Tucson, U.S.A. — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules on small particulate-matter air pollutants (PM2.5) cost the economy billions of dollars. The justification for these costly, job-destroying rules is challenged in the winter 2012 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

The EPA claims that tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of Americans die each year because of PM2.5. Such particles, which are smaller in diameter than a human hair, come from natural and man-made sources, including diesel exhaust, forest fires, and dust storms.

However, based on extensive evidence, epidemiologist James Enstrom of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) concluded that there was no increased mortality in California from such exposure during the period 1973 to 2002. Enstrom also blew the whistle on misconduct by scientists and bureaucrats who support more stringent EPA rules.

After 35 years of distinguished service, UCLA is attempting to fire Enstrom and prevent him from presenting his findings to colleagues at UCLA, despite the fact that many other researchers support his work. Enstrom’s persecution appears to be driven by the ideological agenda of environmental activists, writes Jerome Arnett, M.D., in the Journal.

“This problem is not uncommon,” writes Arnett. “Many careers have been destroyed when faculty members challenge established orthodoxy, while many other faculty members have been intimidated from speaking freely.”

With the help of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Enstrom has filed a lawsuit against University of California regents and several top UCLA officials, alleging violations of his civil rights, including the right to free speech on matters of public concern.

Additional scientific misconduct related to the PM2.5 rule is highlighted in another article in the same issue of the Journal. Even though asserting that PM2.5 at any level can kill within hours of exposure, or possibly cause cancer, EPA is sponsoring experiments in which vulnerable human subjects are exposed to diesel exhaust in an apparatus that some say resembles a gas chamber.

“Some environmentalists seem to have no scruples about silencing critics or experimenting on human beings in studies whose only purpose appears to be to cause harm,” states Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).

AAPS, a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, founded in 1943, publishes the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons .

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Harrisburg, U.S.A. – Governor Tom Corbett announced on July 18 the investment of $87 million in 18 non-point source, drinking water, and wastewater projects in 18 counties through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST).

“The projects funded at today’s PENNVEST meeting will bring both environmental improvements and much needed new jobs to areas all across our state,” Corbett said. “This funding is an investment in the future health of our citizens and our economy, both of which are of critical importance to me and my administration.”

Of the $87 million total, $77 million is for low-interest loans and $10 million is offered as grants.

The awards range from a $131,000 grant to eliminate nutrient discharges from a stream in Lancaster County and, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay to a $17.7 million loan/grant combination for a project in Lycoming County to eliminate the discharge of waste from on-lot septic systems into publicly accessible areas.

The funding comes from a combination of state funds approved by voters, federal grants to PENNVEST from the Environmental Protection Agency and recycled loan repayments from previous PENNVEST funding awards. Funds for the projects are disbursed after bills for work are paid and receipts are submitted to PENNVEST.

PENNVEST drinking water projects:

Armstrong and Clarion counties

Redbank Valley Municipal Authority received a $346,000 loan to install alternate power source facilities in order to eliminate power fluctuations to the treatment plant that compromise the plant’s ability to effectively operate and assure healthy water quality.

Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties

Hazelton City Authority received a $5,917,075 loan to replace approximately 15,260 household water meters that will allow the authority to reduce water losses by quickly detecting leaks in the system.

Fayette, Greene and Washington counties

Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority received an $8,660,300 loan to upgrade and expand the authority’s Tin Can Hollow water treatment plant, including new filters, pumps and other facilities that will ensure a safe and reliable source of water both for household consumption and fire protection.

Potter County

Galeton Borough Authority received a $520,127 loan to breach two impoundment dams and replace them with stream channel infiltration facilities that are not only less expensive to maintain but also provide increased water availability, particularly during low-flow conditions.

Somerset County

Jefferson Township Water and Sewer Authority received a $768,111 loan and a $550,889 grant to construct approximately five miles of water distribution lines and a new water storage tank to eliminate the use of contaminated drinking water wells in the village of Bakerstown.

Washington County

Pennsylvania American Water Company received a $2,250,000 loan to construct over six miles of water distribution lines and a booster pump station to serve various areas of the county where over 50 percent of the private drinking water wells are contaminated with coliform bacteria.

