highly penetrating. Their ability to penetrate the target material depends upon their energy. High-energy gamma rays may require several feet of material for adequate shielding. UNQUOTE: http://www.chemcases.com/2003version/nuclear/nc-14.htm [General Chemistry Case Studies]
Health effects of radiation
QUOTE:
When radiation strikes complex biological molecules, such as proteins or nucleic acids, it may fracture the molecules and prevent their proper functioning. This can result in loss of cell vitality, decreased enzyme activity, initiation of cancer, and genetic mutations. The immediate effects of acute exposure to radiation are caused by free radicals rupturing the cell membranes. This rupturing causes the cells to lose their contents and die. If enough cells are killed, functions associated with the cells cease. Death occurs because of the direct loss of vital organs or because of secondary infections resulting from the breakdown of the immune system. The effect depends on the dose of radiation received.
High doses of more than 100 gray affect the central nervous system, resulting in loss of coordination (including breathing problems), with death occurring within 1 or 2 days. Doses from 9 to 100 grays damage the gastrointestinal tract, causing nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Progressive dehydration can result in death within several weeks. Lower doses (from 3 to 9 grays) damage the bone marrow and other haematopoietic tissues. This can lead to loss of appetite and hair, hemorrhaging, inflammation, and secondary infections such as pneumonia. These effects are also found in patients undergoing radiation therapy. Doses of less than 3 grays are rarely lethal, but cause symptoms that include loss of appetite and hair, hemorrhaging, and diarrhea.
Long-term risks of radiation exposure center on the incidence of cancer and genetic mutations. Both effects have proven difficult to determine since cigarette smoking, diet, and sunlight exposure are also known to cause cancer and possibly to promote genetic mutations. Analysis of approximately 100,000 survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki shows a slight increase in genetic mutations over what would be expected for a normal population, but this increase is so small that it may not be statistically significant. Hiroshima survivors who received more than 2 gray showed a slight increase in the instances of cancer over a normal population. There is a good deal of controversy over the contribution of natural background radiation and man-made radiation to the incidence of cancer in humans. The dosage threshold below which radiation has no effect is also controversial. UNQUOTE: http://www.chemcases.com/2003version/nuclear/nc-14.htm [General Chemistry Case Studies]
Penetrating powers of different radiation types and damage they do
QUOTE: Radioactive fission products, whether they are biochemically inert or biochemically active, can do biological damage when either outside the body or within.
X-rays and gamma rays are photons, i.e. high-energy light-waves. When emitted by a source, for example, radium or cobalt, located outside the body, they easily pass through the body, hence they are usually called penetrating radiation. The familiar lead apron provided for patients in some medical procedures stops X-rays from reaching reproductive organs. A thick lead barrier or wall is used to protect the X-ray technician. Because X-rays are penetrating, they can be used in diagnostic medicine to image human bones or human organs made opaque by a dye. These internal body parts are differentially penetrable. Where bones absorb the energy, no X-rays hit the sensitive X-ray film, giving a contrast to form the picture of the bones on the radiation-sensitive X-ray plate. High-energy gamma rays, which easily penetrate bone, would be unsuitable for such medical usage because the film would be uniformly exposed. In photography jargon, the picture would be a `white out’ with no contrasts. No radiation remains in the body after an X-ray picture is taken. It is like light passing through a window. The damage it may have caused on the way through, however, remains.
Some radioactive substances give off beta particles, or electrons, as they release energy and seek a stable atomic state. These are small negatively charged particles which can penetrate skin but cannot penetrate through the whole body as do X-rays and gamma rays.
Microscopic nuclear explosions of some radioactive chemicals release high-energy alpha particles. An alpha particle, the nucleus of a helium atom, is a positively charged particle. It is larger in size than a beta particle, like a cannon-ball relative to a bullet, having correspondingly less penetrating power but more impact. Alpha particles can be stopped by human skin, but they may damage the skin in the process. Both alpha and beta particles penetrate cell membranes more easily than they penetrate skin. Hence ingesting, inhaling or absorbing radioactive chemicals capable of emitting alpha or beta particles and thereby placing them inside delicate body parts such as the lungs, heart, brain or kidneys, always poses serious threats to human health.[3] Plutonium is an alpha emitter, and no quantity inhaled has been found to be too small to induce lung cancer in animals.
The skin, of course, can stop alpha or beta radiation inside the body tissue from escaping outwards and damaging, for example, a baby one is holding or another person sitting nearby. Also, it is impossible to detect these particles with most whole body `counters’ such as are used in hospitals and nuclear installations. These counters can only detect X-rays and gamma rays emitted from within the body.
Splitting a uranium atom also releases neutrons, which act like microscopically small bullets. Neutrons are about one-fourth the size of alpha particles and have almost 2,000 times the mass of an electron. If there are other fissionable atoms nearby (uranium 235 or plutonium 239, for example) these neutron projectiles may strike them, causing them to split and to release more neutrons. This is the familiar chain reaction. It takes place spontaneously when fissionable material is sufficiently concentrated, i.e. forms a critical mass. In a typical atomic bomb the fissioning is very rapid. In a nuclear reactor, water, gas or the control rods function to slow down or to absorb neutrons and control the chain reaction.
Neutrons escaping from the fission reaction can penetrate the human body. They are among the most biologically destructive ot the fission products. They have a short range, however, and in the absence of fissionable material they will quickly be absorbed by non-radioactive materials. Some of these latter become radioactive in the process, as was noted earlier, and are called activation products.
UNQUOTE: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/NRBE/NRadBioEffects.html [No Immediate Danger, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, 1985]
Sites of damage in the body
QUOTE: In all nuclear reactions, some radioactive material — namely the chemically inert or so-called `noble’ gases, other gases, radioactive carbon, water, iodine, and small particulates of plutonium and other transuranics (i.e. chemicals of higher atomic number than uranium) — is immediately added to the air, water and land of the biosphere. In the far-distant future, all the long-lived radioactive material, even that now stored and trapped, will mix with the biosphere unless each generation repackages it. Our planet earth is designed to recycle everything.
The radioactive chemicals which escape to the biosphere can combine with one another or with stable chemicals to form molecules which may be soluble or insoluble in water; which may be solids, liquids or gases at ordinary temperature and pressure; which may be able to enter into biochemical reactions or be biologically inert. The radioactive materials may be external to the body and still give off destructive penetrating radiation. They may also be taken into the body with air, food and water or through an open wound, becoming even more dangerous as they release their energy in close proximity to living cells and delicate body organs. They may remain near the place of entry into the body or travel in the bloodstream or lymph fluid. They can be incorporated into the tissue or bone. They may remain in the body for minutes or hours or a lifetime. In nuclear medicine, for example, radioactive tracer chemicals are deliberately chosen among those quickly excreted by the body. Most of the radioactive particles decay into other radioactive `daughter’ products which may have very different physical, chemical and radiological properties from the parent radioactive chemical. The average number of such radioactive daughters of fission products produced before a stable chemical form is reached, is four.
Besides their ability to give off ionising radiation, many of the radioactive particles are biologically toxic for other reasons. Radioactive lead, a daughter product of the radon gas released by uranium mining retains the ability to cause brain damage exercised by non-radioactive lead. Plutonium is biologically and chemically attracted to bone as is the naturally occurring radioactive chemical radium. However, plutonium clumps on the surface of bone, delivering a concentrated dose of alpha radiation to surrounding cells, whereas radium diffuses homogeneously in bone and thus has a lesser localized cell damage effect. This makes plutonium, because of its concentration, much more biologically toxic than a comparable amount of radium. Some allowance for this physiological difference has been made in setting plutonium standards, but there is evidence that there is more than twenty times more damage caused than was suspected at the time of standard setting.
The cellular damage caused by internally deposited radioactive particles becomes manifest as a health effect related to the particular organ damaged. For example, radionuclides lodged in the bones can damage bone marrow and cause bone cancers or leukaemia, while radionuclides lodged in the lungs can cause respiratory diseases. Generalised whole body exposure to radiation can be expressed as a stress related to a person’s hereditary medical weakness. UNQUOTE: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/NRBE/index.html [No Immediate Danger, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, 1985]
QUOTE: Other radionuclides will lodge in other parts of the body. If the trachea, bronchus or lung are exposed, the damage eventually causes speech or respiratory problems. If radioactive particles lodge in the stomach or digestive tract, the heart, liver, pancreas or other internal organs or tissues, the health problems will be correspondingly different and characteristic of the organ damaged. Radionuclides which lodge in the bone marrow can cause leukaemia, depression of the immune system (i.e. the body’s ability to combat infectious diseases) or blood diseases of various kinds. UNQUOTE: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/NRBE/index.html [No Immediate Danger, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, 1985]
Different types of radiation
QUOTE:
Types of radiation: Radiation includes
-
High-energy electromagnetic waves (x-rays, gamma rays)
-
Particles (alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons)
Alpha particles are energetic helium nuclei emitted by some radionuclides with high atomic numbers (eg, plutonium, radium, uranium); they cannot penetrate skin beyond a shallow depth (< 0.1 mm).
