FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Patrick Dorton or Jennifer Frost July 31, 1997
HARKIN DISTURBED BY NEWS ABOUT NUCLEAR TESTING IN THE 1950S, RADIATION FALLOUT AND IOWA
Harkin Outraged By Lack of Information and Calls For Congressional Hearings
WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today discussed his concerns over some disturbing news about nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s, radiation fallout and the state of Iowa. "We don't know just why--but the information we have indicates that certain parts of the country were harder hit than others," Harkin said. "These areas are called "hot spots". And one of the identified hot spots is the south-central part of Iowa."
According to a summary of a study which will be officially released by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on Friday, it appears that atomic bomb tests in Nevada during the years 1951 to 1962 exposed millions of Americans particularly children to large amounts of radioactive iodine-131. This material, which accumulates in the thyroid gland, has been linked to causing thyroid cancer. Exposure to iodine-131 came mainly through the milk supply. After a nuclear blast--and there were over 90 above ground nuclear tests during this period--the fallout was scattered by wind and rain throughout the country, contaminating grass that was eaten by cows. And because children drink more milk than others--and their thyroids are smaller and more susceptible--they were most at risk. Children in these areas may have been exposed to doses totaling as much as 50-160 rads ( radiation absorbed dose). According to NCI, children age 3 months to 5 years of age were exposed to a dose about 10 times that of adults. Today's federal rules for nuclear accidents call for protective action at 15 rads. Internal government documents indicate that these doses are large enough to have caused 25-50,000 cases of thyroid cancer around the country--2,500 of which would be fatal. "The levels of radioactive iodine released is far worse than ever thought or reported by the government," Harkin said. "To put it in perspective, it's at least 10 times larger than that caused by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine."
"We don't want to spur fear among Iowans there are far too many unanswered questions out there. But that's the point. We need facts and that's what I am demanding," Harkin said. --MORE-- "We need to know what happened, why it happened, how it happened, who exactly is at risk, and what future steps we can take to protect public health," Harkin added.
Harkin called for the following steps to be taken:
1. We need all the facts. From the information gathered, it appears that the National Cancer Institute had a draft report completed three years ago but failed to provide it to the public in a timely fashion. "That is inexcusable. Today, I am calling on the National Institutes of Health, and NCI, to get all of that out without delay not just a summary which is being released tomorrow," Harkin said.
2. We need information. A toll-free information line should be established for concerned citizens. And public health officials in the affected areas need to be armed with the tools they need to understand and respond to this.
3. We need more intensive follow-up to study the impact of affected citizens. "The federal government is currently funding studies to examine and monitor the health effects of the Chernobyl disaster, but there isn't a similar study for something that happened literally in our own backyard," Harkin said.
4. We need congressional hearings. Harkin is the ranking member of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over NIH and NCI. "I am deeply troubled by this new information and I am troubled by the way it appears that National Cancer Institute has been sitting on it," Harkin said. "We're talking about people's health and people's lives and that's something you don't play with. We need to get to the bottom of this now." .