Evidence of cancer in the environment near uranium mines
(Australia) (For more Australian news go to
Is there evidence of cancer in the environment near uranium mines?
Arch1 5 August 09
The British Columbia Medical Association had this to say in 1988:
“Epidemiological and experimental evidence indicates that alpha radiation [from radon] is more effective (per unit dose) in producing cancer when exposure is at low dose rates over long periods of time, than when the equivalent dose is given at a high rate for short periods of time.(26)
`Uranium tailings will remain radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years, and will require such expensive long-term surveillance and maintenance by government and the local citizenry as to make statements about uranium mining providing revenue very misleading’
They also concluded that nuclear industry proponents have tended to minimize risk through lack of knowledge, generalizations, quoting outdated studies, dilution of risk estimates, unsubstantiated arguments, personal bias, basing conclusions on inadequate studies, doublethink, and assuming people cannot absorb the full truth…………..
Cancer, for example. Cases among Aborigines near Australia’s biggest uranium mine appear to be almost double the normal rate, according to a study by the Federal Government’s leading indigenous research body.
The study compared Aborigines diagnosed with cancer in the Kakadu region with the cancer rate among all Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory from 1994 to 2003.
It found the diagnosis rate was 90 per cent higher than expected in the Kakadu region, with 27 cases reported. If the diagnosis rate had been proportional to the territory’s overall Aboriginal population, there would have been 14 cases.
The study also found there had been no monitoring in the past 20 years of the Ranger mine’s impact on the health of local indigenous people. Yet since 1981, there have been more than 120 spillages and leaks of contaminated water at the mine, located in the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.
http://arch1design.com/blog/?p=1859
Increased cancer, child deaths and deformities in uranium mining communities
(India) Uranium and the secret society
Arch1 5 August 09
“………….In a shocking report, the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) has revealed facts regarding health hazards faced by miners working in the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in the form of a detailed survey report.
The survey was undertaken by the organisation affiliated to Germany-based International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in association with Jharkhandi Organisation Against Radiation (JOAR).
The study was took place between May and August 2007. It was conducted in two different phases. While one survey concentrates on villages within the radius of 2.5 km from the mines, a similar one was undertaken in villages about 30 km from the mining areas.
A total of 2,118 households were studied in the first category, while another 1,956 households in the second category.
According to the survey, DPD found significant increases in congenital deformities and childhood deaths due to congenital deformities; increased sterility; and elevated numbers of deaths due to cancer.
http://arch1design.com/blog/?p=1859
Overuse of CT scans – radiation and cancer risk
(Australia) Doctors ‘cavalier’ on use of CT scans
THE AUSTRALIAN Adam Cresswell, Health editor | August 07, 2009
A CONTROVERSY over excessive ordering of CT scans has widened, with the Medicare watchdog saying it is “horrified” that GPs are misusing the high-radiation technique for patients with uncomplicated back pain.
CT scans subject patients to 400 times more radiation than ordinary X-rays, and health experts warned this week that, despite the danger, doctors appeared to be referring patients for CT chest scans without good cause.
Now Tony Webber, the head of the federal government’s Professional Services Review that investigates doctors suspected of inappropriate practice and over-servicing, says he plans a crackdown on CT scans because doctors are making referrals “in a very cavalier fashion”.
CT, or computed tomography, scans pack in so much radiation that experts have estimated unnecessary chest CT scans alone could be responsible for 40 fatal cancers a year in Australia.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25894639-2702,00.html
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 