Children who drank such milk were particularly at risk they are more sensitive to iodine-131 because their smaller thyroids absorb more of the radioactive isotope. Radioactive materials from a nuclear detonation eventually fall to Earth, thus the term "fallout." Although it is possible to inhale those materials, the main threat to people comes from exposure to radiation emitted by the radioactive materials on the ground and consumption of meat or milk from animals that have ingested the radioactive materials. Americans were exposed primarily to fallout from tests conducted in the Nevada desert.
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A limited test-ban treaty was signed in 1963, but some above-ground testing continued until 1980. CDC and NCI focused on the period between 19, when most above-ground tests were carried out. The purpose of the CDC-NCI study was to determine if a broader, more precise study was feasible. The draft report was issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, which were asked by Congress in 1998 to study the health consequences for Americans exposed to radioactive fallout from above-ground nuclear-weapons tests conducted around the world. "The recommended reanalysis of iodine-131 exposure is unlikely to make large changes in the key results, but it will make the risk estimates current, and hence more credible." Schull, chair of the committee that wrote the Research Council report, and professor emeritus, University of Texas, Houston. "Apart from iodine-131, the draft report indicates that the health risk associated with other radionuclides released in weapons testing is small, so developing more precise estimates of radiation dose and cancer risk will probably be of little added value," said William J. However, a substantially expanded study of all the radionuclides found in the fallout is unnecessary. But there are some weaknesses in the draft report, and its authors should reanalyze the public's exposure to iodine-131 - a radionuclide that causes thyroid cancer - in light of new information gleaned from the Chernobyl incident. WASHINGTON - The authors of a congressionally mandated draft report on the increased risk of cancer for Americans who were exposed to fallout from nuclear-weapons tests did a good job estimating the amount of radiation exposure and the potential health risks associated with it, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. Reanalysis of Iodine-131 Needed, But Larger Study not Justified Study Competently Estimates Cancer Risk From Radioactive Fallout
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