I have been following the research of the Radiation and Public Health Project’s baby tooth study for the past four years. It is, therefore, with great interest that I have reviewed RPHP’s April 2003 Final Report of Research on The South Florida Baby Teeth and Cancer Case Study, entitled “Environmental Radiation from Nuclear Reactors and Childhood Cancer in Southeast Florida.”
The findings and conclusions of the Report are consistent with both the experiment al and epidemiological evidence identifying radioactive emissions as a major risk factor for cancer. Furthermore, such evidence has been substantiated by other scientists in the United States, besides Europe. Such evidence has been documented in the Cancer Prevention Coalition’s February 2003 report “The Stop Cancer Before It Starts Campaign: How to Win the Losing War Against Cancer,” this has been endorsed by over 100 scientific experts on cancer prevention and public policy, and representatives of consumer, environmental, labor, and citizen activist groups (www.preventcancer.com).
The latest Baby Teeth Study Report provides strong evidence that “exposure to radioactive releases from nuclear reactors is a significant factor in increasing childhood cancer rates and other adverse health effects in southeast Florida.” In addition, the Report uniquely demonstrates that radioactivity levels are significantly higher in the teeth of children with cancer than in the teeth of healthy control children.
Given prior evidence of the relationship between childhood cancer and radioactive emisssions from 103 aging nuclear power plants in the U.S., and the well-established biological risks of radioactive Strontium-90, it is now critical to recognize that radioactive emissions from commercial nuclear power plants pose a grave threat to public health in south Florida, and throughout the nation.

Sincerely,

Samuel S. Epstein MD
Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Medicine
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health
Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition