Exposure of the American People to Iodine-131 from Nevada Nuclear-Bomb Tests
Exposure of the American People to Iodine-131 from Nevada Nuclear-Bomb Tests

Author: Committee on Thyroid Screening Related to I-131 Exposure

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-05-31

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 030952248X

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In 1997, after more than a decade of research, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released a report which provided their assessment of radiation exposures that Americans may have received from radioactive iodine released from the atomic bomb tests conducted in Nevada during the 1950s and early 1960s. This book provides an evaluation of the soundness of the methodology used by the NCI study to estimate: Past radiation doses. Possible health consequences of exposure to iodine-131. Implications for clinical practice. Possible public health strategies--such as systematic screening for thyroid cancer--to respond to the exposures. In addition, the book provides an evaluation of the NCI estimates of the number of thyroid cancers that might result from the nuclear testing program and provides guidance on approaches the U.S. government might use to communicate with the public about Iodine-131 exposures and health risks.

Assessment of the Scientific Information for the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program
Assessment of the Scientific Information for the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2005-10-01

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 0309096103

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The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was set up by Congress in 1990 to compensate people who have been diagnosed with specified cancers and chronic diseases that could have resulted from exposure to nuclear-weapons tests at various U.S. test sites. Eligible claimants include civilian onsite participants, downwinders who lived in areas currently designated by RECA, and uranium workers and ore transporters who meet specified residence or exposure criteria. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which oversees the screening, education, and referral services program for RECA populations, asked the National Academies to review its program and assess whether new scientific information could be used to improve its program and determine if additional populations or geographic areas should be covered under RECA. The report recommends Congress should establish a new science-based process using a method called "probability of causation/assigned share" (PC/AS) to determine eligibility for compensation. Because fallout may have been higher for people outside RECA-designated areas, the new PC/AS process should apply to all residents of the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and overseas US territories who have been diagnosed with specific RECA-compensable diseases and who may have been exposed, even in utero, to radiation from U.S. nuclear-weapons testing fallout. However, because the risks of radiation-induced disease are generally low at the exposure levels of concern in RECA populations, in most cases it is unlikely that exposure to radioactive fallout was a substantial contributing cause of cancer.

Exposure of the American People to Iodine-131 from Nevada Nuclear-Bomb Tests
Exposure of the American People to Iodine-131 from Nevada Nuclear-Bomb Tests

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-05-17

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0309173698

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In 1997, after more than a decade of research, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) released a report which provided their assessment of radiation exposures that Americans may have received from radioactive iodine released from the atomic bomb tests conducted in Nevada during the 1950s and early 1960s. This book provides an evaluation of the soundness of the methodology used by the NCI study to estimate: Past radiation doses. Possible health consequences of exposure to iodine-131. Implications for clinical practice. Possible public health strategiesâ€"such as systematic screening for thyroid cancerâ€"to respond to the exposures. In addition, the book provides an evaluation of the NCI estimates of the number of thyroid cancers that might result from the nuclear testing program and provides guidance on approaches the U.S. government might use to communicate with the public about Iodine-131 exposures and health risks.

A Review of the Draft Report of the NCI-CDC Working Group to Revise the 1985 Radioepidemiological Tables
A Review of the Draft Report of the NCI-CDC Working Group to Revise the 1985 Radioepidemiological Tables

Author: National Academy of Sciences

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2000-12-22

Total Pages: 63

ISBN-13: 0309076978

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The National Research Council was asked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to review the draft report of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-CDC's working group charged with revising the 1985 radioepidemiological tables. To this end, a subcommittee was formed consisting of members of the Council's Committee on an Assessment of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Radiation Programs and other experts. The original tables were mandated under Public Law 97-414 (the "Orphan Drug Act") and were intended to provide a means of estimating the probability that a person who developed any of a series of radiation-related cancers, developed the cancer as a result of a specific radiation dose received before the onset of the cancer. The mandate included a provision for periodic updating of the tables. The motivation for the current revision reflects the availability of new data, especially on cancer incidence, and new methods of analysis, and the need for a more thorough treatment of uncertainty in the estimates than was attempted in the original tables.

Distribution and Administration of Potassium Iodide in the Event of a Nuclear Incident
Distribution and Administration of Potassium Iodide in the Event of a Nuclear Incident

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2003-12-17

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 0309166691

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Radioactive iodines are produced during the operation of nuclear power plants and during the detonation of nuclear weapons. In the event of a radiation incident, radioiodine is one of the contaminants that could be released into the environment. Exposure to radioiodine can lead to radiation injury to the thyroid, including thyroid cancer. Radiation to the thyroid from radioiodine can be limited by taking a nonradioactive iodine (stable iodine) such as potassium iodide. This book assesses strategies for the distribution and administration of potassium iodide (KI) in the event of a nuclear incident. The report says that potassium iodide pills should be available to everyone age 40 or youngerâ€"especially children and pregnant and lactating womenâ€"living near a nuclear power plant. States and municipalities should decide how to stockpile, distribute, and administer potassium iodide tablets, and federal agencies should keep a backup supply of tablets and be prepared to distribute them to affected areas.

Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk
Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk

Author: Suzanne H. Reuben

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

Published: 2010-10

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1437934218

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Though overall cancer incidence and mortality have continued to decline in recent years, cancer continues to devastate the lives of far too many Americans. In 2009 alone, 1.5 million American men, women, and children were diagnosed with cancer, and 562,000 died from the disease. There is a growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer. The Pres. Cancer Panel dedicated its 2008¿2009 activities to examining the impact of environmental factors on cancer risk. The Panel considered industrial, occupational, and agricultural exposures as well as exposures related to medical practice, military activities, modern lifestyles, and natural sources. This report presents the Panel¿s recommend. to mitigate or eliminate these barriers. Illus.

The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts
The Public Health Effects of Food Deserts

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2009-07-02

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 0309137284

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In the United States, people living in low-income neighborhoods frequently do not have access to affordable healthy food venues, such as supermarkets. Instead, those living in "food deserts" must rely on convenience stores and small neighborhood stores that offer few, if any, healthy food choices, such as fruits and vegetables. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) convened a two-day workshop on January 26-27, 2009, to provide input into a Congressionally-mandated food deserts study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service. The workshop, summarized in this volume, provided a forum in which to discuss the public health effects of food deserts.

Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation
Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation

Author: Committee to Assess Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2006-03-23

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 0309133343

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This book is the seventh in a series of titles from the National Research Council that addresses the effects of exposure to low dose LET (Linear Energy Transfer) ionizing radiation and human health. Updating information previously presented in the 1990 publication, Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation: BEIR V, this book draws upon new data in both epidemiologic and experimental research. Ionizing radiation arises from both natural and man-made sources and at very high doses can produce damaging effects in human tissue that can be evident within days after exposure. However, it is the low-dose exposures that are the focus of this book. So-called “late” effects, such as cancer, are produced many years after the initial exposure. This book is among the first of its kind to include detailed risk estimates for cancer incidence in addition to cancer mortality. BEIR VII offers a full review of the available biological, biophysical, and epidemiological literature since the last BEIR report on the subject and develops the most up-to-date and comprehensive risk estimates for cancer and other health effects from exposure to low-level ionizing radiation.

American Ground Zero
American Ground Zero

Author: Carole Gallagher

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 475

ISBN-13: 0262071460

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One photojournalist's decade-long commitment, a gripping collection of portraits and interviews of those whose lives were crossed by radioactive fallout.