Beta particles are high-energy electrons that are emitted from the nuclei of unstable atoms (eg, cesium-137, iodine-131). These particles can penetrate more deeply into skin (1 to 2 cm) and cause both epithelial and subepithelial damage.
Neutrons are electrically neutral particles emitted by a few radionuclides (eg, californium-252) and produced in nuclear fission reactions (eg, in nuclear reactors); they can penetrate deeply into tissues (> 2 cm), where they collide with the nuclei of stable atoms, resulting in emission of energetic protons, alpha and beta particles, and gamma radiation.
Gamma radiation and x-rays are electromagnetic radiation (ie, photons) of very short wavelength that can penetrate deeply into tissue (many centimeters). While some photons deposit all their energy in the body, other photons of the same energy may only deposit a fraction of their energy and others may pass completely through the body without interacting.
Because of these characteristics, alpha and beta particles cause the most damage when the radioactive atoms that emit them are within the body (internal contamination) or, in the case of beta-emitters, directly on the body; only tissue in close proximity to the radionuclide is affected. Gamma rays and x-rays can cause damage distant from their source and are typically responsible for acute radiation syndromes. UNQUOTE: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec21/ch317/ch317a.html [Merck: Radiation exposure and contamination]
Types of exposure
QUOTE:
Types of exposure: Radiation exposure may involve
-
Contamination
-
Irradiation
Radioactive contamination is the unintended contact with and retention of radioactive material, usually as a dust or liquid. Contamination may be
-
External
-
Internal
External contamination is that on skin or clothing, from which some can fall or be rubbed off, contaminating other people and objects. Internal contamination is unintended radioactive material within the body, which it may enter by ingestion, inhalation, or through breaks in the skin. Once in the body, radioactive material may be transported to various sites (eg, bone marrow), where it continues to emit radiation until it is removed or decays. Internal contamination is more difficult to remove. Although internal contamination with any radionuclide is possible, historically, most cases in which contamination posed a significant risk to the patient involved a relatively small number of radionuclides: hydrogen-3, cobalt-60, strontium-90, cesium-137, iodine-131, radium-226, uranium-235, uranium-238, plutonium-238, plutonium-239, polonium-210, and americium-241.
Irradiation is exposure to radiation but not radioactive material (ie, no contamination is involved). Radiation exposure can occur without the source of radiation (eg radioactive material, x-ray machine) being in contact with the person. When the source of the radiation is removed or turned off, exposure ends. UNQUOTE: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec21/ch317/ch317a.html [Merck: Radiation exposure and contamination]
Measurement of radiation
QUOTE: Measurement of radiation: Conventional units of measurement include the roentgen, rad, and rem. The roentgen (R) is a unit of exposure measuring the ionizing ability of x- or gamma radiation in air. The radiation absorbed dose (rad) is the amount of that radiation energy absorbed per unit of mass. Because biologic damage per rad varies with radiation type (eg, it is higher for neutrons than for x- or gamma radiation), the dose in rad is corrected by a quality factor; the resulting effective dose unit is the roentgen equivalent in man (rem). Outside the US and in the scientific literature, SI units are used, in which the rad is replaced by the gray (Gy) and the rem by the sievert (Sv); 1 Gy = 100 rad and 1 Sv = 100 rem. The rad and rem (and hence Gy and Sv) are essentially equal (ie, the quality factor equals 1) when describing gamma or beta radiation. UNQUOTE: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec21/ch317/ch317a.html [Merck: Radiation exposure and contamination]
Prompt and delayed effects
QUOTE:
Radiation effects can be categorized by whenthey appear.
Prompt effects: … including radiation sickness and radiation burns, seen immediately after large doses of radiation delivered over short periods of time. Delayed effects: effects such as cataract formation and cancer induction that may appear months or years after a radiation exposure
UNQUOTE: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/osradtraining/biologicaleffects/page.htm [Princeton University]
Tissue sensitivity
QUOTE:
Cells and tissues differ in their radiosensitivity. In general, cells that are undifferentiated and those that have high mitotic rates (eg, stem cells) are particularly vulnerable to radiation. Because radiation preferentially depletes rapidly dividing stem cells over the more resistant mature cells, there is typically a latent period between radiation exposure and overt radiation injury. Injury does not manifest until a significant fraction of the mature cells die of natural senescence and, due to loss of stem cells, are not replaced.
Cellular sensitivities in approximate descending order from most to least sensitive are: Lymphoid cells/Germ cells/Proliferating bone marrow cells/Intestinal epithelial cells/Epidermal stem cells/Hepatic cells/Epithelium of lung alveoli and biliary passages/Kidney epithelial cells/Endothelial cells (pleura and peritoneum)/Nerve cells/Bone cells/Muscle and connective tissue cells
UNQUOTE: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec21/ch317/ch317a.html [Merck: Radiation exposure and contamination]
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Life Span Study
QUOTE: There were many long-term consequences of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. I will focus my response on those related to radiation and health physics. First, it is important to recognize that thousands of Japanese citizens perished in the explosion and the fires that immediately followed. The long-term effects of radiation exposure among the survivors have been extensively studied in what has come to be known as the Life Span Study. The main effect observed has been an excess of approximately 400 cases of cancer among the approximately 100,000 survivors. That means that about 400 more cancers have been observed in this population than would have been expected from a similar, but unexposed population. This excess has been observed among the survivors who received the highest radiation doses (generally, those who were closest to the detonation site).
RADIATION AND THYROID CANCER
QUOTE: An atomic veteran who participated in the nuclear tests which were conducted by the USA in the Bikini atoll in the late 1940s reported that he gained 75 lbs in the four years following his participation. The doctor diagnosed his problem as hypothyroidism. He also suffered from high blood pressure, chronic asthma and frequent bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia. He has had six tumours diagnosed since 1949, when he returned home from military service. Four have been surgically removed. ENDQUOTE: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/NRBE/index.html [No Immediate Danger, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, 1985]
CATARACTS
QUOTE: Cataracts are induced when a dose exceeding approximately 200-300 rem is delivered to the lens of the eye. Radiation-induced cataracts may take many months to years to appear. ENDQUOTE: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/osradtraining/biologicaleffects/page.htm [Princeton University]
QUOTE: late in his life he began to suffer from radiation-related ailments including cataracts and acute leukemia ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Yamaguchi
COMMENT: The report above is about Tsutomu Yamaguchi who is notable for having survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings.
QUOTE: The crystalline lens of the eye is like a camera lens. Radiation cataract causes partial opacity (cloudiness) in the crystalline lens. Symptoms are usually observed after several months of latency (two to three years on average) following radiation exposure. Unlike senile cataract (a similar condition common in old age), few radiation cataracts advance, and visual impairment is infrequent. ENDQUOTE: http://www.rerf.or.jp/radefx/early_e/cataract.html [Radiation Effects Research Foundation]
QUOTE: A study of cataracts among Chernobyl clean-up workers showed that even low-to-moderate doses of radiation led to excesses of early-stage cataracts. Further follow-up will establish whether these become advanced cataracts. (Dr. Shore, and investigators from Columbia University and the Ukraine) ENDQUOTE: http://www.med.nyu.edu/environmental/divisions/epidemiology.html [NYU School of Medicine, Department of Environmental Medicine]
QUOTE: The word cataract is used to describe a loss of transparency of the lens of the eye. Cataracts are commonly associated with aging and also with metabolic conditions such as diabetes.
The lens of the eye is peculiar in that there is no cell replacement system and therefore damaged cells that have become opaque are not replaced naturally.
Unlike the induction of cancer, radiation damage to the lens of the eye shows a definite threshold effect. As long as the life-time equivalent dose is less than 7.5 Sieverts no lens opacities due to ionising radiation will be produced that will interfere with vision. ENDQUOTE: http://trshare.triumf.ca/~safety/EHS/rpt/rpt_4/node22.html [TRIUMF Radiation Protection Training Course]
QUOTE: The […] photograph shows an eyeball of an A-bomb victim who got an atomic bomb cataract. There is opacity near the center of the eyeball. It has been known for some time, through that radiation causes cataracts in animals. But cataracts developed in human beings after the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to a clinical report of 128 cataract cases in Hiroshima during the four years from 1957, 38.3% had atomic bomb cataracts or suspected atomic bomb cataracts. It is reported that 70% of those were within 1 kilometer from the hypocenter, and 30% were within 2 kilometers. Some Atomic-bomb cataracts occurred several months after exposure, while most occurred several years later. In the case of this patient, it was diagnosed as an atomic bomb cataract in 1970, 25 years after the bomb. ENDQUOTE: http://www.gensuikin.org/english/photo.html [Gensuikin]
IMAGE: http://www.gensuikin.org/english/photo.html [Gensuikin]
QUOTE: In a cataract the ocular lens becomes opaque. This condition appeared a few years after the atomic bombings; the first was found in 1948 in Hiroshima; and the next, the following year in Nagasaki. Occurrence was related to age at time of exposure and distance from ground zero.Severe cases appeared earlier than mild cases. ENDQUOTE: http://atomicbombmuseum.org/3_health.shtml [Atomic Bomb Museum]
QUOTE: Cataracts show symptoms of clouding of the lens and poor eyesight. They were identified for the first time in the autumn of 1948 in Hiroshima, and in June of 1949 in Nagasaki. Radiation-caused cataracts are different from those resulting from old age. The occurrence of atomic bomb cataracts and the degree of clouding of the lens are causally related to the radiation dose. It is considered that the closer the survivor was exposed to the A-bomb, the greater the risk of cataract. ENDQUOTE: http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/97e/peace/e/06/bakugeki.htm [Chugoku]
QUOTE: By 1904, it was learned that exposing the lens of an animal’s eyes to ionizing radiation could produce cataracts. By 1940, there were over 100 documented cases of radiation-induced cataracts in humans. ENDQUOTE: http://www.ccnr.org/ceac_B.html#b.10 [The Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility]
RADIATION PNEUMONITIS AND FIBROSIS
Radiation pneumonitis on xray
COMMENT: The lung injuries seen in first responders show how the lungs were very vulnerable to radiation. Lung problems that span from asthma to pulmonary fibrosis and are one of the most common injuries suffered. Many of these sufferers will experience lung cancer. Lung cancer has a longer latency than blood cell cancers so we are not seeing an epidemic of lung cancers among the first responders now in the same way as we are seeing an epidemic of blood cell cancers. However, many of the diseases the first responders are experiencing are precursors to the development of lung cancer. UNQUOTE: http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q9122.html [Brant Ulsh, PhD, CHP]
QUOTE:
Radiation pneumonitis is an inflammation of the lungs due to radiation therapy. This side effect of radiation therapy occurs in 5 to 15% of people who go through radiation therapy for lung cancer, but can also result from radiation to the chest for breast cancer, lymphomas, or other cancers.
