For example, he said, researchers followed thousands of survivors who were exposed to lots of radiation during the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Researchers looking at people who actually worked at Rocky Flats Nuclear Facility report that 16 people died of brain tumors, but they said that because the group was so small, they could find "no statistically significant association between brain tumor death" and exposure to plutonium on the job.
Another group concluded that cancer risks couldn't be ruled out, but that "fewer deaths than expected were found for all causes of death, all cancers, and lung cancer. However, looking at a broader set of studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that plutonium exposure increases the risk of lung, liver and bone cancer. The same report noted that a much more commonly encountered substance, radon, "is the leading cause of lung cancer after tobacco smoke.
When uranium breaks down, it releases radon into the air, which can build up inside a home. We come into contact with radioactive material in other parts of everyday life, too. Bananas emit radiation albeit from potassium, not plutonium at about 3. That's a higher concentration than the vast majority of the Rocky Flats soil samples. And when you don't have choice — like, they dumped all that stuff on the ground at Rocky Flats — the risk feels different.
To run with the banana example, the "elevated" level picocuries per gram found in one result from one soil sample is about the radiation you could expect from 75 bananas. The second result from that same soil sample clocked in at 1. People have argued that bananas are not a good way to conceptualize radiation dose because plutonium and potassium are different, and our bodies are good at getting rid of excess potassium.
So, let's take another example, using different units that are meant to express an actual dose, rather than just a concentration. Assuming the concentration of plutonium in the soil at Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge is 1. When radioactive elements like iodine and cesium get into the air they drift down because they are heavier. It drifted down from the atmosphere, and then laid over the soil where it was pulled up by plants.
There is treatment for severe cesium exposure, but only severe. People with thyroid problems or allergic to seafood can have problems. Save my name, and email in this browser for the next time I comment. About the Author.
Mike Hardaker grew up surfing and snowboarding in Orange County and followed his love of surfing to Hawaii before eventually moving to the mountains to concentrate on snowboarding. Alex June 6, at PM Reply. You are all idiots that have no idea what you are are talking about. TJ, I agree, radiation is around us everywhere.
Hence why near bye states have lower levels? Mbert May 24, at PM Reply. John June 21, at PM Reply. John, Thank you for taking the time to comment, never to late!! James, Thanks for the comment, we have been hearing things on both sides good and bad.
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