Both the great Truths and the great Falsehoods of the twentieth century lie hidden in the arcane, widely inaccessible, and seemingly mundane domain of the radiation sciences

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Trial of the Cult of Nuclearists: EXHIBIT F continued


What follows is the continuation, in serial form, of a central chapter from my book A Primer in the Art of Deception: The Cult of Nuclearists, Uranium Weapons and Fraudulent Science.



EXHIBIT F continued:



The significance of the infant leukemia clusters in the wake of the Chernobyl accident must not be lost on the reader. Radiation was delivered to developing fetuses through their mothers breathing and eating radionuclides that were released thousands of miles away. Levels of radiation in the environment where these women lived, declared by the radiation protection community as being below regulatory concern, adversely affected the development of their babies. This evidence definitively demonstrates that, at least for infant leukemia, the ICRP model is wrong. This model, based on instances of acute, high-dose exposure to external radiation fails to adequately account for illness induced by chronic low-dose exposure from decaying radioisotopes lodged within the human body’s interior. The fact that the frequency of childhood leukemia occurred at a rate greater than predicted by the risk estimates derived from the ICRP model signifies that populations are incurring more illness from low-level radiation in the environment than the radiation protection community wants us to believe. An important corollary of this conclusion must never be forgotten. In the aftermath of many radiation releases, good epidemiological evidence is not always available. Consequently, the radiation protection agencies assess the impact to public health by turning to their models and allowing their models to inform the public of the cost they are paying in eroded health and death. When these models are flawed, they serve to cover up the true incidence of radiation-induced illnesses foisted on the population. Corrupted science becomes an accessory to murder. This is the fraud for which a guilty verdict is being sought against the Cult of Nuclearists.


The post-Chernobyl infant leukemia cohorts provide evidence that developing fetuses incur genetic damage from low-level radiation from internal emitters absorbed by their mothers. Although not proven, this evidence suggests that other types of genetic illnesses may likewise be traced to exposure in the womb to levels of internal emitters currently deemed inconsequential. In support of this hypothesis, Busby and Scott Cato cite evidence of other in utero effects in the immediate aftermath of Chernobyl. Data obtained from the UK Office of Population Census and Surveys provides evidence of babies with a very low birth weight — less than 1,500 g (approximately 3.3 pounds) — born in Wales just after the accident. These births peaked between January 1987 and January 1988. (The Chernobyl accident occurred on April 26, 1986.) This evidence gives further credence to studies that demonstrated increased levels of infant mortality following exposure to fallout during the period of atmospheric weapon testing. In the light of these findings, it is essential to recall that, according to ICRP models, the radiation released into the environment by humans has not been responsible for producing any fetal deaths, still births, or death to infants. As the ECRR notes:


The ICRP only considers heritable effects which are measurable in phenotype after birth e.g. congenital defects and perhaps increases in clinically diagnosed heritable genetic diseases. Thus fetal death and infant mortality are not addressed as radiation exposure outcomes by ICRP.”



Bibliography


[1] Busby C, Scott Cato M. Increases in Leukemia in Infants in Wales and Scotland Following Chernobyl: Evidence for Errors in Statutory Risk Estimates. Energy and Environment. 2000; 11(2):127-139.