Hazards of low-level radioactivity
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STOP CASSINI EARTH FLYBY Hazards of low-level radioactivity | ||
Date: 980414
From: 212-674-1659
AN OVERVIEW
HAZARDS OF LOW LEVEL RADIOACTIVITY
Low level radioactivity includes the on-going amount of radiation
released from the everyday operation of the world's 433 nuclear power
plants, plus leaks and accidents.
(1) INFERTILITY
Radiation causes infertility. The global fertility rate has dropped
nearly half since 1955.
(2) WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEM
Radiation weakens the immune system. A hundred nation study on
quality of health found the United States was number one in 1943. By
1992, the United States was number 100, according to a U.S. Public
Health Statistics Report. Globally health is deteriorating with
incidence of cancer, heart, allergies and infectious diseases
increasing.
(3) MUTATED VIRUS AND BACTERIA
Even at low levels radiation may increase mutations of bacteria and
virus. Mutations are causing the appearance of new diseases such as
Reyes Syndrome, Legionnaire's Disease and Lyme Disease.
(4) LOSS OF OXYGEN GLOBALLY
The percentage of oxygen in the air is down to about 19 percent.
The expected amount is 21 percent of oxygen. Oxygen is formed by trees
and plankton. Trees and plankton are killed by radiation.
(5) OZONE BREAKDOWN
Large-scale breakdown of the protective ozone layer in the
stratosphere was initiated in 1958 by high atmosphere bomb tests, and
continues due to releases from power plants and reprocessing plants.
Radioactive Krypton-85 goes to the stratosphere where it greatly
enhances CFC ozone damage.
(6) SOLUTIONS
Clean, renewable energies: solar, thermal, photovoltaic, wind,
biomass, hydro and other renewable technologies.
-=*=-
(1) INFERTILITY
The global fertility rate has dropped by nearly half since 1955! The
cumulative effects of radiation-caused infertility raise the
possibility of gradual human extinction. We may be concerned about the
Pentagon backed globalization of trade, but there are more important
worries. This trade scenario to sell more goods is built on the
quicksand assumption that there will continue to be consumers.
Projected sales and quarterly growth are predicated on one variable
that can no longer be counted on -- living consumers. Escalating
infertility in the United States has forced couples to turn to the
fast emerging new world of assisted reproduction and pre-made embryos
in ever-growing numbers.
A front page New York Times article of November 23, 1997, "Clinics
Selling Embryos Made for Adoption" explains "Anguished infertile
couples are more than willing to pay for whatever infertility clinics
can offer." Fear of the "population bomb" of the 1960's has turned
into the "birth dearth" of the 1990's. The so-called replacement rate
is 2.1 children, which is needed to keep the population from falling.
The current fertility rate in the developed nations is 1.6 children
per woman. In the less developed countries it is now 3 and falling.
United States rates are below replacement for the last 25 years. From
1950 to 1955 the global fertility rate was 5. Today the total
fertility rate is 2.8. According to a 1996 United Nations report,
"World Population prospects: The 1996 Revision." Fifty one nations
with 44 percent of the world's people are now at, or below the
replacement requirements. Dr. John Gofman, an eminent scientist,
medical doctor and eloquent spokesman against the hazards of nuclear
power, explained back in the 1970's, in his book Population Control
Through Nuclear Pollution, "that the worry about over-population would
become a non-worry due to radioactivity."
This is confirmed in the decline in fertility among those born at the
time of atmospheric bomb testing (1955-1963) see chart on next page.
Dr. Rosalie Bertell, mathematician, epidemiologist and President of
International Institute of Concern for Public Health has been
researching infertility for some years and feels it is the "cutting
edge" of radiation health damage, surpassing immune damage in the
extent of its implications, as it raises the possibility of human
extinction.
