Nuclear power and HEALTH – theme for April 2012
What are the health effects of ionising radiation?
Very high doses of radiation: death within hours or days, due to damage to brain and nerves
High doses: death within weeks, due to damage to the gastrointestinal tract, to the bone marrow, where blood cells are formed.
Lower doses: less severe:radiation sickness (nausea, fatigue and vomiting). Sterility. Some years later – cancer, (especially of thyroid), diseases of digestive organs, bone, & muscle.
Genetic effects: cell damage passed on to later generations
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fact Sheet on Biological Effects of Radiation – Cancers associated with high dose exposure (greater than 50,000 mrem) include leukemia, breast, bladder, colon, liver, lung, esophagus, ovarian, multiple myeloma, and stomach cancers. Department of Health and Human Services literature also suggests a possible association between ionizing radiation exposure and prostate, nasal cavity/sinuses, pharyngeal and laryngeal, and pancreatic cancer.
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of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
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