Elevated airborne beta levels in Pacific/West Coast US States and trends in hypothyroidism among newborns after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown | Zendy

Joseph J. Mangano | Zendy; Janette D. Sherman | Zendy

Open Access

Elevated airborne beta levels in Pacific/West Coast US States and trends in hypothyroidism among newborns after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown

Author(s) -

Joseph J. Mangano,

Janette D. Sherman

Publication year - 2013

Publication title -

open journal of pediatrics

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

eISSN - 2160-8776

pISSN - 2160-8741

DOI - 10.4236/ojped.2013.31001

Subject(s) - radioactive iodine , fukushima nuclear accident , medicine , incidence (geometry) , radioactive fallout , nuclear plant , demography , nuclear medicine , environmental health , thyroid , radiochemistry , nuclear power plant , nuclear physics , chemistry , physics , sociology , nuclear engineering , optics , engineering

Various reports indicate that the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism is increasing in developed nations, and that improved detection and more inclusive criteria for the disease do not explain this trend entirely. One risk factor documented in numerous studies is exposure to radioactive iodine found in nuclear weapons test fallout and nuclear reactor emissions. Large amounts of fallout disseminated worldwide from the meltdowns in four reactors at the Fukushima-Dai-ichi plant in Japan beginning March 11, 2011 included radioiodine isotopes. Just days after the meltdowns, I-131 concentrations in US precipitation was measured up to 211 times above normal. Highest levels of I-131 and airborne gross beta were documented in the five US States on the Pacific Ocean. The number of congenital hypothyroid cases in these five states from March 17-December 31, 2011 was 16% greater than for the same period in 2010, compared to a 3% decline in 36 other US States (p < 0.03). The greatest divergence in these two groups (+28%) occurred in the period March 17-June 30 (p < 0.04). Further analysis, in the US and in other nations, is needed to better understand any association between iodine exposure from Fukushima-Dai-ichi and congenital hypothyroidism risk.

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