In response to questions on the status of this research, Dr. Rosalie
Bertell writes in a personal correspondence (November 1997): "We found
in Kerala, India, that when comparing people matched for socioeconomic
status, class, religion, occupation and life style, those living on
the high radiation background 300 to 3000 mrad per year) had twice the
rate of couples who want children but are unable to have children,
then we found for those living on the normal background soil (below
300 mrad per year). This has been released in press statements but it
is not published. You will have to take my word for it."
The Baby Boomers are the group born in the USA after the war, the
years 1945 through 1963, and these are the years of atmospheric bomb
testing as well as the start of the nuclear power industry. They show
a high rate of immune related diseases and also an increasing rate of
infertility. Data from the U.S. Public Health Service illustrate the
difference between fertility in the Baby Boomers and those who are
called Pre-Baby Boomers:
Percent Women Infertile, by Age
U.S. 1965 and 1976
Percent Percent
Infertile Infertile Percent
in 1965 in 1976 Change
Baby Boomers
Age 15-19 0.6 2.0 +1.4
Age 20-24 3.4 5.6 +2.2
Age 25-29 6.1 8.4 +2.3
Pre-Baby Boomers
Age 30-34 10.8 9.5 -1.3
Age 35-39 13.4 11.4 -2.0
Age 40-44 18.5 14.6 -3.9
(Reproductive Impairments Among Married Couples United States U.S.
Public Health Service, Washington, D.C., December 1982)
Two surveys, in 1965 and 1976, show that the percent of infertility of
the baby boomers increased, and the percent of infertility of the
pre-baby boomers born before bomb testing and nuclear power,
decreased.
(2) WEAKENED IMMUNITY
On the correlation between low dose radiation and weakened immunity,
radiation physicist, Dr. Ernest Sternglass, states in a 1986 article:
It appears that perhaps the most serious unanticipated effects of
fallout is long-term, persistent immune deficiency." And he clarifies,
"It can weaken the immune defenses of the body at very low total doses
leading to unexpectedly large increases in infectious diseases and
cancers." (Int. J. Biosocial Res., July 1986, p. 18)
Initially zealous misrepresentation of the facts led the public to
understand that small amounts of radiation were of no special concern.
Yet these low levels are exactly the cause of weak immunity and
resulting diseases.
Authorities couldn't ignore emerging data and in December 1989, the
government sponsored National Academy of Sciences stated in a report
titled Biological Effects of Radiation that there was no safe level of
radiation.
Low protracted doses of radiation cause physiological damage through
the formation of free radicals. A free radical is a molecule with an
imbalance in electrons which can destabilize other molecules resulting
in cellular damage and disease.
In high, short doses like the Hiroshima bomb blast, radiation
primarily causes direct damage to the nucleus of cells where the genes
are located that control the functioning of the cell. In contrast, low
doses acting continuously over time produce their damage indirectly
through the generation of free radicals that destroy cell-membranes,
hundreds to thousands of times more efficiently than might be expected
in calculations related to high-dose damage. So the everyday amount of
radiation that is released as part of the normal operation of the
world's 400 nuclear power plants is a very grave concern. Nuclear
power plants must have releases in order to function, and these
releases, even though they may be partially filtered, allow radiation
to go into our air and drinking water, and onto farmland and into our
food.
The everyday releases of low-level radioactivity by nuclear power
plants has been found to cause several kinds of health damage
including premature births, congenital defects, infant mortality,
mental retardation, heart ailments, arthritis, diabetes, allergies,
asthma, cancer, genetic damage and chronic fatigue syndrome. It has
been linked to previously unknown infectious diseases, and the
resurgence of old ones by damaging the developing white blood cells
originating in the bone marrow and thus weakening the immune system.
Dr. Sternglass conjectures what could happen: "With countless
thousands of persons having a weaker and weaker immune system as the
result of increasing radioactive contamination of the air and food
chain, an AIDS mutation-like disease could become a new Black Plague.
It's not conceivable that entire nations could be decimated."
