SICKEST CHILDREN NEAR INDIAN POINT HAVE HIGHEST IN-BODY RADIATION LEVELS, SAYS NEW STUDY

Children living near the Indian Point nuclear plant with multiple health problems have higher levels of radioactivity in their bodies than do healthy children, according to a new survey.

Children whose parents reported that they suffered from three or more chronic conditions had a 20% greater average level of radioactive Strontium-90 (Sr-90) in their baby teeth than those with no health problems. The study was conducted by the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP), a New York-based research and education group.

Children with cancer had more than twice the Sr-90 level in teeth than did those without cancer. However, because only three children with cancer took part in the survey, this difference is not statistically significant.

“The theory that greater exposure to radiation early in life leads to more illness in childhood is supported by this survey,” says Joseph Mangano MPH MBA, the Executive Director of RPHP who conducted the survey. “Recent scientific studies have documented that even low dose exposures thought to be harmless can harm children.”

This summer, RPHP mailed health surveys to parents of 375 children who lived in Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester (NY) counties. Several years ago, these parents had donated their child’s baby tooth to RPHP, which sent it to a laboratory. The lab measured the level of Sr-90, a bone-seeking chemical produced only in nuclear weapons tests and nuclear reactors, in each tooth.

Of the 375 surveys, 182 were completed and returned to RPHP, a return rate of 49%. Fifty (50) surveys were returned due to an incorrect address. RPHP asked parents to indicate whether their child suffered from cancer, asthma, diabetes, birth defects, seizures, heart conditions, sinus problems, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, autism, chronic ear infections, food allergies, other allergies, chronic headaches, stomach conditions, or other health problems.

Information from the recent child health survey was matched up with lab measurements of Sr-90 in teeth, producing the following results.

# Health Problems	Tooth Donors	Avg. Sr-90 (in picocuries)	% Above Donors With No Problems
0	63	3.618	----
1	46	3.736	+ 3.3
2	38	3.875	+ 7.1
3 or more	34	4.356	+20.4

Results are similar to a 2006 RPHP survey of 211 parents of baby tooth donors from Long Island. Children with two or more reported health problems had a 19% higher average Sr-90 level than those with no problems.

The RPHP “Tooth Fairy Project” tested nearly 5,000 U.S. baby teeth, and it remains the only study measuring radiation levels in bodies of Americans near nuclear reactors. Results, which were presented in five medical journal articles, showed that average Sr-90 levels were 30-50% higher in counties closest to nuclear reactors; had risen 50% since the late 1980s; and were correlated with childhood cancer trends.

Health risk is an important issue in the current debate over the proposed 20 year license extension of the two Indian Point reactors now being considered by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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