PENNVEST Wastewater Projects

Armstrong County

West Hills Area Water Pollution Control Authority received a $10,435,500 loan new sewage collection lines and a pump station to serve areas of East Franklin Township and Buffalo Township where malfunctioning on-lot systems and wildcat sewers are discharging raw sewage into Glade Run and a tributary of the Allegheny River.

Beaver County

Rochester Borough Sewer and Maintenance Authority received a $1,147,283 loan and a $1,379,717 grant install more than a mile of new sanitary and storm sewers to eliminate the wet weather discharge of untreated sewage into McKinley Run, Beaver Run and the Ohio River.

Butler County

Buffalo Township Municipal Authority received a $1,560,670 loan to expand the authority’s treatment plant and upgrade a pumping station to eliminate overloading of the plant and to accommodate additional wastewater flows, particularly from local businesses that will expand their operations as a result of this project and thereby create 90 new full-time jobs.

Cambria County

• Johnstown City received a $10,898,000 loan to install almost seven miles of new collection sewers to eliminate wet weather overflows of untreated sewage into Stony Creek.
• Johnstown Redevelopment Authority received a $9,052,570 loan to construct more than three miles of replacement interceptor sewers to eliminate wet weather overflows into the Conemaugh River.

Lycoming County

Tiadaghton Valley Municipal Authority received a $14,146,008 loan and a $3,717,312 grant to construct a new wastewater treatment plant, eight miles of new collection sewers and a pump station to eliminate the use of malfunctioning on-lot septic systems that are discharging inadequately treated waste into publicly accessible areas and also to meet nutrient discharge limits required under the Chesapeake Bay initiative.

McKean County

Hamlin Township received a $2,424,173 loan and a $2,383,827 grant to construct more than seven miles of sewage collection lines to eliminate the use of malfunctioning on-lot septic systems that are discharging inadequately treated sewage into local streams. The project will also allow businesses to expand and create 50 new jobs in the area.

Mifflin County

Burnham Borough Authority received an $8,679,268 loan and a $1,492,732 grant to construct a new treatment plant and replace combined sewer facilities in order to eliminate excess nutrient discharges into the Chesapeake Bay watershed as well as allow for local business expansions that will create 91 new full-time jobs.

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Chicago, U.S.A. – Just ahead of a major U.S. Senate vote on the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to clean up mercury and other toxic air pollutants, a Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report shows that the 25 worst coal-fired power plants account for more than half of the dangerous mercury pollution emitted by the total of 144 electricity generation facilities in the Great Lakes region. The report also finds that almost 90 percent of the toxic emissions could be eliminated with off-the-shelf technologies.

According to ”Poisoning the Great Lakes: Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants In the Great Lakes Region,” Ohio emits the largest amount of mercury from coal-fired power plants (21 percent of the total in the Great Lakes region), followed closely by Pennsylvania (20 percent) and Indiana (16 percent). The remaining five states in the region rank as follows: Michigan (14 percent); Illinois (11 percent); Wisconsin (9.5 percent); Minnesota (6.5 percent); and New York (2 percent). Plants from outside the region also contribute to mercury pollution in the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes region’s five worst coal-fired power plants for mercury pollution are: Shawville (Clearfield County, PA); Monroe (Monroe County, MI); Homer City (Indiana County, PA); Cardinal (Jefferson County, OH); and Sherburne County (Sherburne County, MN). (See the complete list below of the worst 25.) A dozen power plants in Ohio and Indiana – owned in whole or part by American Electric Power — accounted for 19 percent of all mercury emitted in 2010 from the total of 144 coal-fired power plants in the region.

U.S. Senator James Inhofe, R-OK, recently filed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to void health standards reducing mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants and to permanently block EPA from re-issuing similar safeguards.

Thomas Cmar, attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council office in Chicago, said: ”Mercury is a dangerous brain poison that doesn’t belong in our Great Lakes. It puts the health of kids and pregnant women at risk and adds an unwelcome danger to eating what our fishermen catch. That’s why it is so important that we support the EPA’s standards to reduce mercury pollution by holding polluters accountable. Even more critical is that every single U.S. Senator from the region stand up for the Lakes by rejecting reckless attempts to derail the long overdue Clean Air Act updates that can help tame this problem.”

