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Baby teeth offer radioactive clues
By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
A new study concludes that counties within 40 miles of six nuclear power plants have higher levels of radioactive strontium-90 than other counties in their states.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/e...babyteeth_x.htm
Strontium-90, a byproduct of uranium fission, is one of the pollutants emitted into the air by nuclear reactors. If inhaled or ingested, it collects in bones and tissue and increases the risks of cancer and leukemia, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The study, published this week in the journal The Science of the Total Environment, was done by the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP), a New York-based non-profit group that analyzes baby teeth for strontium-90. Baby teeth from counties near two nuclear plants in Florida and plants in California, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were compared with baby teeth from other counties in the same states.
The study looked at 2,089 teeth sent to the RPHP and analyzed by a radiochemistry laboratory in Ontario. It found that most counties near nuclear plants had strontium-90 levels that were 31% to 54% higher than counties farther away.
The highest levels were found in three counties near the Limerick power plant in Pottstown, Pa., and in three counties near the Indian Point nuclear facility in Buchanan, N.Y. Pottstown, the study notes, is "within 70 miles of 11 operating and two closed reactors, a concentration unmatched in the U.S."
The study says its most unexpected finding is that strontium-90 levels have steadily risen after decades of decline. Baby teeth of children born in 1994 to 1997 had nearly 50% higher strontium-90 concentration than those from children born in 1986 to 1989, the study found.
Nuclear experts and the federal government say strontium-90 levels should be dropping because above-ground atomic bomb tests stopped decades ago, below-ground tests and nuclear weapons production halted at least 12 years ago and nuclear fuels reprocessing ceased in the late 1970s.
"The only other source of strontium-90 that can explain this steady and dramatic rise in the 1990s is emissions from nuclear power reactors," the study says.
By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY
A new study concludes that counties within 40 miles of six nuclear power plants have higher levels of radioactive strontium-90 than other counties in their states.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/e...babyteeth_x.htm
Strontium-90, a byproduct of uranium fission, is one of the pollutants emitted into the air by nuclear reactors. If inhaled or ingested, it collects in bones and tissue and increases the risks of cancer and leukemia, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The study, published this week in the journal The Science of the Total Environment, was done by the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP), a New York-based non-profit group that analyzes baby teeth for strontium-90. Baby teeth from counties near two nuclear plants in Florida and plants in California, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were compared with baby teeth from other counties in the same states.
The study looked at 2,089 teeth sent to the RPHP and analyzed by a radiochemistry laboratory in Ontario. It found that most counties near nuclear plants had strontium-90 levels that were 31% to 54% higher than counties farther away.
The highest levels were found in three counties near the Limerick power plant in Pottstown, Pa., and in three counties near the Indian Point nuclear facility in Buchanan, N.Y. Pottstown, the study notes, is "within 70 miles of 11 operating and two closed reactors, a concentration unmatched in the U.S."
The study says its most unexpected finding is that strontium-90 levels have steadily risen after decades of decline. Baby teeth of children born in 1994 to 1997 had nearly 50% higher strontium-90 concentration than those from children born in 1986 to 1989, the study found.
Nuclear experts and the federal government say strontium-90 levels should be dropping because above-ground atomic bomb tests stopped decades ago, below-ground tests and nuclear weapons production halted at least 12 years ago and nuclear fuels reprocessing ceased in the late 1970s.
"The only other source of strontium-90 that can explain this steady and dramatic rise in the 1990s is emissions from nuclear power reactors," the study says.
