Sharon Reynolds reports on the increased risk of cancer following following exposure to radioactive fallout from nuclear testing in the United States.
Link: National Cancer Institute - HTML NCI Cancer Bulletin for January 10, 2006.
Starting in the 1940s, the world's superpowers conducted extensive nuclear weapons testing - on the ground, underground, and in the atmosphere. In total, more than 500 nuclear devices were detonated between 1945 and 1980, significantly changing the quantity and distribution of global radiation.
The main long-term health concern following exposure to radioactive fallout from nuclear testing is an increased risk of cancer. As Drs. Steven Simon, André Bouville, and Charles Land of NCI write in the January 2006 American Scientist, "The relationship between various forms of radiation exposure and subsequent cancer risk is perhaps the best understood, and certainly the most highly quantified, dose-response relationship for any common environmental human carcinogen." Research has shown that, for most types of cancer, radiation-related risk tends to increase with increasing age over time following exposure. Thus, the authors note that "even though the fallout exposures discussed here occurred roughly 50 to 60 years ago, it is likely that only about half of the predicted total numbers of cancers have occurred so far."
Fallout from nuclear testing has likely resulted in some increased health risks to populations in the United States and elsewhere. Research on fallout has resulted in findings that may be helpful in dealing with current and future hazards including those related to nuclear terrorism.
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