After Chernobyl affected 600 million people

600 million people in Europe affected by Chernobyl supergau health

11.04.2011

On 25 April, the Chernobyl disaster is exactly 25 years back, but the health consequences of the nuclear accident at that time still have an effect, said IPPNW Germany. So took due to the released radiation „Non-cancer and genetic damage (...) alarming proportions“ explained the atomic-critical medical organization. The experts from the IPPNW Germany and the Society for Radiation Protection evaluated in an updated study worldwide numerous scientific studies on the consequences of the nuclear reactor disaster at that time.

Significant long-term consequences of radioactive contamination
The long-term consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe 25 years ago are still serious according to the results of the current study, said the IPPNW. According to the updated study, a large part of the health consequences of the nuclear accident will only come to fruition after years, and often only in the next generations. At low radiation levels, as measured after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Europe, IPPNW experts say that only the latency period to the onset of disease is often longer. Acute radioactive radiation, as experienced by the so-called liquidators (cleanup workers), shows their health consequences much earlier. Thus, according to the results of the current study, of the 830,000 liquidators to date over 112,000 have already died, about 90 percent are suffering from the consequences of radioactive radiation. In addition to the dominant cancers, organic brain damage, high blood pressure and gastrointestinal diseases are a relatively common clinical picture.

240,000 additional cancers due to Chernobyl?
Even with low doses of radiation accumulate due to the so-called cumulative effects radioactive substances in certain organs or cells, which, according to IPPNW in the past 25 years, for example, has led to a significant increase in thyroid cancer cases in children. According to a forecast by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 50,000 children are diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the Gomel area of ​​Belorussia. On the basis of the current study results, almost 240,000 additional cases of cancer due to the Chernobyl disaster are to be expected by 2056 across Europe, the IPPNW explained. The experts assume that over 600 million people across Europe have been affected by the Chernobyl disaster to date. However, according to the IPPNW, non-cancer diseases represent the greatest health risk. For example, UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Com- mittee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) estimates that between 30,000 and 207,500 children with genetic damage were born worldwide due to the radiation released in Chernobyl.

Stillbirths and malformations due to radioactive radiation
According to the IPPNW, the number of stillbirths and malformations has risen sharply following the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. Scientists have shown that, after 1986, around 800,000 fewer children were born in Europe than would normally be expected, the IPPNW said. According to the experts, the sex ratio has also changed and after Chernobyl significantly fewer girls were born. Even those considered to be rather uncritical „International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA“ , found that 100,000 to 200,000 abortions were recorded in western Europe as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. The study by the IPPNW Germany and the Society for Radiation Protection has also shown that the infant mortality in Scandinavia increased by 15.8 percent and in Germany, the number of trisomy 21 cases after the Chernobyl disaster has increased significantly. In addition, there was an accumulation of neuroblastomas in Southern Germany, a tumor that is usually very rare in children. Further studies have also linked the reactor catastrophe with the large increase in type I diabetes in children and adolescents

Atomic-critical doctors demand consequences
Overall, the current study of the IPPNW Germany and the Society for Radiation Protection is a frightening picture. The results also lead to the worst fears in view of the current nuclear reactor disasters in Japan. The IPPNW emphasized, however, that the results of the study should not be without consequences, because there is still a considerable need for clarification regarding the Chernobyl disaster. Therefore, the IPPNW and the Radiation Protection Society demand „All information about the nuclear accident at Chernobyl and its consequences must be disclosed immediately“. Both worldwide and in Germany, much information is still under lock and key. In addition, must „The governments - including the West German - finance (...) independent research and ensure“ stressed the critical experts and finally demanded: „The federal government must get out of nuclear power as soon as possible.“ (Fp)

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Picture: Andreas Kinski