Fukushima, Chernobyl & Rocky Flats Health Hazards: Radionucleotides Basics
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Please don't be blindsided by those who compare exposure to environmental contamination by radionucleotides to 'getting an x-ray.' An x ray passes through your body, givng a single dose of ionizing radiation. But Cesium is incorporated into your body, specifically, muscle and endocrine tissue. And the heart is a muscle.
There is no 'safe' dose of ionizing radiation and 'safe levels' of radioacative contamination set by various agencies and governments have more to do with protecting the nuclear industry than safeguarding your and your children's health.
Dr Yuri I. Bandazhevsky has done important work on internal radiation; work which led to his being imprisoned and tortured to suppress these inconvenient truths. A paper published in 2003 examined the organs of 52 children up to the age of 10, who died in 1997. The highest accumulation was in the endocrine glands, in particular the thyroid, the adrenals and the pancreas. High levels were also found in the heart, the thymus and the spleen. Children have a higher average burden of Cs-137 compared with adults living in the same community, typically 2 to 3 times. Read more here.
Iodine-131 is a fission product of uranium and plutonium, so it is produced in nuclear reactors. It emits alpha and beta rays and is up-taken by the thyroid, where it can lead to thyroid cancer, especially in exposed children. Such cancers may develop 20 or 30 years after exposure. I-131 is a "short-lived' isotope withe a half-life of 8 days. That doesn't mean it's all gone in eight days. Through the process of exponential decay, it requires 10 half-lives for a radio-isotope to reach undetectable levels. I-131 is currently being emitted from the Fukushima plant and was also a cause of a vast increase in thyroid cancer among those exposed following the Chernobyl disaster.
Caesium-137 is another fission product produced in nuclear reactors. CS-137 does not occur in nature. It decays by emitting beta rays and has a thirty year half-life. It can contaminate soil for up to 300 years and accumulates in the body in muscle and endocrine tissue. The Chernobyl disaster caused widespread soil contamination with CS-137 in Europe and the Fukushima disaster will probably have similar effects in Japan.
Strontium-90 is also a fission product produced in nuclear reactors. Unfortunately, it is perceived by the body as calcium and incorporated into bone and teeth, where it can cause bone cancer and leukaemia. Strontium-90 has a half-life of 28.8 years. Elevated levels of Sr-90 in teeth of children born after 1963 led to the ban on above-ground nuclear tests. Sr-90 accounts for many of the Chernobyl heath impacts and, again, similar issues will now probably be seen from Fukushima.
Plutonium-239 is the most toxic radio-nucleotide and a purely man-made poison. One particle of inhaled plutonium is sufficient to cause lung cancer. As a fissile heavy metal, it is used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. There is NO safe level of this highly toxic substance. The Chernobyl reactor was a plutonium plant and so is Reactor 3 in Fukushima. With a half life of 24,000 years, all the plutonium we have manufactured will be around in appreciable amounts for 250,000 years. Compare that with 60,000 years since our early ancestors first left Africa in our distant past and one can see the immense hazard that faces our descendants! Aside from the dangers the world currently faces from a damaged plutonium plant in Japan, we in Colorado face our own hazards from Rocky Flats former nuclear weapons plant, where plutonium bombs were made for decades. To learn more about the local issues and attend informative lectures on the dangers of managing this site as a wildlife refuge for our children to enjoy (?!!!), visit Rocky Flats Nuclear Guardianship.
And to participate in chants and prayers for world peace and healing with special emphasis on nuclear pollution and nuclear weapons join us at 7p.m.on Monday nights at Alandi Ashram.
"Nuclear Guardianship combines art, science and remembrance to address the seemingly intractable human-caused problem of nuclear contamination with insight and creativity. By building commitment and community, the project will explore and encourage implementation of Nuclear Guardianship at the site of the defunct Rocky Flats nuclear bomb plant, where for 37 years the fissile plutonium pits for all warheads in the U.S. nuclear arsenal were produced. Tiny plutonium particles remaining in the soil make the site a hazard essentially forever. Nuclear Guardianship is a powerful manifestation of a cultural shift away from secrecy and denial towards ecological responsibility. It will provide a model for long-term environmental caretaking at other radioactively contaminated sites. But first we must challenge the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service plan to manage most of the Rocky Flats site as a wildlife refuge open for public recreation. Nuclear Guardianship is a commitment for the millennia -- a pledge to our children's children's...children."
Update
As of today, 7 April 2015, Cesium 134 and Cesium 137 from Fukushima have been detected off the coast of Ucluelet, a small town on Vancouver Island in Canada's British Columbia.
Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.
Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!