Radiation pneumonitis most commonly occurs between 1 and 6 months after completing radiation therapy. The risk of developing this complication depends on the dose of radiation used and the amount of tissue treated.
… If it goes untreated or persists, it can lead to pulmonary fibrosis (scarring of the lungs), which is often permanent. ENDQUOTE: http://lungcancer.about.com/od/treatmentoflungcancer/a/radpneumonitis.htm [About.com]
QUOTE: Radiation fibrosis typically occurs a year after the completion of radiation treatments. Radiation fibrosis is usually not reversible. ENDQUOTE: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=8101 [MedicineNet.com]
QUOTE: Damage to lungs after radiation therapy – Usually requires at least 4500 rads … Especially common if >6000 R given in 5-6 weeks …. Time of onset – Usually at least 6 weeks up to 6 months after treatment ENDQUOTE: http://www.learningradiology.com/notes/chestnotes/radiationpneumonitispage.htm [LearningRadiology.com]
QUOTE:
Radiation-induced lung injury is a general term for damage to the lungs which occurs as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation. In general terms, such damage is divided into early inflammatory damage (radiation pneumonitis) and later complications of chronic scarring (radiation fibrosis). Radiation-induced lung injury most commonly occurs as a result of radiation therapy administered to treat cancer.
The lungs are the most radiosensitive organ, and radiation pneumonitis can occur leading to pulmonary insufficiency and death (100% after exposure to 50 gray of radiation), in a few months.
Radiation pneumonitis is characterized by:
* Loss of epithelial cells/* Edema/* Inflammation/* Occlusions of airways, air sacs and blood vessels/* Fibrosis
ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation-induced_lung_injury [Wikipedia]
QUOTE: Radiation pneumonitis was developed in 39% of patients who had received thoracic radiation due to primary lung cancer and 56.1% cases of these radiation pneumonitis patients developed within 2 months. ENDQUOTE: http://meeting.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/15_suppl/7573 [Journal of Clinical Oncology Vol 26, No 15S (May 20 Supplement), 2008: 7573]
QUOTE: People with preexisting lung problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) are at increased risk of developing radiation pneumonitis when they undergo cancer treatments …
If radiation pneumonitis is not treated properly or it progresses despite treatment, it can develop into radiation fibrosis. Fibrosis involves permanent scarring of the lungs which will alter lung function for the rest of the patient’s life. The patient may require supplemental oxygen or other treatments to breathe more easily. ENDQUOTE: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-radiation-pneumonitis.htm [WiseGeek.com]
QUOTE: Radiation pneumonitis is the acute manifestation of radiation-induced lung disease (RILD) and is relatively common following radiotherapy for chest wall or intrathoracic malignancies …
Symptoms typically include: cough, dyspnoea (exertional or at rest), low grade fever, chest discomfort, pleuritic pain ..
The two most common findings [on CT] are 1-2: 1. ground-glass opacities and / or 2. airspace consolidation
Additional features that are sometimes seen include: focal or nodular opacities, tree-in-bud appearances, ipsilateral pleural effusion, atelectasis UNQUOTE: http://radiopaedia.org/articles/radiation-pneumonitis [Radiopedia.org]
GENERAL MEDICAL ILLNESSES
QUOTE: The data for the Arnold School study came from 1993-98 and represented 415 children from 29 Narodichesky villages – most born after the 1986 Chernobyl accident. Among the most frequent diagnoses were goiter, dental problems, chronic diseases of tonsils and adenoids, fatigue, enlargement of lymph nodes, acute colds, and inflammation of the bile duct. ENDQUOTE: http://www.physorg.com/news194547014.html [Physorg.com May, Provided by University of South Carolina 31, 2010]
QUOTE:
A link between high doses of nuclear radiation and heart disease and stroke has been suggested by a study of tens of thousands of workers from the nuclear industry.
The study suggests that workers exposed to relatively high levels of radiation over long periods may be at increased risk of circulatory disease, according to the research published in the International Journal of Epidemiology by Westlakes Scientific Consulting ENDQUOTE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/3334760/High-radiation-exposure-linked-to-heart-disease.html [Telegraph.co.uk March 4, 2008]
QUOTE: Chronic radiation disease (or chronic radiation sickness) was originally reported by the Russian physicians, A. K. Gus’kova and G. D. Baysogolov. They described chronic radiation disease as being characterized by varying degrees of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and neural system disorders.
Chronic radiation disease occurred mainly in workers with total gamma-ray doses in excess of 1 Gy.
Both pneumosclerosis and chronic radiation disease can occur years after the start of chronic exposure to radiation. ENDQUOTE: http://www.radiation-scott.org/radsource/3-0.htm [Radiation Sources and its Effects on People, Bobby R. Scott]
QUOTE: Large radiation doses to the lung can cause early death from cardiopulmonary insufficiency resulting from radiation pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis. ENDQUOTE: http://www.springerlink.com/content/b401up435284427g/ [Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, Volume 42, Number 3 / May, 1980]
RADIATION FIBROSIS
QUOTE: Children living downwind of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine may have long-term problems affecting their lungs, according to a University of South Carolina study .. . The study shows that the source of the children’s problems is radioactive cesium, a chemical element that contaminated the soil and air after the world’s most serious nuclear accident ..
Although the disaster occurred more than 24 years ago, the soil in many areas of the Ukraine remains “profoundly contaminated” with radioactive cesium, said Svendsen, who collaborated with Dr. Wilfried J.J. Karmaus of the Arnold School’s department of epidemiology and biostatistics and Dr. Timothy Mousseau, a University of South Carolina researcher who has studied the impact of the Chernobyl disaster since 1999 and will head back to the area this summer to conduct further research.
“Thousands of children live in and consume locally grown foods from areas in the Ukraine where the soil is still contaminated with radioactive cesium,” said Svendsen, a research assistant professor in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics.
“Hundreds of these children may grow up with lungs that have been damaged by chronic exposure to radioactive cesium,” he said. “The long-term prognosis of these children is poor, and many will likely develop significant respiratory problems as they age.”
The study was conducted in a farming area of the Ukraine, known as the Narodichesky district (about 50 miles from Chernobyl). The area, which received considerable fallout from the incident, became very poor, and soil studies found that the radioactive cesium levels were 1.5 – 44 times above what is considered normal in the United States, Svendsen said. UNQUOTE: http://www.physorg.com/news194547014.html [Physorg.com May, Provided by University of South Carolina 31, 2010]
QUOTE: The characteristics of occupational diseases from radiation exposure at the first nuclear plant (Prod. Assoc. ‘Mayak’) in the period of its formation is presented here in brief. Chronic radiation disease (ChRD) made up the predominant part of the spectrum of radiation injuries caused by external whole body exposure to gamma-radiation (more than 80%). Acute radiation disease, local radiation injuries (burns, dermatitis), plutonium pneumosclerosis, and one case of a radiation cataract were diagnosed as well. ENDQUOTE: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V78-48YVXMM-N5&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F01%2F1994&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1390036835&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=d4e8f61b97d9a608e7836fa270544380 [The Science of The Total Environment, Volume 142, Issues 1-2, 1 March 1994, Pages 9-17 ]
QUOTE: Russian nuclear workers at the Mayak plutonium production facility in the Chelyabinsk region (near the Urals Mountains) were exposed over years to neutrons plus gamma rays and to alpha radiation plus gamma rays. Various deterministic effects were caused by these radiation exposures. Other effects (e.g., cancer) were also induced.
In addition to cancer, genetic effects (in their children), and prodromal effects, two effects were seen in Mayak workers that were not previously reported in western literature:
* Pneumosclerosis (severe damage to the lung mainly from inhaled plutonium) is one of the new effects reported in Mayak nuclear workers.