Cindy Copeland, report author and formerly with the EPA Air Program, said: “Mercury is poisoning the Great Lakes and the three states – Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania – that impose no rules are by far the worst offenders. Airborne mercury from coal-fired power plants in the Great Lakes Region harms our health, and the benefits of reducing mercury emissions are well worth the cost. With a reduction of health costs to the economy at up to $90 billion, it is hard to say no to this.”

In the Great Lakes region, there are more than 144 coal-fired power plants which pumped over 13,000 pounds of mercury into the air in 2010. Mercury pollution from these plants’ region accounts for close to 25 percent of the nation’s total. The Great Lakes region is comprised of the five Great Lakes (Erie,Ontario, Huron, Michigan, and Superior) and the eight surrounding states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin).

Eating poisoned fish is the primary cause of mercury poisoning of humans. Mercury is a neurotoxin that harms the brain, heart, central nervous system, kidneys, lungs, and immune system. Young children and developing fetuses are most at risk, and can suffer developmental problems from mercury poisoning.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued nationwide rules to require coal-fired power plants to limit airborne mercury emissions and other toxic air pollutants by 2015. The technologies to meet the EPA’s mercury limits are widely available and effective.

Based on projected reductions in fine particulate emissions due to the combined benefits of various air toxic pollution controls, the EPA has projected that the benefits of its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) far outweigh the costs of pollution controls. The health benefits of the MATS are projected to be worth $37 to $90 billion in 2016 alone. The EPA has projected that the majority of the benefits would be reaped in the eastern United States, including the Great Lakes region.

Mercury emitted into the air from coal-fired power plants is by far the leading man-made source of mercury reaching the Great Lakes and the lakes, rivers, and streams of the Great Lakes region. This report lists the top 25 mercury emitting plants in the region. Mercury pollution from plants outside the region also contributes to the overall quantity of mercury found in the Great Lakes. When coal is burned to produce electricity, mercury is emitted into the air. The EPA estimates that coal-fired power plants are the largest man-made source of mercury pollution, accounting for 50 percent of mercury air emissions in the United States.

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Texas, U.S.A - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency relied on four highly questionable assumptions in 2009 to drastically inflate the health benefits from far-reaching new rules, according to a new report published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

“For the last three years, the EPA has justified a series of strict and incredibly expensive new air quality regulations on the assumption that even trace levels of particulate matter can accelerate death,” said the report’s author, Kathleen Hartnett White. “But the science behind the EPA’s new approach to assessing health risks is deeply flawed and misleads the public.”

Since 2009, the EPA has attributed risk of “early death” or shortened lifespan from fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) concentrations far below the health protective national standards and even below natural levels that would occur absent human activity. The EPA is justifying the many unprecedented new regulations commonly known as the EPA train wreck on the basis of the health benefits gained from reducing these new risks from already low levels of particulate matter – a substantial portion of which is airborne dust.

The new regulations, however, target other pollutants and not PM 2.5. In the recently finalized rule to reduce mercury emission from power plants, EPA estimated 99.9% of the health benefits derive from coincidental reduction of particulate matter at levels far below the already conservative federal standard. Without this methodology, the cost of reducing mercury would be far higher than the benefits of further reduction of mercury.

In the report, White challenged four key assumptions at the root of the EPA’s new risk-assessment methodology:

• PM 2.5 causes early death.
• There is no level of PM 2.5 below which risks of premature death cease.
• The EPA’s new rules are necessary to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths.
• Coincidental reduction of PM 2.5 is sufficient justification for new regulations designed to control other pollutants.

“The EPA’s manipulation of cost-benefit analyses to project massive benefits at comparatively modest cost denies policy­makers and the public the information needed to weigh the many trade-offs involved in complex societal decisions about unacceptable risks,” White said. “Economic impact does matter, and it matters to human health. Life span and health are strongly correlated with the opportunity to work and make a good income.”

The report recommends amendment of the Clean Air Act to establish minimal criteria for rigorous scientific risk assessment of health effects.

