Joseph J. Mangano and Janette D. Sherman - An Unexpected Mortality Increase in the United States Follows Arrival of the Radioactive Plume from Fukushima: Is There A Correlation

The multiple nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima plants beginning on

March 11, 2011, are releasing large amounts of airborne radioactivity that has

spread throughout Japan and to other nations; thus, studies of contamination

and health hazards are merited. In the United States, Fukushima fallout

arrived just six days after the earthquake, tsunami, and meltdowns. Some

samples of radioactivity in precipitation, air, water, and milk, taken by the

U.S. government, showed levels hundreds of times above normal; however,

the small number of samples prohibits any credible analysis of temporal

trends and spatial comparisons. U.S. health officials report weekly deaths by

age in 122 cities, about 25 to 35 percent of the national total. Deaths rose

4.46 percent from 2010 to 2011 in the 14 weeks after the arrival of Japanese

fallout, compared with a 2.34 percent increase in the prior 14 weeks. The

number of infant deaths after Fukushima rose 1.80 percent, compared

with a previous 8.37 percent decrease. Projecting these figures for the entire

United States yields 13,983 total deaths and 822 infant deaths in excess of

the expected. These preliminary data need to be followed up, especially in the

light of similar preliminary U.S. mortality findings for the four months after

Chernobyl fallout arrived in 1986, which approximated final figures.

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http://www.radiation.org/reading/pubs/HS42_1F.pdf