Cargando…

Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health

Although radioactivity is released routinely at every stage of nuclear power generation, the regulation of these releases has never taken into account those potentially most sensitive—women, especially when pregnant, and children. From uranium mining and milling, to fuel manufacture, electricity gen...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Folkers, Cindy, Gunter, Linda Pentz
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9557777/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36645750
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2021-001326
_version_ 1784807300946460672
author Folkers, Cindy
Gunter, Linda Pentz
author_facet Folkers, Cindy
Gunter, Linda Pentz
author_sort Folkers, Cindy
collection PubMed
description Although radioactivity is released routinely at every stage of nuclear power generation, the regulation of these releases has never taken into account those potentially most sensitive—women, especially when pregnant, and children. From uranium mining and milling, to fuel manufacture, electricity generation and radioactive waste management, children in frontline and Indigenous communities can be disproportionately harmed due to often increased sensitivity of developing systems to toxic exposures, the lack of resources and racial and class discrimination. The reasons for the greater susceptibility of women and children to harm from radiation exposure is not fully understood. Regulatory practices, particularly in the establishment of protective exposure standards, have failed to take this difference into account. Anecdotal evidence within communities around nuclear facilities suggests an association between radiation exposure and increases in birth defects, miscarriages and childhood cancers. A significant number of academic studies tend to ascribe causality to other factors related to diet and lifestyle and dismiss these health indicators as statistically insignificant. In the case of a major release of radiation due to a serious nuclear accident, children are again on the frontlines, with a noted susceptibility to thyroid cancer, which has been found in significant numbers among children exposed both by the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine and the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. The response among authorities in Japan is to blame increased testing or to reduce testing. More independent studies are needed focused on children, especially those in vulnerable frontline and Indigenous communities. In conducting such studies, greater consideration must be applied to culturally significant traditions and habits in these communities.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9557777
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-95577772022-10-14 Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health Folkers, Cindy Gunter, Linda Pentz BMJ Paediatr Open Review Although radioactivity is released routinely at every stage of nuclear power generation, the regulation of these releases has never taken into account those potentially most sensitive—women, especially when pregnant, and children. From uranium mining and milling, to fuel manufacture, electricity generation and radioactive waste management, children in frontline and Indigenous communities can be disproportionately harmed due to often increased sensitivity of developing systems to toxic exposures, the lack of resources and racial and class discrimination. The reasons for the greater susceptibility of women and children to harm from radiation exposure is not fully understood. Regulatory practices, particularly in the establishment of protective exposure standards, have failed to take this difference into account. Anecdotal evidence within communities around nuclear facilities suggests an association between radiation exposure and increases in birth defects, miscarriages and childhood cancers. A significant number of academic studies tend to ascribe causality to other factors related to diet and lifestyle and dismiss these health indicators as statistically insignificant. In the case of a major release of radiation due to a serious nuclear accident, children are again on the frontlines, with a noted susceptibility to thyroid cancer, which has been found in significant numbers among children exposed both by the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine and the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. The response among authorities in Japan is to blame increased testing or to reduce testing. More independent studies are needed focused on children, especially those in vulnerable frontline and Indigenous communities. In conducting such studies, greater consideration must be applied to culturally significant traditions and habits in these communities. BMJ Publishing Group 2022-10-07 /pmc/articles/PMC9557777/ /pubmed/36645750 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2021-001326 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Review
Folkers, Cindy
Gunter, Linda Pentz
Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health
title Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health
title_full Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health
title_fullStr Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health
title_full_unstemmed Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health
title_short Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health
title_sort radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9557777/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36645750
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2021-001326
work_keys_str_mv AT folkerscindy radioactivereleasesfromthenuclearpowersectorandimplicationsforchildhealth
AT gunterlindapentz radioactivereleasesfromthenuclearpowersectorandimplicationsforchildhealth