Monday, November 26, 2018

Fukushima: Safe for Children and Athletes, but Not for Monkeys


Fukushima Daiichi has been declared safe for children at a new 20 milliseiverts a year annual exposure level and safe for athletes attending the 2020 Olympics:

UN envoy: Halt children's return to Fukushima. (2018, October 26) NHK, https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181026_30/

...The government set the exposure limit at 20 millisieverts per year as a condition for lifting evacuation orders issued for parts of the prefecture after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.

Tuncak criticized the government for not taking into account the council's recommendation that the limit be one milisievert.
 


IOC chief 'impressed' at Fukushima recovery progress (Nov 24, 2018). Channel Asia News, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/sport/ioc-chief--impressed--at-fukushima-recovery-progress-10965390

Olympics chief Thomas Bach said Saturday he was impressed at the "great progress" made in the reconstruction of Fukushima, in a visit to the region devastated by the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster... The Fukushima region is the suitable place to show the power of the Olympics, the power of sports," Abe said, reiterating his hopes of showing the world the recovery of Fukushima and other disaster-hit areas during the sporting event, for which Tokyo is the designated host city.
But for monkeys, Fukushima exposure hasn't been so (allegedly) benign:

Momoko Suda (2018, November 25). Effects of suspected radiation exposure seen in Fukushima wild monkeys: researchers. The Mainichi, https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20181125/p2a/00m/0na/003000c
TOKYO -- Researchers found fewer cells that become blood in the bone marrow of wild Japanese macaques living in northeastern Japan's Fukushima Prefecture along with the delayed growth of fetuses after the 2011 nuclear crisis, possibly due to radiation exposure.
Findings of abnormalities in these monkeys have been continuously reported in British scientific journals. Researchers assume that the monkeys ingested items like tree bark contaminated with radioactive cesium emanating from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. 


Of course, the exposures of children, monkeys, and athletes are not equivalent.

However, the question is not whether risk exists or not. Radiation contaminated zones present increased health risks. The question is how much risk.

I'm not sure why this question is being tested on children and athletes.
 

2 comments:

  1. From Forbes 3 ways monkeys of Fukushim effected by Fukushim disaster.

    It has also been recently determined that half the monkeys are sterile. This makes sense, knowing the extent of strontium 90, cesium 137 and other contamination at fukushima. It is significantly higher than Chernobyl. It also indicates a larger percentage of the populations of Humans, in Japan, are having similar issues.

    Human studies of highly exposed individuals, to gamma irradiation and strong radionuclides, like radiostrontium 90 show significant increases in males producing nonviable sperm.
    Female infertility is probably increased as well with things like increased incidence of ovarian cysts and uterine fibrosis.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2017/10/30/three-ways-radiation-has-changed-the-monkeys-of-fukushima-a-warning-for-humans/

    Smaller Bodies — Japanese monkeys born in the path of fallout from the Fukushima meltdown weigh less for their height than monkeys born in the same area before the March, 2011 disaster, Hayama said.


    “We can see that the monkeys born from mothers who were exposed are showing low body weight in relation to their height, so they are smaller,” he said.

    Red circles represent the body weight and height (CRL=crown-to-rump length) of monkeys born post-Fukushima. Blue triangles represent monkeys born before.NATURE: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
    Smaller Heads And Brains — The exposed monkeys have smaller bodies overall, and their heads and brains are smaller still.

    “We know from the example of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that embryos and fetuses exposed in utero resulted in low birth weight and also in microcephaly, where the brain failed to develop adequately and head size was small, so we are trying to confirm whether this also is happening with the monkeys in Fukushima,” Hayama said.

    And it appears that it is:

    Blue triangles represent the head size of pre-disaster monkey fetuses relative to their height (CRL=crown-to-rump length). Red circles represent post-disaster monkey fetuses.NATURE: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
    Anemia — The monkeys show a reduction in all blood components: red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin, and the cells in bone marrow that produce blood components.

    “There’s clearly a depression of blood components in the Fukushima monkeys,” said Hayama. “We can see that in these monkeys, that there is a correlation between white blood cell counts and the radio-cesium concentrations in their muscles. This actually is comparable to what’s been reported with children of Chernobyl.”

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    Effects of suspected radiation exposure seen in Fukushima wild monkeys: researchers
    Posted by dunrenard


    ffgfhfh.jpg
    Novembre 25, 2018

    Two Japanese macaques are seen in the Fukushima Prefecture city of Fukushima in this photo provided by Fumiharu Konno from Shinichi Hayama’s research team.
    TOKYO — Researchers found fewer cells that become blood in the bone marrow of wild Japanese macaques living in northeastern Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture along with the delayed growth of fetuses after the 2011 nuclear crisis, possibly due to radiation exposure.
    Findings of abnormalities in these monkeys have been continuously reported in British scientific journals. Researchers assume that the monkeys ingested items like tree bark contaminated with radioactive cesium emanating from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
    Tohoku University’s Department of Pathology professor emeritus Manabu Fukumoto and his research team performed hematological analysis of adult monkeys captured after the nuclear disaster. They inspected blood cell counts in the bone marrow of 18 monkeys caught in locations within 40 kilometers from the plant, including the city of Minamisoma and the town of Namie. Fukumoto’s team then compared the data to that of monkeys from other areas. The results revealed various substances destined to mature into blood, like cells that develop into platelets, had decreased in Fukushima monkeys.

    https://nuclear-news.net/2018/11/25/effects-of-suspected-radiation-exposure-seen-in-fukushima-wild-monkeys-researchers/

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