(Interview in National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 1997)
(3) MUTATED BACTERIA AND VIRUS
It is well known that radiation can cause mutations in bacteria and
viruses. Andrei Sakharov, the famous Russian physicist, described in
his 1992 Memoirs that even at low levels radiation could increase
mutations of bacteria and viruses. His predictions which were
originally made in 1958, have come true and we are seeing new ailments
such as Reyes Syndrome which first appeared in 1963, and Legionnaire's
Disease which is cased by a bacteria that was not threatening prior to
1976. AIDS may be related to a mutated virus combined with a weakened
immunity in a generation born after the first nuclear weapons were
detonated.
Of particular interest is Lyme Disease which first appeared in 1975
near the Millstone and Haddam Neck nuclear power plants in
Connecticut. Dr. Jay Gould in Deadly Deceit (1990 Four Walls)
describes: "In 1975 there were 59 cases of Lyme Disease recorded; in
1985 the number increased to 863, mainly in the two counties of
Middlesex and New London, CT near the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant.
Just as increases in cancer may be linked to the huge radiation
release from Millstone in 1975, so too may be the tick-borne Lyme
Disease epidemic. The Lyme Disease is carried by a spirochete that had
not been as harmful to humans prior to 1975. It is well known that
radiation can cause mutations in bacteria. The enormous 1975 Millstone
radiation release may have caused just such a mutation in the
tick-borne spirochete." So we have a double challenge -- the weaker
immune system, and the new diseases resulting from mutated pathogens.
Dr. Ernest Sternglass explains:
"When the radiation from such isotopes as strontium-89 and 90 in the
bone marrow mutates an existing virus that invades the T-cells of the
immune system and kills them in the process of replication, the stage
is set for the complete collapse of the immune defenses, and resulting
death from opportunistic infections or cancer." ("The Implications of
Chernobyl for Human Health", International Journal of Biosocial
Research, p. 19, July 1986)
(4) LOSS OF OXYGEN GLOBALLY
Walter Russell, a visionary artist and scientist, predicted in his
book Atomic Suicide? published in 1957 that due to man-made
radioactivity we would experience a loss of oxygen in the air that we
breathe. In a similar way to the predictions of Andrei Sakharov in the
1950's, Walter Russell's foresight is now coming true. Our current
oxygen resources are low. The percentage of oxygen in the air is down
to about 19 percent. (BioTech News 1997) The expected amount is 21
percent oxygen. Some experts say that we may have originally evolved
in an atmosphere of 38 percent oxygen. But now, due to the loss of
forests and ocean plankton, our two sources of oxygen production,
measurements of oxygen as low as 12 percent and 15 percent have been
made in heavily industrialized areas. This oxygen-depleted condition
is a contributing cause of the generalized lack of well-being that
many are experiencing. And it does not look good for the future. We
need oxygen to live!
Trees and green plants provide about half, and plankton provide the
other half of our oxygen. Phytoplankton, which are the base of the
marine food chain, is declining. Various studies confirm this:
plankton in parts of the Antarctic Ocean is declining up to 12
percent. (S. Weiler. Testimony to Senate Commerce Committee, November
15, 1991)
Trees absorb radioactive carbon-14 in place of stable forms of carbon
and in this way they are gradually killed. The book, The Petkau
Effect, by Ralph Graeub tells how radioactivity has harmed trees and
forests: "It is assumed that the decisive physiological damage
resulting in current forest death must have begun during the 1950's.
This is depicted in a reduction in density and width of tree rings,
and in reduced growth, which is true in the Northern Hemisphere and in
the Himalayas.... Neither aging, location, nor climate can be
considered as the possible sole cause of damage.... The growth ring of
a tree shows exactly what effects the tree has experienced, both in
terms of time and seriousness.... During the 1950's and 1960's, there
must have been a global wave of air pollution which caused the initial
damage."
The author speculates that it could not be just the usual chemicals
which are so damaging the trees. And he explains that these trees are
mainly within the 30th to 60th parallels of northern latitude. "This
zone contains the most nuclear power plants -- over 300 -- and almost
all nuclear reprocessing centers. Also, the vast majority of nuclear
weapons tests occurred in this area."
