EPA Says Higher Radiation Levels Pose 'No Harmful Health Effect'

[highplainsdem]

From Bloomberg yesterday:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-16/epa-says-higher-radiation-levels-pose-no-harmful-health-effect

In the event of a dirty bomb or a nuclear meltdown, emergency responders can safely tolerate radiation levels equivalent to thousands of chest X-rays, the Environmental Protection Agency said in new guidelines that ease off on established safety levels.

The EPA’s determination sets a level ten times the drinking water standard for radiation recommended under President Barack Obama. It could lead to the administration of President Donald Trump weakening radiation safety levels, watchdog groups critical of the move say.

"It’s really a huge amount of radiation they are saying is safe," said Daniel Hirsch, the retired director of the University of California, Santa Cruz’s program on environmental and nuclear policy. "The position taken could readily unravel all radiation protection rules."

The change was included as part of EPA "guidance" on messaging and communications in the event of a nuclear power plant meltdown or dirty bomb attack. The FAQ document, dated September 2017, is part of a broader planning document for nuclear emergencies, and does not carry the weight of federal standards or law.

"According to radiation safety experts, radiation exposures of 5-10 rem (5,000-10,000 mrem or 50-100 mSv) usually result in no harmful health effects, because radiation below these levels is a minor contributor to our overall cancer risk," EPA said in the document. That level is equivalent to as many as 5,000 chest X-rays or seven to 14 chest CT scans, according to a comparison with Food and Drug Administration data.

A 2007 version of the same document stated that no level of radiation is safe, concluding: "The current body of scientific knowledge tells us this."

-snip-

[onecaliberal]

1. What in the fucking hell

[truthisfreedom]

2. Send the ones who changed the rules to the front lines. Expose them first.

If it's safe it's safe, right?

[peggysue2]

3. There's a reason . . .

scientists have been fired or quit this 'new' EPA. It's so they can rewrite the regulations with nonsense like this, pretend that radiation and/or toxins of any kind are no big deal, so their industry pals can tear up the environment, pollute streams and rivers and the very air we breathe while raking in ill-gotten profits.

May they all rot in Hell. Or better yet, die of radiation poisoning.

[octoberlib]

4. Jesus Christ.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Tell that bullshit to the

Downwinders here in Nevada and Southern Utah. What a crook of crap.

[bdamomma]

6. why even believe

Didn't this regime dismantle the EPA.

It's like jump off the cliff you will be okay..........

[irisblue]

7. All those radiation biology & physics classes

I took & taught....all that time wasted.





violating the laws of medical physics does not go well.

[hunter]

8. Here's a link to the document, apparently incomplete. The Bloomberg article is blather.

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-07/documents/pags_comm_tool_p9.pdf

Daniel Hirsch is promoting himself again... sigh.

If a North Korean nuclear bomb fizzles in my neighborhood, I'd prefer the emergency NOT be handled as Fukushimi was. Too many animals, pets and livestock, were left to die. It wasn't the radiation that killed them, it's that they were left without food, water, and shelter. That's what happens when the immediate risks of radioactive contamination are overstated. In similar circumstances it might be people, not just animals, who are unreasonably abandoned.

No level of radiation is safe, but that's pretty meaningless, since we willingly expose ourselves to non-radioactive toxins every day, and we willingly expose our neighbors to these toxins. Some of the worst toxins spew from automobiles. Ordinary gasoline is a carcinogen, as are all the micro-particles spewed by automobiles, from the exhaust to the dust of tires. Firefighters remove people from cars leaking gasoline all around, even from burning cars. They need to know what levels of radiation pose dangers equivalent to situations they are familiar with.

If emergency responders don't know, and the general public doesn't know, unreasonable decisions will have tragic consequences.

[HAB911]

9. 1st responders better learn from 9/11

Republicans WILL throw them under the bus

[hunter]

11. Nevertheless, first responders will accept the risks.

It's fair they know what that risk is.

One in a thousand, one in a hundred, one in ten, one for one.... first responders tend to operate at the one-for-one level.

That's something your "What's in it for ME?" cowardly Republicans will never understand. They don't know why anyone would run into the toxic smoke and dust and fallout to rescue a stranger.

[HAB911]

13. Oh how I know that!

My daughter, the adrenaline junkie, was an EMT for Orange County Fl. She did not get that from me, that's for sure. I tried to convince her being a nurse in the ER would fulfill that need, but saving a life on the side of the road did it for her.

[maxrandb]

10. "But both parties are the same"

sorry, couldn't resist.

[AngryAmish]

12. ...

https://www.discogs.com/Steve-Dahl-Teenage-Radiation-RTA/release/6312943