10,000+ Excess Cancers Expected After Fukushima

Source: Medscape

More than 10,000 (and perhaps as many as 66,000) excess cases of cancer are expected among residents of the Fukushima area and the rest of Japan as a result of radiation exposure from the March 11, 2011, Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, according to a report from Physicians for Social Responsibility and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

The report, 5 Years Living With Fukushima, gauges the cancer impact of the disaster among children, cleanup, and rescue workers and the broader population of Japan.

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Catherine Thomasson, MD, coeditor of the report and executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, emphasized during the briefing that Fukushima is "often incorrectly seen as a past event. The reality is that radioactive emissions from the wrecked reactors continue to this day, both periodically into the atmosphere and in the form of 300 tons of leakage each day into the Pacific Ocean."

It is "clear that the nuclear catastrophe of Fukushima is still not under control, and the process of dealing with the consequences for humans and the environment has only just begun," the report states.

"Unfortunately, the full health impact of Fukushima may never be known, due to Japan's failure to immediately track radiation releases as well as a disturbing lack of testing of the general population for radiation-related diseases and other impacts, such as miscarriages and fetal malformations, leukemia, lymphomas, solid tumors or cardiovascular disease," Dr Thomasson said.

The report also notes that independent research data on the effects of the disaster are needed. Most of the data for the report come from pro-nuclear organizations in Japan. Dr Thomasson noted that the "massive initial radioactive emissions were not recorded at the time of the triple-reactor meltdown, and some radioactive isotopes, including strontium-90, have not been measured at all by the government.

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Read more: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/860141a