Exposure of the American People to Iodine-131 from Nevada Nuclear-Bomb Tests Review of the National Cancer Institute Report and Public Health Implications (1999) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 10-16
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 10... ...
The findings of one extended, Congressionally mandated investigation were reported in October 1997 when the National Cancer Institute (NCI) published the two-volume report Estimated Exposures and Thyroid Doses Received by the American People from Iodine-131 in Fallout Following Nevada Atmospheric Nuclear Bomb Tests.
|
From page 11... ...
has complicated efforts to estimate both the fallout of radioactive materials from the Nevada tests and the health consequences of that fallout. In addition to nuclear weapons tests, the backdrop for current concerns about exposure to I131 includes the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl and its aftermath, which includes many cases of thyroid cancer in exposed children.
|
From page 12... ...
In the 1980s, continued concerns prompted a number of further studies to reevaluate radiation exposures of the public from fallout. In 1983, Public Law 97414 directed the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct research and develop estimates of the thyroid doses received by the American people from iodine-131 in fallout from the Nevada atmospheric tests (see Box 1.1~.
|
From page 13... ...
On the basis of the average doses calculated by county for different age groups, NCI staff initially estimated that 7,500-75,000 exposed persons might develop fallout-associated thyroid cancers during their lifetime (see Appendix B) , but subsequent efforts by Land to take into account uncertainties in these estimates yielded a range of 11,300-212,000 cancers with a central or point estimate of 49,000 excess cases (C.
|
From page 14... ...
Assess the soundness of the radiation-dose reconstruction including the methods and data used by the National Cancer Institute, the estimates of thyroid doses in the population exposed, and the estimates of the number of cancers expected; 2. Provide a preliminary assessment of the public-health and medical implications of the NCI thyroid-dose and cancer-risk estimates, in absolute terms and relative to other known risks, and evaluate the potential for other health effects on the thyroid and other tissues; 3.
|
From page 15... ...
Chapter 4 examines the criteria for making recommendations about screening for thyroid cancer and reviews evidence about the potential benefits and harms of screening portions or all of the exposed population for thyroid cancer. In developing advice for DHHS about thyroid screening and other possible clinical and public health steps, including communication with the public and with clinicians, the IOM committee relied on the evidence-based approaches to clinical practice that have been developing over more than a decade.
|
From page 16... ...
Since the tests ended, governments and residents of areas adjacent to the test sites have engaged in intermittent, often acrimonious debate about the possible health effects. The historical and political contexts surrounding the Nevada testing program and its aftermath combined with the technical nature of the analyses of iodine-131 exposure, health risks, and screening strategies will make it difficult to communicate information in ways that will be perceived as equally credible and understandable by all those concerned about the consequences of the testing program.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.