*Chronic radiation disease (mainly from exposure over years to gamma rays).
Pneumosclerosis appears to be related to radiation pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis in the lung. ENDQUOTE: http://www.radiation-scott.org/radsource/3-0.htm [Radiation Sources and its Effects on People, Bobby R. Scott]
QUOTE: * Pulmonary fibrosis is an inflammation of the lung, not usually caused by an infection, which evolves into damage and scarring of lung tissue. You may develop pulmonary fibrosis many months after you have completed chemotherapy or radiation therapy. You may have been previously diagnosed with pneumonitis after you have completed therapy.
* In order to breathe, your lungs need to be stretchy (compliant), in order to fill up with air – like a balloon. In pulmonary fibrosis, the scarred and damaged lungs are hard, and non-compliant, when you breathe. This may cause problems, such as shortness of breath, cough, and other heart and lung problems, such as pulmonary hypertension.
* Pulmonary hypertension is when pressure in the lung becomes too high. Serious side effects may occur. If it pulmonary hypertension occurs suddenly, you can stop breathing.
* Pulmonary hypertension may put pressure on the right ventricle of the heart, causing it to enlarge over time. This may lead to a form of heart failure, called right-sided heart failure. UNQUOTE: http://www.chemocare.com/MANAGING/pulmonary_fibrosis.asp [Chemocare]
QUOTE: Pulmonary fibrosis with uranium miners caused from inhalation of radon progeny
Abstract: “Many uranium miners have been disabled by and died of pulmonary fibrosis that was not recognized as an occupational disease. A review of animal studies, complications from whole body irradiation, pulmonary function, and mortality studies of uranium miners led us to suspect radiation-induced chronic diffuse interstitial fibrosis in miners who had inhaled excessive radon progeny. A selected group of uranium miners (22) with severe respiratory disease (but no rounded nodules in chest films) were studied. Lung tissue from five disclosed severe diffuse interstitial fibrosis, with “honeycomb lung” in all. Some also had small anthrasilicotic nodules and birefringent crystals. Although quartz crystals probably contributed, we concluded that the predominant injurious agent in these cases was alpha particles from radon progeny. This disease, after a long latent period, usually results in pulmonary hypertension, shortness of breath, and death by cardiopulmonary failure.” ENDQUOTE: http://www.wise-uranium.org/uhm.html [Wise Uranium Project] [REF: Reference:
Archer VE et al: Chronic diffuse interstitial fibrosis of the lung in uranium miners.
Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 40, No. 5, May 1998 May, p.460-474 ]
Symptoms of pulmonary fibrosis
QUOTE:
* You may experience no symptoms at first. However, as the disease progresses, you may experience increased coughing, and shortness of breath.
* You may be overly tired, or very weak (fatigued). It may be hard for you to do your normal activities as the pulmonary fibrosis worsens. This may include walking to the door, or climbing stairs.
* With severe forms of pulmonary fibrosis, you may develop worsening lung function. The lining of your lungs will become less stretchy, making it harder to breathe.
* You may have trouble lying flat in bed, and you may have to sleep on 2 or more pillows. Your shortness of breath may cause you to wake up in the middle of the night.
* If you develop severe pulmonary fibrosis, and your heart may not be working as well, your legs may be swollen, especially in your feet and ankles. You may gain “water” weight easily, or feel bloated. UNQUOTE: http://www.chemocare.com/MANAGING/pulmonary_fibrosis.asp [Chemocare]
QUOTE: “Fibrosis” is a term used to refer to scarring, so pulmonary fibrosis means scarring throughout the lungs. Pulmonary fibrosis can be caused by many conditions including chronic inflammatory processes (sarcoidosis, Wegener’s granulomatosis ), infections, environmental agents (asbestos, silica, exposure to certain gases), exposure to ionizing radiation (such as radiation therapy to treat tumors of the chest), chronic conditions (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis), and certain medications. ENDQUOTE: http://www.medicinenet.com/pulmonary_fibrosis/article.htm [MedicineNet.com]
Confusing array of names for the same condition
QUOTE: Other major histopathologic forms of interstitial pneumonitis include the following: desquamative interstitial pneumonia (DIP); respiratory bronchiolitis interstitial lung disease (RBILD); acute interstitial pneumonitis (AIP), also known as Hamman-Rich syndrome; nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP); cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) (see Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia); lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia (LIP) (see Lymphocytic Interstitial Pneumonia); sarcoidosis (see Sarcoidosis); hypersensitivity pneumonia (HSP) (see Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis);pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH) (see Eosinophilic Granuloma (Histiocytosis X)); tuberous sclerosis; and lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) (see Lymphangioleiomyomatosis). ENDQUOTE: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/301337-overview [emedicine]
QUOTE: Acute radiation pneumonitis (RP) occurs in up to 10% of patients after fractionated irradiation. Pathophysiologically, immunologic mechanisms seem to be involved in its onset, in addition to direct injury of the irradiated part of the lung (1). Late radiation toxicity, on the other hand, results in pulmonary fibrosis as a consequence of repair initiated by tissue injury within the radiation portal. Radiation fibrosis may lead not only to decreased lung compliance but also to decreased diffusion capacity resulting in progressive shortness of breath and increased mortality in these patients (2). Although RP mostly precedes fibrosis, both processes may also progress independently of each other ENDQUOTE: http://jnm.snmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/44/9/1531 [Journal of Nuclear Medicine Vol. 44 No. 9 1531-1539, 2003 by Society of Nuclear Medicine]
QUOTE: Prompted by a case of lung fibrosis in a retired plutonium worker, we tested the hypothesis that plutonium inhalation increases the risk for developing chest radiograph abnormalities consistent with pulmonary fibrosis. We conducted a retrospective study of nuclear weapons workers that included estimating absorbed doses to the lung with an internal dosimetry model. Our study population consisted of 326 plutonium-exposed workers with absorbed lung doses from 0 to 28 Sv and 194 unexposed workers. We compared the severity of chest radiograph interstitial abnormalities between the two groups .. Lung doses of 10 Sv or greater conferred a 5.3-fold risk (95% CI 1.2–23.4) of having an abnormal chest X ray consistent with pulmonary fibrosis when compared with unexposed individuals after controlling for the effects of age, smoking and asbestos exposure. This study shows that plutonium may cause lung fibrosis in humans at absorbed lung doses above 10 Sv. ENDQUOTE: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1667/RR3407 [Radiation Research 164(2):123-131. 2005]
QUOTE: Large radiation doses to the lung can cause early death from cardiopulmonary insufficiency resulting from radiation pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis. ENDQUOTE: http://www.springerlink.com/content/b401up435284427g/ [Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, Volume 42, Number 3 / May, 1980]
QUOTE: The incidence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis has been estimated to be 10.7 cases per 100,000 among men and 7.4 cases per 100,000 among women. The incidence appears to be rising. The prevalence of IPF ranges from 13 cases per 100,000 among women to 20 cases per 100,000 among men, though these rates may be underestimations.
