Fukushima Voice, the website of Fukushima Radioactive Contamination Symptoms Research or (FRCSR), examines the August 29, 2012 press conference in Tokyo by members of the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW):
IPPNW’s recommendations such as medically, socially and financially supporting those with anticipated exposure over 5 mSv (1 mSv for children and pregnant women), based on actual radiation exposure levels, and lowering the annual radiation exposure limit to 1 mSv are logical and appropriate.
Q: What do you think about the high number of thyroid abnormalities found in Fukushima children?
Dr. Tilman Ruff, a co-president-elect of IPPNW: So these data are clearly important and need to be conducted and compiled and these surveys repeated on a regular basis. We think that’s entirely appropriate. The results of such studies are dependent on the method. And what will be important in relation to the follow-up of those affected in Fukushima will be the trends over time and the comparison to the other areas which have not been so contaminated….
It’s true this survey is almost certainly a baseline survey. We won’t expect from biology or experience in Chernobyl or anywhere else that thyroid abnormalities will be evident so soon after the accident. The diagnostic criteria that are used are very important and must be consistent and comparable between studies. Most of these cysts and nodules are very small. We think that the decision to conduct a study in the near future in a less affected area of Japan is a good decision……..Q: Any controversy between Fukushima Medical University doctors and IPPNW doctors regarding how it was difficult for Fukushima residents to obtain a second opinion? ……..
Ruff: I just want to conclude this or at least to make a comment that it’s clear that thyroid abnormalities are a significant concern here. The experience of a rapid increase in thyroid cancer in children, unexpectedly early after Chernobyl, is a very important lesson. And the recent WHO report of radiation doses in Fukushima estimates thyroid doses for children well in the range where stable iodine should be given by international guidelines. And it was not used in Japan. So that increases the importance of follow-up of thyroid issues.
Analysis via FRCSR
With all due respect, neither Ruff nor Karamoskos is a pediatrician or a thyroid specialist. Nor do they really have a firm grasp of the level of contamination that has spread not only in Fukushima but the neighboring prefectures, and actually all over Japan. Nor do they realize what is really going on with people in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures, behind the charade put on by the government officials and Fukushima Medical University…….
Actually, it is not just in Fukushima. People in Tokyo and surrounding Kanto region are complaining of thyroid abnormalities: Some families who evacuated to western Japan were dismayed to learn that their children had thyroid nodules and/or cysts upon ultrasound examination. When they take their children to “thyroid specialists.” they are told “It’s natural.” “It’s congenital.” and they are often not even given copies of the ultrasound images, which they are entitled to. Some hospitals blatantly refuse to provide medical care to people who would like to have thyroid examination done due to concerns regarding radiation exposure…..
“Official” radiation measurements do not mean they are truthful. For instance, it was a surprise to many Japanese that the WHO report assumed that nearby residents were “immediately” evacuated, but that did not actually happen. Because the government did not release the radioactive plume forecast, some residents fled in the direction of the plume, unbeknownst to them at the time, with children in tow. Local residents have many stories about their own experiences, yet such valuable information cannot be converted into objective data, and thus disappear beneath all the numbers and calculations. Dose estimation based on inaccurate premises cannot produce reliable results, but that is what is referred to by scientists and researchers. Sadly, any studies published, based on the WHO report or government reports, might lack validity and reliability due to inaccuracies of the original data.
Moreover, ambient radiation levels now regularly reported in many municipalities in Japan are only an indication of contamination near the monitoring posts. It certainly is important to know how contaminated the air is that you are breathing, but it usually only measures gamma radiation immediately around the monitoring post, and thus not a true reflection of what a person might be exposed to. Soil and water need tested for any potential radionuclides that may be there, not just radioactive cesium, and of course food needs tested, as internal radiation exposure from internal emitters ingested or inhaled is very harmful to the body.
Even though there were many radionuclides released from Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, they have only routinely tested radioactive iodine and cesium. Strontium and plutonium fallout data was recently released, which showed a more extensive spread of fission products released than originally thought…..
Will Ruff and Karamoskos maintain their positions if it were their own children in the position of Fukushima children, still living in contaminated areas, with “glass badges” around their necks to measure cumulative radiation doses (while the radiation damages their bodies all along), breathing contaminated air and dust particles, eating contaminated food and drinking contaminated milk in their school lunches?
The human body is being used to validate the reaction that such a massive amount of radiation contamination has on it. This is hugely deviating from the true purpose of “science”: a tool to benefit the collective knowledge and well-being of mankind, neither at the expense of the other.
This is, indeed, an unprecedented situation where a large number of adults and children are being observed for effects of radiation exposure, in situ. Allowing such an inhumane, inexcusable act, could not be compatible with the movement away from nuclear power and toward truly safe energy production.
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