(5) OZONE BREAKDOWN
The protective layer of ozone around the Earth filters solar and
cosmic rays from reaching our planet. Ozone surrounds the Earth in a
layer between six and thirty miles above sea level. It is formed when
light rays strike molecules of oxygen, which is 02, and cause them to
break into two separate oxygen atoms, or 0 and 0. An atom of oxygen
then combines with a molecule of oxygen and forms ozone which is 03.
It breaks down again and then recombines again. And so on; unless it
is interfered with.
August 1954
"It will not take many years to utterly destroy the encircling
protective walls which surround this planet and protect the Earth from
burning up by the sun's hot rays."
(Walter Russell, Newsletter of the University of Science and
Philosophy)
1957
Walter Russell publishes his book Atomic Suicide? whose principle
message is that the development of the nuclear weaponry and nuclear
industry, if it continues, will eventually destroy the planet's
oxygen.
"The element of surprise which could delay the discovery of the great
danger, and thus allow more plutonium piles to come into existence, is
the fact that scientists are looking near the ground for fallout
dangers. The greatest radioactive dangers are accumulating from eight
to twelve miles up in the stratosphere. The upper atmosphere is
already charged with death-dealing radioactivity, for which it has not
yet sent us the bill. It is slowly coming and we will have to pay for
it in another century, even if atomic energy plants ceased today."
(Atomic Suicide?, p. 18)
Later in the book he predicts that these effects of radiation would
not be noticed "until the late seventies".
1982 and 1984
Two German reports site that radioactive krypton, which is released in
the daily operation of nuclear plants and through the reprocessing of
used reactor fuel elements, is affecting the distribution of the
electric fields in the atmosphere.
1984
A team of British scientists find a ozone hole over the Antarctic
larger than the Continental U.S.
1987
The ozone hole is twice as large as the U.S. It is discovered that
ozone is not diminishing just over the south pole but globally.
March 1988
The ozone hole makes headlines.
1987-88
The consensus of opinion says that various man-made chemicals are the
sole cause of ozone breakdown; especially compounds of chlorine
(CFC's) and bromine (halon fire extinguishers) and a lot of talk about
hair spray and refrigerators. A leading authority on the ozone
problem, NASA's Dr. Robert Watson admitted many scientists were
"baffled" by findings of ozone depletion even in areas where CFC's
action was negligible. He called the extent of the hole's growth
"absolutely unexpected".
April 6, 1989
"Scientists reported yesterday that for the first time they have
detected an increase in "biologically relevant" levels of ultraviolet
radiation reaching the ground as a result of the ozone hole over the
Antarctica. This is the first indication that the depletion of ozone
is beginning to cause the potentially harmful effect that has long
been predicted." (The Washington Post)
Late 1990
University of California researchers publish their findings that
Phytoplankton are reproducing less profusely than before. Observing
the plankton in the Belingshausen Sea they found that increased UV
appears to be suppressing the Phytoplankton's productivity by 6 to
12%.
1992
Both NASA and the World Meteorological Society reported 10 to 25
percent ozone depletion measured over the northern United States,
Canada, Europe and the Antarctica (ozone hole being three times the
size of the United States).
1994-95
Hawaii reached its lowest level of ozone on record. The U.S. National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a 40% increase in
dangerous ultraviolet light on the Big Island.
March 1996
The World Meteorological Agency reports "the extremely worrying"
development of an unprecedented 45 percent ozone thinning over
Greenland, Scandinavia and Western Siberia.
Summer 1997
Research from the Antarctic Marine Living Resources program find
"krill abundance in the Antarctic Peninsula region is down 60 to 90
percent since the early 1980's".
1994
An article in a German journal Strahlentelex (March 3, 1994) explains
that the nuclear industry is responsible for the ozone hole. The
authors, Giebel and Sternglass explains that radioactive gases like
krypton-85 from nuclear plants and from the nuclear fuel recycling
plants go up to the stratosphere where they create water droplets from
the moisture which in turn form ice crystals on the surface of which
the destruction of the ozone by the fluorhydrocarbons is greatly
accelerated.
