I still have strong doubts about the claims that the northwest section of the US got slimed by radiation from Fukushima. But the plant is a big environmental mess that could last 30 years. Then there is the millions of tons off debris that has smashed around the edge of the pacific garbage gyre and is barreling towards Alaska and Washington state. That could do real damage. Some of it has already washed ashore. Once it is done there it will move on to hit Hawaii and ultimately end up in the gyre it avoided the first time. It wasn’t their fault but they still messed up the pacific ocean. A little future planning might not hurt.
Study Connects U.S. Deaths to Fukushima, Contradicts EPA Reports
By Adam Daley
A new study set for publication tomorrow in the International Journal of Health Services found there may be a connection between an estimated excess of 14,000 deaths in the U.S. and the radioactive fallout from explosions at Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, an argument in direct conflict with reports from the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the 14 weeks after Fukushima fallout arrived in the U.S., deaths reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rose 4.46 percent from the same period in 2010, or roughly 14,000 deaths. The rise in reported deaths after Fukushima was largest among U.S. infants under age one. The 2010-2011 increase for infant deaths in the spring was 1.8 percent, compared to a decrease of 8.37 percent in the preceding 14 weeks.
“This study of Fukushima health hazards is the first to be published in a scientific journal. It raises concerns, and strongly suggests that health studies continue, to understand the true impact of Fukushima in Japan and around the world,” said co-author Joseph Mangano, MPH, MBA, and Executive Director of Radiation and Public Health Project. “Findings are important to the current debate of whether to build new reactors, and how long to keep aging ones in operation.”
Six days after the meltdowns in Japan, scientists detected a plume of toxic fallout in the U.S. According to the EPA, all of the radiation levels detected were “very low, well below any level of public health concern.”
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Go there and read. More tomorrow.
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