The report, “EPA’s Pretense of Science: Regulating Phantom Risks,” is available for download from the Foundation’s website.

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Transportation is the second-highest contributor to greenhouse gas emission. Cars rank among the highest within this category, due to the way they are manufactured and the sheer number of them.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, passenger cars emit 5.19 metric tons of carbon dioxide per 12,500 miles. In the United States, this is 94-95% of the total emissions from transportation. While cars appear to be necessary in the United States, there are several easy, green alternatives to driving that will reduce your carbon footprint.

For individuals, a carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide (from transport, food, energy consumption, manufactured goods, and more) emitted throughout a lifetime.

Scientists speculate that these gases are the cause of global warming. Limiting one’s carbon footprints can slow down catastrophic effects on the environment and delay the moment of peak oil, when oil production reaches its maximum rate and begins to decline.The EPA believes greenhouse gases are contributing to a global climate change, and causing the heat waves meteorologists predict for this summer.

To slow down climate change, it is a good idea for each person to start thinking about reducing his or her individual carbon footprint. Trains are a more energy-efficient way to travel. Compared to cars, they emit only 2% of the carbon dioxide in the United States, which makes them the lightest of all methods of transportation. Many countries are now using other methods, as opposed to power trains, that reduce their carbon footprint even further.

For example, in Japan, the Shinkansen, or ‘bullet train,’ utilizes electric or magnetic power depending on the train. Neither leaves any trace of a carbon footprint. This train is faster and more efficient than the conventional railway systems. The United States has already begun planning to implement these train systems in Florida, Texas, the Midwest (Chicago Area), the Northeast (Washington D.C.-Boston), and California. All of these train routes are expected to be completed by 2025.

For shorter trips, consider taking a bus. A bus emits 2.99 metric tons of carbon dioxide per 12,500 miles. This is already less carbon dioxide than cars, and can carry more people per trip. Bus companies themselves are making an effort to be “greener.” In California, Proterra has unveiled a hybrid-electric bus that is classified as a zero-emission vehicle.

About 15% of buses to date in California emit no greenhouse gases. Washington D.C., Philadelphia, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and many other cities have invested in these buses as well. New York City, a leader in investing, has even begun using these hybrids for school buses. Many people can now enjoy the comfort of a clean, quiet, efficient bus ride.

In China, a solar-powered bus called the 3D Express Coach, designed by the Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Company, will save at least 860 tons of fuel each year, or 2,640 metric tons of carbon. With China’s overpopulation and heavy dependence on public transport, these buses will soon be mass produced and available all over the country. The bus straddles the highway, above the drivers. Yet it is faster, cheaper and cleaner compared to the cars it passes over.

If none of these options are available to you, try investing in a hybrid or electric car. These cars emit about one third of the gasses conventional cars do. Electric cars, however, need to be charged. At home, with a standard plug, this charging can take up to twelve hours. At electric fueling stations, cars can charge up to 80% in about 30 minutes.

Yet these stations are in select cities, and could possibly wear down the battery. Hybrid cars also offer the advantage of using fuel for long distances, or time away from electric refueling stations. Hybrid and electric cars are getting to be more and more affordable as car companies realize the importance of reducing carbon footprints.

For example, the hybrid Honda Insight gets 42 mpg and starts at $18,500. The all-electric Nissan Leaf gets the equivalent of 106 mpg and starts at $35,200. Plus, buying a hybrid and or electric car earns tax credit in some states. Companies are making hybrid SUVs and trucks as well, like the Lexus RX Hybrid and the Chevy Silverado Hybrid.

Consider walking or bicycling as healthy alternatives to driving. These also have no carbon footprint and are easily accessible. The bottom line: no matter your situation, there is an eco-friendly alternative to driving out there for everyone.

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A recent study shows that beach sand contains pathogens (bacteria) that pose a risk to adults and children and can cause illness and disease, such as skin infections and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders.

The U.S.’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has formulated guidelines that determine when the pathogen levels are high enough to be dangerous for swimmers in both fresh water and sea water, but has not done so for recreational beaches. Researchers at the University of Miami and Northern Illinois University are beginning to rectify this by producing their own guidelines.