A quote from this article explains:
"The nuclear industry is responsible for the ozone hole. Radioactive
gases like Krypton-85 appear in increasing amounts due to the bomb
tests, releases and accidents at nuclear reactors and especially from
the nuclear fuel recycling plants. Krypton-85 goes up to the
stratosphere where it creates ice crystals which catalytically enhance
the destruction of ozone by the fluorhydrocarbons."
Note: Krypton-85 has a half-life of 10.7 years and a whole life of 217
years.
"The ozone layer, if it disappears, disappears for all of us." (Isaac
Asimov)
(6) SOLUTIONS
The other side of technology can save us. We could shift from
polluting energy sources. All that is required is scientific and
financial support for the non-polluting energy waiting in the wings to
end our reliance on nuclear energy and oil and coal. Although the
price of solar energy has declined over the last few years, how could
it be competitive with the enormous monetary support nuclear power has
had in the form of subsidies, tax breaks and insurance coverage by the
government.
The United States spends nearly $60 billion a year to defend the $30
billion of oil we extract in the Persian Gulf area. This price is too
high, especially when you factor in the human suffering and expenses
from thousands of our Gulf War soldiers brutally sick with Gulf War
Syndrome.
Let's use solar panels and electric vehicles to cancel out this dollar
extravangaza. Surely $60 billion could help renewable energies get out
to the public. Solar, thermal, photovoltaic, wind, biomass, hydro,
earth energy and other benign renewable technologies are ready and
waiting. Working models exist which could be refined and rapidly
spread around the world at affordable cost. Let technology be put to
some use that makes sense!
In searching for new energy sources, some inventors have revealed that
space is filled with motion -- the quantum fluctuations within the
atom and between the stars -- and that this energy could be converted
into electricity. Orthodox scientists have over looked the vacuum of
space and that it might be utilized for energy because they have not
realized it consists of pure massless charge.
Instead of being blinded by traditional ideas, let us look into the
spectrum of energy sources waiting to be harnessed to make usable
physical energy.
Once we install clean energies, radioactive waste remains a vast
challenge. United States' plans to transport radioactive waste in
thousands of shipments across the country to Nevada and to deregulate
radioactive waste and use it in commercial products do not make sense!
There are other possible solutions. One energy technology that might
offer hope is transmutation. Traditional science says this is not
possible. However, in recent years, experiments by certain labs have
been replicated and several patents granted.
Transmutation is, in this application, used to describe the conversion
of radioactive elements into other radioactive elements with shorter
life spans, or into non-radioactive elements. In some cases the
process may change the radioactive element into another element with a
shorter half-life, so that the necessary storage time is reduced. In
other cases the element itself would be changed.
If all nuclear power production were stopped and scientists switched
over to study the clean-up, and the very available renewable energies
were brought into place, we might have a chance to save the Earth as a
habitat for Life.
Of course, we will have to re-mineralize the soil, quadruple plant
life for absorbing CO2 and making oxygen, and stop using meat as a
protein source because it requires the abuse of so much land and
water.
Congress of the United States has served the corporate gang since the
mid-1970's, has exploited Nature and humans, impoverished the people
who are in a state of biological degeneration, and ruined the land
with the huge loss of topsoil, bankrupted the government and allowed
the perpetration of radioactive contamination all over the Earth.
If enough people move beyond denial and disinformation, if enough
people move beyond rage and resentment, if enough people wake up,
unite and take action -- then we can affect changes.
Claim your right to clean water and air and food. Our future is a
matter of choice. We each have a role to play.
_TECHNOLOGY'S CURSE Diet for the Atomic Age_ by Sara Shannon, the
definitive book on radiation protection, 355 pages with 18 pages of
references, is available from www.Earthpulse.com or telephone 888
690-1277.
-=*=-
Sara Shannon
POB 20570
Tompkins Station
New York NY 10009
This page was revised 5/20/98 10:18:59 AM by The NoFlyby Webmaster
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