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http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=A...8a8e52c0bdc4558
For several decades, the United States has been without an ongoing program measuring levels of fission products in the body. Strontium-90 (Sr-90) concentrations in 2089 deciduous (baby) teeth, mostly from persons living near nuclear power reactors, reveal that average levels rose 48.5% for persons born in the late 1990s compared to those born in the late 1980s. This trend represents the first sustained increase since the early 1960s, before atmospheric weapons tests were banned. The trend was consistent for each of the five states for which at least 130 teeth are available. The highest averages were found in southeastern Pennsylvania, and the lowest in California (San Francisco and Sacramento), neither of which is near an operating nuclear reactor. In each state studied, the average Sr-90 concentration is highest in counties situated closest to nuclear reactors. It is likely that, 40 years after large-scale atmospheric atomic bomb tests ended, much of the current in-body radioactivity represents nuclear reactor emissions
For several decades, the United States has been without an ongoing program measuring levels of fission products in the body. Strontium-90 (Sr-90) concentrations in 2089 deciduous (baby) teeth, mostly from persons living near nuclear power reactors, reveal that average levels rose 48.5% for persons born in the late 1990s compared to those born in the late 1980s. This trend represents the first sustained increase since the early 1960s, before atmospheric weapons tests were banned. The trend was consistent for each of the five states for which at least 130 teeth are available. The highest averages were found in southeastern Pennsylvania, and the lowest in California (San Francisco and Sacramento), neither of which is near an operating nuclear reactor. In each state studied, the average Sr-90 concentration is highest in counties situated closest to nuclear reactors. It is likely that, 40 years after large-scale atmospheric atomic bomb tests ended, much of the current in-body radioactivity represents nuclear reactor emissions
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http://www.radiation.org/projects/tooth_fairy.html
The RPHP "Tooth Fairy Project-" grew out of the work of Dr. Jay Gould, Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) and author of The Enemy Within: The High Cost of Living Near Nuclear Reactors.
By analyzing 50 years of US National Cancer Institute data, Dr. Gould proved that...
...of the 3,000-odd counties in the United States, women living in about 1,300 nuclear counties (located within 100 miles of a reactor) are at the greatest risk of dying of breast cancer.
Dr. Gould found even higher risks for prostate cancer among men living in nuclear counties.
Why study baby teeth?
Since their inception, nuclear power plants and bomb facilities have been emitting fission products through accidental releases and through regular allowable emissions that the government classifies as below regulatory concern.
Radioactive Strontium-90 (Sr-90) is one of these elements, and one of the deadliest. The chemical structure of Sr-90 is so similar to that of calcium that the body gets fooled and deposits Sr-90 in the bones and teeth where it remains, continually emitting cancer-causing radiation.
Tooth Fairy ProjectMost of the strontium in the baby teeth is transferred to the fetus by the mother during pregnancy. Because we know when and where the baby was born, and where the mother lived while carrying, we can accurately determine when and where radioactivity was absorbed from the environment.
The Federal Government no longer measures strontium intake in baby teeth. Yet RPHP believes it is important to know what the facts of our radioactive exposure actually are. Thus, RPHP has launched its own national study of the levels of radioactivity in American baby teeth.
What will RPHP's study do?
This study will gather the necessary clinical evidence to determine whether nuclear weapons fallout and power reactors are affecting our public health and contributing to America's cancer epidemic--impacting the health and mortality of newborn children and damaging future generations.
The RPHP "Tooth Fairy Project-" grew out of the work of Dr. Jay Gould, Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) and author of The Enemy Within: The High Cost of Living Near Nuclear Reactors.
By analyzing 50 years of US National Cancer Institute data, Dr. Gould proved that...
...of the 3,000-odd counties in the United States, women living in about 1,300 nuclear counties (located within 100 miles of a reactor) are at the greatest risk of dying of breast cancer.
Dr. Gould found even higher risks for prostate cancer among men living in nuclear counties.
Why study baby teeth?
Since their inception, nuclear power plants and bomb facilities have been emitting fission products through accidental releases and through regular allowable emissions that the government classifies as below regulatory concern.
Radioactive Strontium-90 (Sr-90) is one of these elements, and one of the deadliest. The chemical structure of Sr-90 is so similar to that of calcium that the body gets fooled and deposits Sr-90 in the bones and teeth where it remains, continually emitting cancer-causing radiation.
Tooth Fairy ProjectMost of the strontium in the baby teeth is transferred to the fetus by the mother during pregnancy. Because we know when and where the baby was born, and where the mother lived while carrying, we can accurately determine when and where radioactivity was absorbed from the environment.
The Federal Government no longer measures strontium intake in baby teeth. Yet RPHP believes it is important to know what the facts of our radioactive exposure actually are. Thus, RPHP has launched its own national study of the levels of radioactivity in American baby teeth.
What will RPHP's study do?
This study will gather the necessary clinical evidence to determine whether nuclear weapons fallout and power reactors are affecting our public health and contributing to America's cancer epidemic--impacting the health and mortality of newborn children and damaging future generations.
What is concerning is that radioactive strontium-90 mimics calcium...
is all this added artificial? calcium in our diets good for us???