Fukushima radiation has been linked to a surge in thyroid cancer among children near the disaster area

  Asia

Child cancers up fiftyfold after Fukushima disaster

Damir Sagolj/Corbis

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  104 cases of thyroid cancer have been identified, a far higher rate than the national average Damir Sagolj/Corbis

Richard Lloyd ParryTokyo

Last updated at 8:45AM, October 8 2015

Cases of thyroid cancer among children living close to the Fukushima nuclear power plant have increased fiftyfold since the meltdown in 2011, according to Japanese scientists.

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ONE NEWS NOW TVNZ

Study shows alarming thyroid cancer rates in children living near Fukushima

Thu, Oct 8

Associated PressSource:

Children living near the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer at a rate 20 to 50 times that of children elsewhere.

A young evacuee is screened at a shelter for leaked radiation from the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Fukushima,

Source: Associated Press

Most of the 370,000 children in Fukushima prefecture (state) have been given ultrasound checkups since the March 2011 meltdowns at the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. The most recent statistics, released in August, show that thyroid cancer is suspected or confirmed in 137 of those children, a number that rose by 25 from a year earlier. Elsewhere, the disease occurs in only about one or two of every million children per year.

"This is more than expected and emerging faster than expected," lead author Toshihide Tsuda said.

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Fukushima radiation hits home as thyroid cancer rises among children

Thyroid cancer rates were about 20 to 50 times the national average, according to the analysis.

 

By Elizabeth Shim   |   Oct. 8, 2015 at 2:19 PM

 

 

 

TOKYO, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Fukushima radiation has been linked to a surge in thyroid cancer among children near the disaster area, and radiation woes have reach South Korea, where findings revealed imported tobacco from Japan contained higher than normal levels of radioactive cesium.
A team of Japanese researchers led by Toshihide Tsuda, a professor of environmental epidemiology at Okayama University, said cases of thyroid cancer in Fukushima Prefecture have skyrocketed since March 2011, Kyodo News reported..

The rates were about 20 to 50 times the national average, according to the analysis. The findings were based on screenings of 370,000 Fukushima residents age 18 or younger, and the culprit was increased radiation exposure since the Fukushima nuclear disaster hit the area in March 2011. In late August, the prefecture had identified 104 cases of thyroid cancer..

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Be The Change : Would you give your jacket to Johannes? SOS Children's Villages Norway [OFFICIAL]

SOSbarnebyerNorge \

Published on Feb 19, 2014

For English, choose English on the captions icon in media player.
What would you do if you saw a freezing child?
We set up a hidden camera and placed Johannes at a bus stop, in Oslo, Norway. This is what happened.

The film is made to raise awareness of the situation for children in Syria, and to raise funds to SOS Children's Villages is their winter-campaign. Children in Syria are freezing and you can help by dontating. For more information: www.sos-barnebyer.no/Mayday/Syria

NORSK: En test utført av SOS-barnebyer bekrefter at det er mye hjertevarme blant folk i Norge. Nå håper vi at engasjementet også når fram til barn i Syria. Bidra du også send SMS SOS til 2160 / http://www.sos-barnebyer.no/Mayday/Syria

SOS-barnebyer i Syria deler ut tusenvis av varme jakker og pledd til barn på flukt, og samtidig mobiliseres givere i Norge for å kunne hjelpe flere barn gjennom givernettverket SOS MAYDAY.

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Would YOU offer to help a child freezing in the street? Hidden cameras capture reactions of people faced with dilemma... and what they did will warm your heart

• An 11-year-old boy was filmed as he struggled against the cold without a coat in Oslo
• But the kindness of those who saw his heartbreaking situation and handed him their clothing is inspiring
• It was a stunt for a charity helping freezing Syrian children who are fleeing the civil war

By Sam Webb
PUBLISHED: 14:38 EST, 20 February 2014 | UPDATED: 05:17 EST, 21 February 2014
A boy shivers in the harsh Oslo winter, pathetically wrapping his arms around himself on a bus stop bench. He isn't wearing a coat and temperatures in the Norwegian capital regularly plunge to -10C during winter.
A heartbreaking scene, but the actions of the ordinary people who witnessed the plight of 11 year old Johannes Lønnestad Flaaten is both joyous and inspiring.
A young blonde woman who sat next to the boy and notices him rubbing his arms. She immediately asks him: 'Don't you have a jacket?'

This 11 year old boy was filmed as he sat shivering without a coat at a bus stop in Oslo, Norway. The actions of people who saw his discomfort will bring a smile to even the most jaded souls

Caring: This young woman asks him why he has no coat in such cold weather. He replies that it was stolen

Warm heart: She takes off her own jacket and wraps it around the freezing boy

No, someone stole it,' he replies. She questions him and discovers he was on a school trip and was told to meet his teacher at the bus stop. She asks him the name of his school and where he's from as she selflessly drapes her own coat around his shoulders.

Later, another older woman at first gives him her scarf, then wraps him in her large padded jacket.
Johanne's predicament was a hidden camera experiment by Norwegian charity SOS Children’s Village as part of their winter campaign to gather donations to send much-needed coats and blankets to help Syrian children get through the winter. Many of the refugees have left their homes without winter clothing.
Throughout the day, more and more people offered Johannes their gloves and even the coats off their backs as they waited for their bus. One man even sat shivering in his t-shirt so Johanne could be wrapped up in his warm coat.

