3/5/08

"RIVERBANKS AND COASTLINES HAVE HIGHEST CANCER RATES

Press Review: "RIVERBANKS AND COASTLINES HAVE HIGHEST CANCER RATES
Fresh water has higher concentrations of radionuclides than seawater because there is a greater dilution factor in seawater, and salts in seawater control uptake of radionuclides. It is clear that dilution is not the solution to pollution. Dumping radioactive contaminated materials into bodies of water has a boomerang effect. It is not long before the radiation is washing back up on riverbanks and shorelines. In fact, in the first cancer mapping survey in history (1850-60) in the Lake District of Britain, Alfred Haviland reported that the highest cancer rates (from natural background radiation) were along riverbanks and shorelines providing a strong environmental link to cancer before manmade radiation was introduced into the environment after 1900. Pre-1900 cancer rates represent the true baseline for cancer studies."