The incidence increases with age. The disease affects individuals 50-70 years of age; it occurs only infrequently in young people. ENDQUOTE: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/363273-overview [emedicine]
QUOTE: Radiation-induced lung injury was first described in 1898, soon after the development of roentgenograms [1]. The distinction between two separate types of radiation-induced lung injury, radiation pneumonitis and radiation fibrosis, was made in 1925 [2]. Both types of lung injury are observed today in patients who have undergone thoracic irradiation for the treatment of lung, breast, or hematologic malignancies. ENDQUOTE: http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~o0oU7LHVwKvBV_o [UpToDate]
QUOTE: Radiation-induced lung injury is a general term for damage to the lungs which occurs as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation. In general terms, such damage is divided into early inflammatory damage (radiation pneumonitis) and later complications of chronic scarring (radiation fibrosis). Radiation-induced lung injury most commonly occurs as a result of radiation therapy administered to treat cancer.[1]
The lungs are the most radiosensitive organ, and radiation pneumonitis can occur leading to pulmonary insufficiency and death (100% after exposure to 50 gray of radiation), in a few months. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation-induced_lung_injury [Wikipedia – Radiation-induced lung injury]
QUOTE: Chronic poisoning results from prolonged exposure to low concentrations of insoluble compounds and presents a clinical picture different from that of acute poisoning. The outstanding signs and symptoms are pulmonary fibrosis, pneumoconiosis, and blood changes with a fall in red blood count ENDQUOTE: http://www.ccnr.org/du_hague.html [Gulf War Veterans and Depleted Uranium, Rosalie Berell]
QUOTE: The most radiosensitive subunit of the lung is the alveolar/capillary complex, and RT-induced lung injury is often described as diffuse alveolar damage … Replacement of normal lung parenchyma by fibrosis is the culminating event. Depending on the dose and volume of lung irradiated, acute radiation pneumonitis may develop, characterized by dry cough and dyspnea. Fibrosis of the lung, which can also cause dyspnea, is the late complication ENDQUOTE: http://www.cancernetwork.com/display/article/10165/1146856 [ONCOLOGY. Vol. 22 No. 1 , January 1, 2008]
QUOTE: By the 1950s cases of lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, pneumoconiosis, silicosis, tuberculosis, birth defects, kidney damage, and more, began to show up in populations near uranium mining sites. ENDQUOTE: http://towardfreedom.com/home/environment/1802-the-dangers-of-nuclear-energy-and-the-need-to-close-vermont-yankee [Toward Freedom]
QUOTE: During the 1960s researchers found the U.S. uranium miners suffering from shortness of breath, persistent cough, pneumoconiosis, wheezing, and chest pain. Pulmonary emphysema, fibrosis, and chronic bronchitis were also linked with chronic exposures to airborne radiation in the mines. In 1976 an epidemic of nonmalignant respiratory diseases among U.S. miners was confirmed when 80 such deaths were observed when 24.9 deaths were expected. ENDQUOTE: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/KillingOurOwn/KOO7.html [Killing Our Own, Wasserman and Solomon, 1982]
QUOTE: “Many uranium miners have been disabled by and died of pulmonary fibrosis that was not recognized as an occupational disease. A review of animal studies, complications from whole body irradiation, pulmonary function, and mortality studies of uranium miners led us to suspect radiation-induced chronic diffuse interstitial fibrosis in miners who had inhaled excessive radon progeny. A selected group of uranium miners (22) with severe respiratory disease (but no rounded nodules in chest films) were studied. Lung tissue from five disclosed severe diffuse interstitial fibrosis, with “honeycomb lung” in all. Some also had small anthrasilicotic nodules and birefringent crystals. Although quartz crystals probably contributed, we concluded that the predominant injurious agent in these cases was alpha particles from radon progeny. This disease, after a long latent period, usually results in pulmonary hypertension, shortness of breath, and death by cardiopulmonary failure.” ENDQUOTE: http://www.wise-uranium.org/uhm.html [Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Vol. 40, No. 5, May 1998 May, p.460-474]
QUOTE: Pulmonary fibrosis is the formation or development of excess fibrous connective tissue (fibrosis) in the lungs. It can be described as “scarring of the lung” … Pulmonary fibrosis involves gradual replacement of normal lung parenchyma with fibrotic tissue. Thickening of scar tissue causes irreversible decrease in oxygen diffusion capacity.[1] In addition, decreased compliance makes pulmonary fibrosis a restrictive lung disease. It is the main cause of restrictive lung disease that is intrinsic to the lung parenchyma. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulmonary_fibrosis [Wikipedia – Pulmonary fibrosis]
QUOTE: Plutonium-induced pulmonary sclerosis is a consequence of radiation injury. The effects seen are due to excessive reparative functioning of connectivetissue when disturbance of physiological regeneration takes place, and due to intensified destruction of parenchyma as a result of radiation injury. [….] In the summer of 1976 they showed definitively that there were indications of 5 to 7 percent excess in radiation cancer deaths among Hanford workers at exposure levels as much as thirty times below what had been considered safe.
ENDQUOTE: http://journals.lww.com/health-physics/Abstract/1972/06000/Mechanism_of_Development_of_Plutonium_induced.33.aspx [The Radiation Safety Journal June 1972 – Volume 22 – Issue 6]
IMAGES: From http://s1.zetaboards.com/pumpitout/topic/3367198/1/
SOLID CANCERS
QUOTE: But what Mancuso actually found turned out to be more than they bargained for. His investigation–which constituted one of the largest and probably the most reliable of all the epidemiological studies on the health effects of radiation–proved conclusively that exposure levels in industry were far too high, and that the health effects of emissions from nuclear power plants and fallout from nuclear bombs may be far worse than suspected […..]
The problem focused on the massive AEC installation at Hanford, Washington, where a reactor complex–which produced the plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki–a waste dump, and other nuclear facilities were operating. As one of the oldest and largest nuclear facilities in the world, Hanford was–and is–a keystone to the American nuclear weapons program.
The controversy began there when Dr. Samuel Milham, an epidemiologist with the Washington State Department of Health, noticed a 25 percent cancer excess among Hanford nuclear workers when compared with the rates among the state’s nonnuclear workers. Milham also found four cases of multiple myeloma, when less than one would normally be expected.[10] It was the same disease found among GIs who first went into Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings. […..]
In the summer of 1976 they showed definitively that there were indications of 5 to 7 percent excess in radiation cancer deaths among Hanford workers at exposure levels as much as thirty times below what had been considered safe. ENDQUOTE: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/KillingOurOwn/KOO7.html [Killing our Own]
Solid cancer risks among atomic bomb survivors
QUOTE: Increased risk of cancer is the most important late effect of radiation exposure seen in A-bomb survivors. For cancers other than leukemia (solid cancers), excess risk associated with radiation started to appear about ten years after exposure.
[…] For most solid cancers, acute radiation exposure at any age increases one’ s cancer risk for the rest of life. As survivors have aged, radiation-associated excess rates of solid cancer have increased as well as the background rates.
[…] Tumor registries were initiated in 1957 in Hiroshima and 1958 in Nagasaki. During the period from 1958 to 1998, 7,851 malignancies (first primary) were observed among 44,635 LSS survivors with estimated doses of >0.005 Gy. The excess number of solid cancers is estimated as 848 (10.7%) ENDQUOTE: http://www.rerf.or.jp/radefx/late_e/cancrisk.html [Radiation Effects Research Foundation]
QUOTE: Even now, after over half a century later, many aftereffects remain: leukemia,
A-bomb cataracts, and cancers of thyroid, breast, lungs, salivary glands, birth defects, including mental retardation, and fears of birth defects in their children, plus, of course, the disfiguring keloid scars. ENDQUOTE: http://atomicbombmuseum.org/3_health.shtml [Atomic Bomb Museum]
Types of solid cancers
• Liver cancer
• Lung cancer
• Oral cancer
• Endometrial cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Breast cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Renal cancer
• Osteosarcoma
• Colon cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Mesothelioma
• Stomach cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
QUOTE:
1. Thyroid: first case reported in 1957. High incidence among females. Some cases first discovered by autopsy.
Papillary thyroid carcinoma
2. Breast: cases much higher among those exposed than in non-exposed. Exposure to 100 rads or more made risk 3.3 times that of those unexposed. Peak incidence was found higher among women ages 20-30.
3. Lung: First case noted in Hiroshima in 1954, with 37 cases in Nagasaki soon added. A 1972 large-scale survey revealed 3,778 lung cancers in 10,412 deaths, with correlation of high risks to high radiation dosage. ENDQUOTE: http://atomicbombmuseum.org/3_health.shtml [Atomic Bomb Museum]
QUOTE: The long-term effects of radiation exposure among the survivors [of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings] have been extensively studied in what has come to be known as the Life Span Study. The main effect observed has been an excess of approximately 400 cases of cancer among the approximately 100,000 survivors. That means that about 400 more cancers have been observed in this population than would have been expected from a similar, but unexposed population. This excess has been observed among the survivors who received the highest radiation doses (generally, those who were closest to the detonation site). ENDQUOTE: http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q9122.html [Health Physics Society]
Health hazards for uranium mine and mill workers
QUOTE:
• Study finds excess chromosomal aberrations in Kazakh uranium mine/mill workers.
• Study finds association between cerebrovascular diseases mortality and cumulative radon exposure in French uranium miner cohort.
• German uranium miners’ study provides some evidence of increased risk of extrapulmonary cancers associated with radon.
• Study finds increased mortality among Grants underground uranium miners, but not among uranium mill workers (New Mexico).
• A retrospective study among 59,001 former Wismut miners confirmed the excess relative risk estimate from radon progeny exposure known from previous studies among various other miner cohorts. However, the excess relative risk per WLM showed a maximum only 15-24 years after exposure and showed only a modest decline with time since exposure.
• A study on Czech uranium miners shows that an increased risk of leukaemia is significantly associated with cumulated doses which mainly reflect exposures to long lived radionuclides in aerosol form and external gamma, whereas the contribution from radon to the dose is marginal. The increased mortality is mainly observed decades after exposure and is consistent with estimated internal dose to red bone marrow.
• Long-term persistence of chromosome aberrations observed in Hungarian uranium miners.
• Chromosomal aberrations with former Czech uranium miners.
• Chromosomal aberrations with former Wismut uranium miners.
• Pulmonary fibrosis with uranium miners caused from inhalation of radon progeny.
• Excess chromosomal aberrations found in Namibian uranium miners
• Risk of Cancer Incidence other than Lung Cancer with Uranium Mine and Mill Workers: The conclusion of the analysis is that an observed cancer of the mouth region, pharynx, and larynx has a probability of causation from the occupational exposure at WISMUT of 50% already after slightly more than one year of underground work; for bone and connective tissue cancers, the same probability of causation is expected after 4-8 years of underground work; for leukemia […] and kidney cancer, a probability of causation of 25-50% can be expected after many years of underground work.