Sacrifice: This man endured the savage temperature in just a T-shirt so the boy could get warm

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• Would YOU offer to help child freezing in street? Hidden cameras capture reactions

Toxic Chemicals Blamed for 'Silent Pandemic' of Brain Disorders in Children

VOA

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Workers inspect an area outside a retaining wall around storage tanks where a chemical leaked into the Elk River at Freedom Industries storage facility in Charleston, West Virginia, Jan. 13, 2014.

 

Jessica Berman

February 15, 2014

Experts are calling for a targeted strategy to restrict the use of toxic industrial chemicals, which they say are causing a “silent pandemic” of brain disorders in children worldwide.  Scientists are urging action as more so-called neurotoxins have been identified but remain largely unregulated.
A rise in the number of pediatric brain disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, cerebral palsy and autism, may be the result of increased use of unregulated toxic chemicals around the world.
In the past seven years, researchers have identified six new chemicals that have been shown to be capable of damaging the brains of developing human fetuses and young children. The discovery brings to twelve the number of confirmed neurotoxins.  Experts estimate one in six children worldwide suffers from a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Pediatrician Philip Landrigan, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said exposure to neurotoxic chemicals was a serious problem that has reached pandemic proportions.
“Injury to the human brain in early life leads to problems like loss of IQ, shortening of attention span, behavioral problems.  And these effects by and large tend to be permanent,” he said.


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Number of chemicals linked to problems such as autism DOUBLES in just seven years

• Researchers warn that chemical safety checks must be tightened

• Many substances are found in everyday items like food, toys and clothes

• And the study warns that these findings are just the tip of the iceberg
  

By Damien Gayle
PUBLISHED: 08:09 EST, 15 February 2014 | UPDATED: 08:41 EST, 15 February 2014
The number of industrial chemicals known to trigger brain development problems like autism has doubled in just seven years, experts warned today.
A new study suggests toxic chemicals may be triggering increases in neurological disabilities among children, including autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia.
The researchers warn that chemical safety checks need to be tightened up around the world to protect our vulnerable youngsters from a 'silent epidemic' of brain disorders.

 

 

A tractor sprays barley crops: Pesticides are among the toxic chemicals which may be triggering neurological disabilities among children, including autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia

Their work also found that the list of chemicals known to damage the human brain but not regulated to safeguard children had also risen from 202 to 214.
These substances are found in everyday items including food, clothing, furniture and toys.
'The greatest concern is the large numbers of children who are affected by toxic damage to brain development in the absence of a formal diagnosis,' said Dr Philippe Grandjean, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
'They suffer reduced attention span, delayed development, and poor school performance.
'Industrial chemicals are now emerging as likely causes.'
He and his co-authors are calling for universal legal requirements forcing manufacturers to prove that all existing and new industrial chemicals are non-toxic before they reach the market place.
In the EU, the Reach (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) regulations already impose such rules.
But without them being applied globally, the world faces a 'pandemic of neurodevelopmental toxicity', warned Dr Grandjean.
'Current chemical regulations are woefully inadequate to safeguard children whose developing brains are uniquely vulnerable to toxic chemicals in the environment,' Dr Grandjean pointed out.
Neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and cerebral palsy affect one in six children worldwide.


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Related articles

• Toxic Chemicals Blamed for 'Silent Pandemic' of Brain Disorders in Children
• Industrial chemicals 'may cause global neurodevelopmental epidemic'
• Better chemical safety checks urged
• Growing Number of Chemicals Linked With Neurodevelopmental Disabilities in Children
• Number of chemicals linked to problems such as autism DOUBLES in just seven years
• Six Chemicals Added To List That Affect Childrens Brains
• 11 Toxic Chemicals Affecting Brain Development In Children

Millions of underage children worldwide working in hazardous conditions

The Fiji Times

An estimated 10.5 million children worldwide, most of them under age, are working as domestic workers in people’s homes, in hazardous and sometimes slavery-like conditions, says the ILO. Six and a half million of these child labourers are aged between five and 14 years-old. More than 71% are girls.

According to the latest figures in a new ILO report, ‘Ending Child Labour in domestic work’, they work in the homes of a third party or employer, carrying out tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, gardening, collecting water, looking after other children and caring for the elderly.
Vulnerable to physical, psychological and sexual violence and abusive working conditions, they are often isolated from their families, hidden from the public eye and become highly dependent on their employers. Many might end up being commercially sexually exploited.
“The situation of many child domestic workers not only constitutes a serious violation of child rights, but remains an obstacle to the achievement of many national and international development objectives,” said Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO’s international program on the elimination of child labour, IPEC.
The report, launched to mark World Day Against Child Labour, calls for concerted and joint action at national and international levels to eliminate child labour in domestic work.


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The cost of child labour

Daniel Naidu
Thursday, June 13, 2013

STUDENTS from 10 schools attended a ceremony marking World Day Against Child Labour at the Suva Civic Centre yesterday.

The theme for 2013 is 'No to Child Labour in Domestic Work'.
Chief guest and acting permanent secretary for Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Samuela Namosimalua highlighted the issue of child labour in Fiji.
"The consequences of child labour on the life opportunities of those affected are difficult to measure. No price can be placed on the cost of lost childhood, or the psychological and emotional damage suffered by children trapped in child labour, particularly hazardous child labour," Mr Namosimalua said.
He said while the awareness on the issue of commercial child labour had "probably never been greater than it is today", children missing school to attend to domestic work was a problem often overlooked.
"Many a time, we hear that some children have to stay home and away from school to look after their younger siblings."
Mr Namosimalua urged members of the public to report any instances of child labour to the Labour Ministry.


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• World Day Against Child Labour (talkingunion.wordpress.com)
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