As the EPA monitored water containing fecal indicator fecal bacteria (FIB), so did the researchers because it poses as a large threat to humans (diseases such as E. coli are caused by feces-contaminated water). FIB comes from direct sewage spills and from dog and bird feces and would indicate the presence of pathogens of multiple virus strains.

“Infectious risks vary in different microorganism,” Tomoyuki Shibata tells the University of Miami. Shibata is the assistant professor in the Public Health Program and Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability, & Energy at Northern Illinois University.

The researchers focused on studying sand from recreational beaches (mostly in Florida and California) because it would pose the most amount of threat to people.

In four steps, using reference pathogen guidelines from the EPA, the researchers essentially produced mathematical models, and computer simulations and measurements – per each gram of sand – of the disease-inducing pathogens to determine if the level of pathogens in the beach sand would go over the EPA’s guidelines. It turned out that it did. One fingertip dipped in the sand and inserted in the mouth contains enough FIB to cause GI. According to the researchers’ report, 19 out of 1000 beachgoers would be infected with GI.

Children would especially be susceptible to the pathogens and to becoming ill because they expose themselves to the sand more than adults.

“Parents of young children don’t need to overreact to our findings,” Shibata asserts. “They can reduce their child’s infectious risk by basic hygiene practices such as hand washing before eating or drinking and taking a shower.”

The report has been published in the American Chemical Society’s journal “Environmental Science and Technology,” and was written by Shibata and by Helena M. Solo-Gabriele, who is and the principal investigator of the study and a professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the UM College of Engineering.

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Beyond Pesticides, along with Center for Environmental Health, Farmworker Justice, Healthy Schools Network, The Endocrine Disruption Exchange and over 100 national, state and local grassroots organizations, told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect public health and eliminate unnecessary pyrethroid pesticides.

The group criticized EPA’s cumulative risk assessment, which concluded that pyrethroids “do not pose risk concerns for children or adults,” ignoring a wealth of peer reviewed studies linking this class of chemicals to cancer, respiratory and reproductive problems. EPA went as far as to state that it will consider additional uses, opening the flood gates and endangering public health.

EPA is mandated to complete cumulative risk assessments for pesticides, like pyrethroids, that have the same mechanism of toxicity. However, as the commenters point out, EPA’s evaluation ignores various routes of exposure, underestimating the risks.

The agency also chose to reduce the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) safety factor from 10 to 3 times for children less than six years of age and eliminate it completely for children over six. The FQPA safety factor is intended to protect infants and children to account for their special vulnerability to pesticides. Given that children are particularly sensitive to certain pyrethroids, this reduction is egregious.

Pyrethroids are used for indoor pest control, mosquito management, in agriculture, and on pets. Exposure has been reported to lead to headaches, dizziness, nausea, irritation, and skin sensations. EPA classifies pyrethroids permethrin and cypermethrin as possible human carcinogens, and permethrin as a suspected hormone disruptor.

Pyrethroids have also been linked to respiratory problems and triggering asthma attacks. Many are persistent and CDC reports that pyrethroids contaminate the bodies of more than half of all U.S. residents.

At the same time, there are clear established methods for managing homes, schools and other buildings without toxic pesticides, including exclusion techniques, sanitation and maintenance practices, as well as mechanical and least toxic, non-volatile pesticides.

Organic agriculture, which now produces yields similar to or greater than chemical-intensive farming, has proven that these chemicals are not necessary on the farm either. And, it is more effective to fight mosquitoes with natural larvicides than it is to fog with pyrethroids. Based on the host of health effects linked to this chemical class, pyrethroid use is hazardous and unnecessary.

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Bernardin Lochmueller & Associates (BLA), a leader in sustainable infrastructure design, recently received a method patent for its Eco-Treatment constructed wetland system to treat wastewater from animal confinement operations

Manure management processes by Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) have come under increasing scrutiny. Some CAFOs store manure in lagoons, until they can dispose of it, most often by applying it to fields. Environmentalists and some regulators are concerned about the release of raw wastes into watersheds, especially when rain causes lagoons to overflow or manure runs off of fields into nearby bodies of water.