ENDQUOTE: http://www.wise-uranium.org/uhm.html [Wise Uranium Project]
Cancers among residents downwind of the Hanford, Washington, plutonium production Site
QUOTE: Abstract:
A community-based health survey for the time period between 1944 and 1995 was collected from 801 individuals who had lived downwind of the U.S. plutonium production facility located in Hanford, Washington. The results of the survey revealed high incidences of all cancers, including thyroid cancer. There were greater than expected numbers of central nervous system tumors and cancers that invaded the female reproductive system (e.g., cancers of the uterus, ovary, cervix, and breast). The authors argue that the greater-than-expected numbers found cannot be accounted for by selection bias alone. Comparisons of crude incidence rates, as well as of occurrence ratios between pairs of cancer types among Downwinders and reasonably similar populations, suggested that the excess neoplasms may be associated with radioactive contamination of food, water, soil, and/or air. In addition, a synergistic effect may exist with agricultural toxins. Previously neglected biophysical and physiological properties of internally lodged, long-lived 129I may be a significant etiological factor in the development of thyroid diseases, including cancer, and other malignancies in exposed populations. ENDQUOTE: http://heldref-publications.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0003-9896&volume=58&issue=5&spage=267 [Archives of Environmental Health: An International Journal; Issue: Volume 58, Number 5 / May 2003; Pages: 267 – 274]
THYROID CANCER AND RADIATION
Mechanism of thyroid cancer development
QUOTE: The thyroid hormones contain iodine and the thyroid gland actively concentrates iodine from the bloodstream. Most nuclear accidents release radioactive iodine, which can damage thyroid cells and cause thyroid cancer. Babies and young children are at highest risk of developing thyroid cancer after being exposed to a nuclear accidenthttp://www.thyroid.org/patients/faqs/nuclearradiation.html [American Thyroid Association]
Thyroid cancer and Chernobyl children
QUOTE:
Children who were exposed to radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster are developing thyroid cancer sooner and in larger numbers than expected, researchers report.[…]
In a letter published yesterday in Nature, a British science journal, Dr. Vasily S. Kazakov of the Belarus Ministry of Health in Minsk and his colleagues say that the thyroid cancer rates in the regions most heavily irradiated began to soar in 1990.
In Gomel, the most contaminated region studied, there used to be just one or two cases of thyroid children a year. But Kazakov and his colleagues found that there were 38 cases in 1991. In six regions of Belarus and the city of Minsk, the investigators found 131 cases of thyroid cancer in young children, some of whom were still in the womb when the Chernobyl accident occurred.[…]
Children are particularly susceptible to thyroid cancer from radioactive iodine because their thyroid glands are small and concentrate the iodine from radioactive fallout because they drink more milk and get larger doses of radioactive iodine and because their thyroids are thought to be more vulnerable to the radiation.
[…] investigators were struck by the seeming aggressiveness of some of the children’s cancers. A 7-year-old child died and 10 other children are seriously ill, they reported.
URL: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/inetSeries/ChernyThyrd.html [inetSeries]
IMAGE:
CAPTION: Man and young boy operated for thyroid cancer after Chernobyl nuclear accident. LINK: http://citizenzoo.wordpress.com/nuclear-radiation-injuries/ [Dossier: Nuclear Radiation Injuries]
QUOTE: The risk of thyroid nodules and cancer has been investigated in many radiation-exposed groups, including the following:The survivors of atomic bombing in Japan, Marshall Islanders exposed to nuclear test fall-outChildren exposed during therapeutic external radiation therapyChildren living in the area of Chernobyl, the site of a nuclear accident
Available data make the relationship between radiation and thyroid tumorigenesis incontrovertible. A pooled analysis of seven studies of external radiation exposure led to the following conclusions [1]:
The thyroid is among the most radiation-sensitive tissues in the body, with excess cancers occurring at doses as low as 10 cGy (centigray, 1 cGy = 1 rad).Thyroid nodules of all types and sizes, including small ones detected by screening methods, are increased by radiation exposure.There is a linear dose-response curve
The younger the age at the time of radiation exposure the higher the risk. […]
The effects of radiation persist for several decades and then eventually wane. A survey study of 4091 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors (mean age 70 years) was among the first to show this [5]. The risk for thyroid cancer has been falling, but persists for at least four decades after exposurehttp://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~dyVVqDEHRC2tDW [UpToDate: Radiation-induced thyroid cancer]
QUOTE: Patients with thyroid cancer who have previously been exposed to radiation-for example, in the workplace, through environmental exposure or for treatment of acne or another condition-appear to have more aggressive disease and tend to have worse outcomes in the long term, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
[…] this study suggests that patients who have been exposed to radiation have more aggressive disease and worse clinical outcome than other patients with thyroid cancer. ENDQUOTE: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/146802.php [Medical News Today: Radiation Exposure Associated With More Aggressive Thyroid Cancer, Worse Outcomes ]
Chernobyl and thyroid cancer
QUOTE: The Chernobyl disaster triggered the release of substantial amounts of radiation into the atmosphere in the form of both particle and gaseous radioisotopes, and is the most significant unintentional release of radiation[citation needed] into the environment to date. It has been suggested that the Chernobyl disaster released as much as 400 times the radioactive contamination of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects]
QUOTE: Thyroid doses for adults were between 20 and 1000 mSv, while for the one year old infants these were higher at 20 to 6000 mSv. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects] ENDQUOTE: K. Muck, G. Prohl, I. Likhtarev, L. Kovgan, V. Golikov and J. Zeger, Health Physics, 2002, 82(2), 157–172
QUOTE: The majority of the dose was due to Iodine-131 (circa 40%), tellurium and rubidium isotopes. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects] ENDQUOTE: K. Muck, G. Prohl, I. Likhtarev, L. Kovgan, V. Golikov and J. Zeger, Health Physics, 2002, 82(2), 157–172
QUOTE: Some children in the contaminated areas were exposed to high radiation doses of up to 50 grays (Gy) because of an intake of radioactive iodine-131, a relatively short-lived isotope with a half-life of 8 days, from contaminated milk produced locally. Several studies have found that the incidence of thyroid cancer among children in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia has risen sharply. The IAEA notes “1800 documented cases of thyroid cancer in children who were between 0 and 14 years of age when the disaster occurred, which is as far higher than normal”. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects]
QUOTE: Late in 1995, the World Health Organisation (WHO) linked nearly 700 cases of thyroid cancer among children and adolescents to the Chernobyl disaster, and among these some 10 deaths are attributed to radiation. However, the rapid increase in thyroid cancers detected suggests that some of it at least is an artifact of the screening process. Typical latency time of radiation-induced thyroid cancer is about 10 years, but the increase in childhood thyroid cancers in some regions was observed as early as 1987. Presumably either the increase is unrelated to the disaster or the mechanisms behind it are not well understood. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects]
QUOTE: Immediately after the disaster, the main health concern involved radioactive iodine, with a half-life of eight days. Today, there is concern about contamination of the soil with strontium-90 and caesium-137, which have half-lives of about 30 years. The highest levels of caesium-137 are found in the surface layers of the soil where they are absorbed by plants, insects and mushrooms, entering the local food supply. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects] ENDQUOTE: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp157-c2.pdf ENDQUOTE: http://ag.arizona.edu/swes/chorover_lab/pdf_papers/Bostick%20et%20al.,%202002.pdf ENDQUOTE: http://www.osti.gov/bridge/purl.cover.jsp?purl=/37755-Yi5hXI/webviewable/
QUOTE: In September 2005, a draft summary report by the Chernobyl Forum, comprising a number of UN agencies including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), other UN bodies and the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, put the total predicted number of deaths due to the accident at 4000.[28] This death toll predicted by the WHO included the 47 workers who died of acute radiation syndrome as a direct result of radiation from the disaster and nine children who died from thyroid cancer, in the estimated 4000 excess cancer deaths expected among the 600,000 with the highest levels of exposure. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects] ENDQUOTE: http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/Chernobyl/pdfs/pr.pdf [Chernobyl: The True Scale of the Accident]
QUOTE: In the Czech Republic, thyroid cancer has increased significantly after Chernobyl. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects]
QUOTE: Although the Czech Republic received only a relatively moderate amount of radioactive fallout,an unexpected uniformly accelerated increase of thyroid cancer in all age categories is seen from 1990 onwards. ENDQUOTE: Med Sci Monit, 2004; 10(7): CR300-306 http://www.MEDSCIMONIT.com PMID: 15232504 URL: http://www.chernobyl.info/resources/resource_de_62.pdf
QUOTE: Although the 2006 study by the French Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety said that no clear link could be found between Chernobyl and the increase of thyroid cancers in France, it also stated that papillary thyroid cancer had tripled in the following years. ENDQUOTE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects [Wikipedia – Chernobyl disaster effects] http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/028/article_21396.asp [Radio France International 2006-04-26]
Thyroid cancer and Hiroshima and Nagasaki
IMAGE: “The left half of the photograph shows a boy who was one year old at the time of exposure, resulting in a severe form of hypothyroid/cretinism. The right half of the photograph shows the same child three years later following treatment with thyroid hormone.” URL: http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/200708230011.html [Children of the Atomic Bomb]
QUOTE: Radioactive iodine in the fallout is internally absorbed by inhalation and injures the thyroid. The developing thyroid of infants and young children is very vulnerable. Nearly all of the children under ten years of age developed injuries to the thyroid. ENDQUOTE: http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/200708230011.html [Children of the Atomic Bomb]
Some Hiroshima survivors at thyroid cancer risk
QUOTE: Some Japanese survivors of the World War II atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced key genetic changes that may have sparked the onset of a form of thyroid cancer, new research indicates.
Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is typically linked to a particular genetic mutation involving the so-called BRAF gene. But Japanese researchers say that among Japanese atom bomb survivors, a different and relatively rare disease trigger — involving the chromosomal rearrangement of the RET/PT gene — seems to be to blame. ENDQUOTE: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=5688055&page=1 [abc News: Some Hiroshima Survivors at Thyroid Cancer Risk (2010)] ENDQUOTE: Sept. 1, 2008, Cancer Research
QUOTE: With respect to radiation-associated PTC, the authors noted that other studies have uncovered evidence of similar (but not identical) chromosomal rearrangements among childhood survivors of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in Russia who later developed PTC.
In their study, Hamatani’s team found that between 1958 and 1998, there were 63 cases of thyroid cancer attributable to A-bomb radiation exposure, of which 90 percent were of the papillary variety. ENDQUOTE: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=5688055&page=1 [abc News: Some Hiroshima Survivors at Thyroid Cancer Risk (2010)] ENDQUOTE: Sept. 1, 2008, Cancer Research
Report: Highest Rate of thyroid cancer in counties Near Indian Point
QUOTE: The rate of thyroid cancer cases in counties closest to the Indian Point nuclear plant 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan are the highest in New York State, and among the highest in the U.S., according to a scientific journal article released today.
According to the article in the International Journal of Health Services, new data shows an epidemic of thyroid cancer in counties closest to the indian point nuclear power plant. The 2001-2005 thyroid cancer rate for the four counties surrounding Indian Point — Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester — was 66% above the U.S. average, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[..]
“High thyroid cancer rates near Indian Point represents an epidemic, and is a significant public health concern,” says Joseph Mangano MPH MBA. “The only major known cause of the disease is exposure to radioactive iodine, which is emitted into the air by nuclear plants.” Mangano, Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project research group, published the article in the International Journal of Health Services.
Jim Steets is a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, the company that operates Indian Point says the science in this new report is faulty, and that Indian Point does not produce the types of isotopes that would lead to such issues. ENDQUOTE: http://www.1010wins.com/Report—Cancer-Epidemic–in-Counties-Near-Indian-/5686412 [1010Wins (Monday, 16 November 2009)]
QUOTE:
Communities around the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester, NY have higher-than-normal rates of thyroid cancer, according to a study released Monday. The study found that rates of thyroid cancer in the four counties surrounding the Indian Point nuclear plant – Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester – were the highest in New York state, and among the highest in the United States.
The Indian Point nuclear power plant is located just north of New York City. ENDQUOTE: http://www.newsinferno.com/archive/thyroid-cancer-rates-near-indian-point-among-highest-in-u-s/ [News Inferno: Thyroid Cancer Rates Near Indian Point Among Highest in U.S. (Nov 17, 2009)]
Chernobyl and thyroid cancer
QUOTE:
.. radioactivity levels estimated to be 100 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb …
The radioactive materials released during the Chernobyl contained high levels of radioactive iodine, a material that accumulates in the thyroid. People, especially children, in heavily contaminated areas, which included Belarus, the Ukraine, and other areas of Eastern Europe, were heavily exposed to these iodines (particularly iodine-131, with a half-life of 8 days) via food, primarily contaminated milk, and also via breathing the radioactive clouds.
One of the continuing health effects of the Chernobyl accident has been the dramatic increase in thyroid cancer among children in the affected area.
According to the World Health Organization, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster will cause 50,000 new cases of thyroid cancer among young people living in the areas most affected by the nuclear disaster. Specifically, the rate of thyroid cancer in adolescents aged 15 to 18 is also now three times higher than it was before the 1986 disaster took place. The incidence of thyroid cancer in children rose 10-fold in children who lived in the Ukraine region.
The most dramatic rate increase is in children who were 10 or younger when the Chernobyl accident occurred, and most specifically, those who were under 4. Researchers have found that in certain parts of Belarus, 36.4 per cent of children who were under four when the accident occurred can expect to develop thyroid cancer.
ENDQUOTE: http://thyroid.about.com/cs/nuclearexposure/a/chernob.htm [About.com: Chernobyl’s Continuing Thyroid Impact]
High thyroid cancer rates in eastern Pennsylvania
QUOTE:
The eastern side of the state lays claim to six of the nation’s top 18 counties with the highest thyroid-cancer rates, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pennsylvania ranked as the No. 1 state in thyroid-cancer cases between 2001 and 2005, 12.8 cases per 100,000 residents. (New Jersey comes in at No. 5 with 11.8 cases per 100,000.)
Joseph Mangano, the executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project research group, said yesterday that he believes the spike in cancer is due to the high number of nuclear plants in the area.
At a news conference at City Hall where thyroid-cancer survivors and physicians also spoke, Mangano said that within 100 miles of eastern Pennsylvania, 16 nuclear reactors are operating at seven nuclear plants, the highest concentration in the country.
ENDQUOTE: http://www.allbusiness.com/medicine-health/diseases-disorders-cancer-thyroid/13767433-1.html [Philadelphia Daily News (January 22 2010)]
Cancer on the rise for Chernobyl children
QUOTE:
Children who were exposed to radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster are developing thyroid cancer sooner and in larger numbers than expected, researchers report.
The results are the first reliable data in the population downwind of the Chernobyl accident in 1986, said Dr. Marvin Goldman, a radiation biologist at the University of California at Irvine who was not involved in the new study.
An increase in thyroid cancer had been reported earlier, but some Western health officials had expressed concern about the reliability of the data.
In a letter published yesterday in Nature, a British science journal, Dr. Vasily S. Kazakov of the Belarus Ministry of Health in Minsk and his colleagues say that the thyroid cancer rates in the regions most heavily irradiated began to soar in 1990.
In Gomel, the most contaminated region studied, there used to be just one or two cases of thyroid children a year. But Kazakov and his colleagues found that there were 38 cases in 1991. In six regions of Belarus and the city of Minsk, the investigators found 131 cases of thyroid cancer in young children, some of whom were still in the womb when the Chernobyl accident occurred.
Because of questions about the cancer reports, the World Health Organization sent a team of scientists to Minsk to verify the reports. In an accompanying letter in Nature yesterday, they confirmed Kazakov’s results.
Children are particularly susceptible to thyroid cancer from radioactive iodine because their thyroid glands are small and concentrate the iodine from radioactive fallout because they drink more milk and get larger doses of radioactive iodine and because their thyroids are thought to be more vulnerable to the radiation. ENDQUOTE: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/inetSeries/ChernyThyrd.html [San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday, September 3, 1992]
Nuclear worker at Fukushima gets compensation for thyroid cancer
Worker at Fukushima nuclear power plant in his 40s was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2014. His exposure to radiation was 150 millisieverts. The Fukushima nuclear power plant experienced an explosion and meltdown in 2011. After a nuclear event, cancers usually start appearing five years later, as this is the latency period for many cancers.
Thyroid cancer compensation for Fukushima plant worker
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201612170027.html, By YURI OIWA/ Staff Writer December 17, 2016
A man who developed thyroid gland cancer after working at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has for the first time won the right to work-related compensation.
While the case ranks as the third time a worker at the Fukushima plant has been recognized as eligible for work-related compensation because of cancer caused by radiation exposure, it is the first instance involving thyroid gland cancer.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced its decision Dec. 16.
The man in his 40s, an employee of plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., worked at the Fukushima plant after the triple meltdown triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. He was diagnosed with thyroid gland cancer in April 2014.
The man worked at various nuclear plants, including the Fukushima facility, between 1992 and 2012. He was mainly involved in operating and overseeing reactor operations.
After the March 2011 nuclear accident, the man was in the plant complex when hydrogen explosions rocked the No. 1 and No. 3 reactor buildings. His duties included confirming water and pressure meter levels as well as providing fuel to water pumps.
The amount of his accumulated whole body radiation exposure was 150 millisieverts, with about 140 millisieverts resulting from the period after the nuclear accident. Of that amount, about 40 millisieverts was through internal exposure caused by inhaling or other ways of absorbing radioactive materials.
Along with recognizing the first work-related compensation involving thyroid gland cancer, the labor ministry also released for the first time its overall position on dealing with compensation issues for workers who were at the Fukushima plant after the accident.
The ministry said it would recognize compensation for workers whose accumulated whole body dose exceeded 100 millisieverts and for whom at least five years have passed since the start of work involving radiation exposure and the diagnosis of cancer.
Ministry officials said the dose level was not a strict standard but one yardstick for recognizing compensation.
According to a study by TEPCO and a U.N. scientific committee looking into the effects of radiation, 174 people who worked at the plant had accumulated whole body doses exceeding 100 millisieverts as of this past March.
There is also an estimate that more than 2,000 workers have radiation doses exceeding 100 millisieverts just in their thyroid gland.
