by Stephen Hosea
[…]
I am not an alarmist, but I am alarmed.
I know that large quantities of radioactive material are in a precariously unstable situation in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. An inability to effectively keep this material cool could easily result in another nuclear event. Another natural disaster like the recent typhoon or earthquake that occurred October 25, 2013, will further minimize the likelihood of a meaningful response.
I know radioactivity has been and continues to be released into the air and ocean. The effects on our health are incomprehensible because the magnitude of radioactivity released and the extent of spread and contamination are virtually unknown.
I know that I don’t know all of the details, risks, and levels of radioactivity. I do know I have been exposed. I consumed Pacific Bluefin tuna (PBFT) caught off the coast of San Diego four weeks ago. A Stanford study has shown that all PBFT caught off the West Coast of California had 10 times the usual amount of radioactive cesium present prior to the Fukushima event in March 2011.
I believe that our health is the great equalizer. In my clinical career, I have had the good fortune to care for the homeless and the disenfranchised and the rich and the famous. When one is lying in a hospital bed with those special gowns that are wide open in the back, everyone is pretty much the same. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat are gifts of life for all of us no matter what our creed or our color.
[…]
“The Perils of Fukushima: What You Don’t Know Really Could Kill You” lecture takes place Friday, November 1, 12:15 p.m., Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Burtness Auditorium.
Read more at Radioactive Fallout from Fukushima