In 2008 the EPA established zero discharge requirements but did not require facility-specific reporting. A proposed EPA rule would require CAFOs to provide information on waste discharges starting this July in an effort to protect water quality. The public comment period for this new rule closes January 19.

Constructed wetlands, whether used as a stand-alone system or in combination with land application or other treatment alternatives, offer a cost-effective solution to assist CAFOs in meeting the zero discharge requirement. Using plants and a variety of filter media, the system provides a natural approach to reducing or eliminating nutrients and other chemicals from manure and wastes. The system can even be fine-tuned to provide effluent with nutrient loads that match the needs of specific crops.

To date, BLA’s Water Resources Team, led by Mark Harrison, PE, LEED AP, has designed more than 80 constructed wetland systems for the treatment of animal waste, site and municipal sewage, and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). A number of these have won state and national awards for innovative engineering.

One recent project is saving the City of Washington, Indiana, a city of 12,000, more than $40 million on its plan to meet federal mandates for CSO water quality. The wetland system will also save the city $1.6 million in annual operations and maintenance. It was recently named one of the Top Projects for 2011 by Water & Wastes Digest.

“Constructed wetlands offer a variety of benefits,” says Harrison. “Because nature does the work, it reduces the energy used, be that energy needed to transport manure or run a mechanical treatment system, not to mention cutting the cost of additional chemicals to treat waste. In some instances, we’ve even designed wetlands to provide habitat for wildlife or walking trails. It’s just an all-around great solution!”

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An estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the United States are linked to the radioactive fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, according to a major new article in the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services.

This is the first peer-reviewed study published in a medical journal documenting the health hazards of Fukushima.

Authors Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman note that their estimate of 14,000 excess U.S. deaths in the 14 weeks after the Fukushima meltdowns is comparable to the 16,500 excess deaths in the 17 weeks after the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. The rise in reported deaths after Fukushima was largest among U.S. infants under age one. The 2010-2011 increase for infant deaths in the spring was 1.8 percent, compared to a decrease of 8.37 percent in the preceding 14 weeks.

The IJHS article is available at http://www.radiation.org.

Just six days after the disastrous meltdowns struck four reactors at Fukushima on March 11, scientists detected the plume of toxic fallout had arrived over American shores.  Subsequent measurements by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found levels of radiation in air, water, and milk hundreds of times above normal across the U.S.  The highest detected levels of Iodine-131 in precipitation in the U.S. were as follows (normal is about 2 picocuries I-131 per liter of water):  Boise, ID (390); Kansas City (200);Salt Lake City (190); Jacksonville, FL (150); Olympia, WA (125); and Boston, MA (92).

Epidemiologist Joseph Mangano, MPH MBA, said: ”This study of Fukushima health hazards is the first to be published in a scientific journal.  It raises concerns, and strongly suggests that health studies continue, to understand the true impact of Fukushima in Japan and around the world.  Findings are important to the current debate of whether to build new reactors, and how long to keep aging ones in operation.”

Mangano is executive director, Radiation and Public Health Project, and the author of 27 peer-reviewed medical journal articles and letters.

Internist and toxicologist Janette Sherman, MD, said: ”Based on our continuing research, the actual death count here may be as high as 18,000, with influenza and pneumonia, which were up five-fold in the period in question as a cause of death. Deaths are seen across all ages, but we continue to find that infants are hardest hit because their tissues are rapidly multiplying, they have undeveloped immune systems, and the doses of radioisotopes are proportionally greater than for adults.”

Dr. Sherman is an adjunct professor, Western Michigan University, and contributing editor of ”Chernobyl – Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment” published by the NY Academy of Sciences in 2009, and author of ”Chemical Exposure and Disease and Life’s Delicate Balance – Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues weekly reports on numbers of deaths for 122 U.S. cities with a population over 100,000, or about 25-30 percent of the U.S.  In the 14 weeks after Fukushima fallout arrived in the U.S. (March 20 to June 25), deaths reported to the CDC rose 4.46 percent from the same period in 2010, compared to just 2.34 percent in the 14 weeks prior. Estimated excess deaths during this period for the entire U.S. are about 14,000.

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