Radiation-induced thyroid cancer
QUOTE:
The risk of thyroid nodules and cancer has been investigated in many radiation-exposed groups, including the following:
* The survivors of atomic bombing in Japan, Marshall Islanders exposed to nuclear test fall-out
* Children exposed during therapeutic external radiation therapy
* Children living in the area of Chernobyl, the site of a nuclear accident
A pooled analysis of seven studies of external radiation exposure led to the following conclusions [1]:
* The thyroid is among the most radiation-sensitive tissues in the body, with excess cancers occurring at doses as low as 10 cGy (centigray, 1 cGy = 1 rad).
* Thyroid nodules of all types and sizes, including small ones detected by screening methods, are increased by radiation exposure.
* There is a linear dose-response curve, with no evidence of a threshold at low doses. The risk reaches a plateau, and possibly tapers off, at high doses.
* The younger the age at the time of radiation exposure the higher the risk.
* The effects of radiation persist for several decades and then eventually wane. A survey study of 4091 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors (mean age 70 years) was among the first to show this. The risk for thyroid cancer has been falling, but persists for at least four decades after exposure
ENDQUOTE: http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~dyVVqDEHRC2tDW [UpToDate.com: Radiation-induced thyroid cancer]
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Factors that might have caused failure in detecting radiation from a thermonuclear weapon – quotes from the report below
Medical effects of nuclear weapons – link
* Depending on the weapon yield, some burn patients will have associated radiation injury and will develop bone marrow depression during the course of their illness
The burns are obvious in such a patient but the radiation injury (bone marrow depression) is much less obvious – needs to be tested for.
* These patients cannot be recognized upon admission, since the bone marrow depression does not become clinically evident until after a latent period of 2-6 weeks after the radiation exposure.
Signs of bone marrow depression does not show up for 2-6 weeks after the exposure. Since everyone was told WTC fall was a gravitational collapse from fire, nobody was looking for evidence for nuclear radiation.
* Direct blast injuries will be rare, since persons close enough to the point of detonation to sustain significant direct overpressures will almost invariably sustain lethal thermal and indirect-blast injuries.
Most people who were close to the epicenter were vaporized.
* The detonation of a nuclear weapon produces large amounts of ionizing radiation in two basic forms: electromagnetic (gamma) radiation, which travels at the speed of light and is highly penetrating, and particulate (alpha, beta, and neutron) radiation. Of the particulate radiations, only the neutron is highly penetrating, whereas the alpha and beta are not. All four types are present at the time of the detonation, but the gamma and neutron are by far the most important clinically. All but the neutron radiation are present in fallout and, in this instance, the gamma is the most important.
It seems that neutrons and gamma rays do the most damage to a person’s body. There is no neutron radiation in fallout. In fallout, gamma radiation is the most important.
* Ionizing radiation is emitted both at the time of the nuclear detonation and for a considerable time afterward. That which is emitted at the time of the detonation is termed “prompt radiation”, and is produced by the nuclear reactions of fission and fusion. The significant part of prompt radiation consists of a mixture of gamma and neutron radiation, most of which is emitted within a few seconds of the onset of the detonation.
Ionizing radiation can be classified into prompt and residual radiation. Prompt radiation = gamma + neutron radiation. Most of it is emitted within a few seconds of the onset of detonation. Very brief burst of radiation. If neutron radiation is not measured for in this time period (seconds), it can be missed.
* One minute has been established as a reasonable time parameter; after which there is no significant amount of prompt radiation, regardless of the type of weapon or circumstances of the detonation.
After 60 seconds, prompt radiation disappears – presumably we can’t measure it after the 60 second period. And this is regardless of the type of weapon used.
* Residual radiation is that which persists beyond the first minute after detonation. Its source is the variable amount of residual radioactive material produced by a nuclear detonation. A nuclear fission reaction transforms uranium or plutonium into a large number (about 150) of radioactive isotopes, termed fission products, which constitute by far the most important source of residual radiation. In addition, small amounts of unfissioned bomb material, and material in which neutron radiation has induced radioactivity, are present. All of these residually radioactive materials will be found in fallout.
Residual radiation depends on what sort of weapon was used. There were fission products of uranium found – from the fission component of a thermonuclear bomb or some other source – depleted uranium?
This residual radiation WAS detected – elevated values of Sr and Ba for example. They were able to be detected once the dust cloud (fallout) descended to earth.
* Fission products are the major radiation hazard in fallout, since a large number of them emit penetrating gamma radiation and, as a result, can be hazardous even at great distances. They have half lives varying from fractions of seconds to several years, but most have half lives in the range of days to weeks.
The fission products with short half lives will have a lower chance of being detected. The radiation survey done for the first time after 9/11, FIVE YEARS after the event, showed evidence of the radiation given off from the fission products with longer half-lives (assuming it is these fission products that gave off the radiation.
In other words, if radiation (gamma) is not looked for, i.e. radiation surveys are not done, radiation from fission products will not be picked up.
But when one looks for it, it will be found if there are fission products lying around. And still after five years, the fission products are emitting significant amounts of radiation.
* As a result, the total amount of radiation emitted by a typical mixture of fission products is quite intense early and remains hazardous until the activity decays to negligible levels. This takes several days to several weeks, depending on the original level of activity;
After five years, there would have been much decay of the fission products with shorter half lives, but in the WTC, significant radiation has been detected. Imagine what a radiation survey done immediately after the WTC event would have shown…
* Figure 19 shows that fallout activity decays down to 1/10 of its initial level within seven hours post detonation
Again, because fallout activity decays rapidly – one-tenth of its initial level within 7 hours – it can escape detection if one doesn’t look for it within a certain time period – “blink and you will miss it.”
* At H plus one hour a significant part of the early fallout will have deposited itself close to the point of detonation.
If you are measuring for radiation far from the point of detonation, there is a chance you will not detect it.
* At greater distances from the point of detonation, it may take several hours before fallout will be deposited and become detectable. A significant amount of radioactive decay will have already occurred while the radioactive material has been airborne and, as a result, the rate of decay, once all the fallout is on the ground, will be similar to the later part of the curve shown in Figure 19.
In the WTC disaster, huge dust clouds shot up into the air, and while the radioactive dust was suspended, quite a lot of decay would have already happened. This would affect measurements of radiation on the dust once it has settled.
* It should be obvious that instruments designed to measure fallout activity must be available and used to evaluate the true hazard.
Why the question of what instruments were used that day is important. Also the location where the measurements took place.
* Because of the exceedingly high temperatures generated in a nuclear detonation, all the fission products and the weapon residues are vaporized. As they cool and recondense, they solidify as extremely small particles. In an airburst, these particles will remain suspended in the upper atmosphere (stratosphere) for long periods of time descending slowly over a period of years and over large parts of the earth’s surface. This occurred during the atmospheric testing of weapons. Under such circumstances, there is no significant early or local fallout.
Note no significant early or local fallout under these conditions and in the WTC event, there was vaporization of the buildings and their contents into ultra-fine particles. Was this the cause of lack of fallout detection?
* The potential injury incurred from gamma radiation is a function of the amount of time spent in the fallout field as well as the dose rate present, since these factors together determine the total dose absorbed.
Since there was very little fallout in the initial period, the dose of gamma radiation would be low. Most people evacuated the area when the planes struck. The people who were stuck in the buildings (people above the crash zone and firemen) evaporated with the detonation. “All or nothing” phenomenon? And the reason why no people dropped dead from fallout within days of the event perhaps?
Apparently, the intact bodies of 200 people were found after the disaster. Were these people victims of radiation poisoning? Where were the bodies of these people found? What was the official cause of death?
But the fact that Rodriguez who was the last person to leave the WTC hasn’t died from radiation posioning goes against the above speculation.
* The beta-emitting isotopes in fallout are not a significant hazard, unless a person is directly contaminated with or ingests them
So we wouldn’t have people dropping dead within days after being exposed to beta radiation.
* These later effects – that is, interferences with specific organ functions, carcinogenesis, and accelerated aging changes – are not manifested for months or years, and acute whole body irradiation, with resulting radiation sickness, will not occur. Therefore, in combat situations, the beta-emitting components of fallout are not considered to be a serious hazard.
Beta irradiation effects don’t show up for years after the event (as cancers and accelerated aging changes).
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Summarizing the reasons why no nuclear fallout was detected in the 9/11 WTC event
– the explosion was directed upward in the towers – most of the dust cloud was suspended in the air; by the time it settled, much of the radioactivity had gone
– if you don’t look for radiation, especially where a low-yield low-fission thermonuclear detonation is concerned, you won’t find it.
– the probability that proper instruments were not used to measure radiation – eg. to measure neutron radiation
– the fact that the instruments employed, geiger counters, were not used close enough to the towers.
– massive washing down of the site and removal of debris from the site
– fallout is very brief (lasts seconds)
– speculation: the fission component of the weapon was very small – neutron activity of the fusion component is easy to miss (radiation is given off briefly, need special instruments to measure)
– speculation: many victims who actually died of fallout (the 200 intact bodies) were given an incorrect cause of death in their death certificates: nukes were not suspected then; the victims showed evidence of other injuries that were imputed to be the cause of death
As Professor Steven Jones said, humans themselves become detectors of radiation. Probably why five years after the event, a cancer profile similar to that of the atomic bomb victims, is showing up.
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The Day America Was Punked 
