The Ministry of the Environment Expert Meeting:

Witnesses Propose A Drastic Overhaul of

Medical hec!ups and Dose Assessment"
(This is a translation of an article on the website of OurPlanet-TV, a Japanese independent
media, which summarized the eighth session of the Ministry of the n!ironment "pert
Meeting #egarding the $tatus of %ealth Management of #esidents &ollowing the To'yo
lectric &u'ushima (aiichi )uclear Power Plan *ccident which was held on July +,, -.+/0
To'yo $himbun article regarding the same session is translated here10
*****
At the Expert Meeting Regarding the Status of Health Management of Residents Following
the Tokyo Electric Fukushima aiichi !uclear "ower "lan Accident# held on $uly %&# '(%)#
fi*e witnesses# including Fukushima Medical Association +ice "resident ,oichi ,ida# stated
their opinions# proposing the implementation of medical checkups to -e conducted -y the
central go*ernment as well as a drastic o*erhaul of dose assessment.
Fi*e witnesses at this session included Fukushima Medical Association +ice "resident ,oichi
,ida# okkyo /ni*ersity Associate "rofessor Shin0o ,imura# Matsumoto 1ity Mayor Akira
Sugenoya# 2kayama /ni*ersity "rofessor Toshihide Tsuda# and the /ni*ersity of Tokyo
"rofessor 3uichi Moriguchi. First# Fukushima Medical Association +ice "resident ,oichi ,ida
claimed that the health management of residents following the nuclear accident should -e
handled directly -y the go*ernment. He also pointed out that the current Fukushima
"refectural Health Management Sur*ey 4now called 5Fukushima "refectural Health Sur*ey67
includes different items for medical checkups for the e*acuation 0one and the non8e*acuation
0one. He proposed that a drastic o*erhaul would -e necessary# stating the $apan Medical
Association is formulating its own medical checkup data-ase
%
.
Associate "rofessor Shin0o ,imura# who has a wealth of experience from field in*estigations
in 1herno-yl# reported that currently there are many cases of thyroid cancer in those who
were children at the time of the accident in the 9rest region of 9elarus# more than ':( km
away from the 1herno-yl !""
'
. He explained that medical checkups are conducted twice a
year and medical records are kept for :( years in 9elarus. He asked for securing a system for
long8term storage of diagnostic data.
1
Meanwhile# Matsumoto 1ity Mayor Sugenoya# who has pro*ided medical care to children with
thyroid cancer in 9elarus o*er the years# re*iewed his experiences *isiting 9elarus ' years
ago
;
. He stated that e*en in areas contaminated with low8le*el radiation with an annual
radiation le*el -elow % mS*# residents showed a depressed immune function# hematopoietic
disorders# and perinatal a-normalities. He reported that children get tired easily# necessitating
shortened class periods and fre<uent -reaks during 4athletic7 clu- acti*ities. He also explained
that under the 9elarussian dictatorship# medical personnel are not allowed to refer to the
1herno-yl accident.
=n %>)> the =nternational ?8ray and Radium "rotection 1ommittee @=?R"A# a precursor to
=1R"# concluded 5There is no threshold for cancer occurrence originating from radiation#6 and
this hasnBt changed for o*er half a century. 2kayama /ni*ersity "rofessor Tsuda pointed out
that there is no end of the num-er of researchers who say# 5!o cancer occurrence is
expected from radiation exposure dose under %(( mS*#6 after the Fukushima accident. Tsuda
candidly said researchers should refrain from making such statements.
=n addition# "rofessor Tsuda analy0ed the results of thyroid cancer examinations currently
-eing conducted within Fukushima "refecture
)
. The results of the comparison of detection
rate of thyroid cancer -y regions# re*ealed that there was dispersion of data -y regions#
making it difficult to attri-ute it to a screening effect. As of the end of March '(%)# comparison
of the num-er of detected thyroid cancer cases in Hamadori 4eastern region# : to :( km from
Fukushima aiichi !uclear "ower "lant @F!""A7 and !akadori 4central region# )( to C( km
from F!""7 against Ai0u area 4western region# o*er C( km away from F!""7 as a control
region# where o*er D(E of the secondary examination results ha*e -een confirmed# found
that a part of !akadori had the highest detection rate as much as %% times higher than Ai0u.
Moreo*er# when the analysis was -ased on data from !ational 1ancer 1enter# with the
duration of disease set as ; years
:
# thyroid cancers from municipalities other than Ai0u region
showed rates which were %: to )( times higher. He sounded an alarm that undue fixation on
determining cause @exposure and exposure doseA will delay contermeasures 4such as
securing of medical resources# offering thyroid examination to ages %> to )(# and expanding
the examinaion -eyond Fukushima "refecture to areas where the highly radioacti*e plume
passed o*er], thus increasing the harm.
2
Table + 2omparison of thyroid cancer detection probabilities within &u'ushima Prefecture
(Pre!alence Odds #atio determined against *izu and $oma areas as the control10
F of
cancer
cases
F of
participants
for primary
examination
"2R
"re*alence
2dds Ratio
@>:E 1.=.A etection
pro-a-ilities
H'; Most exposed areas %) )%#>C% &.%% @%.(C# %;(.:;A %G '#>>C.&
H') !orth @Fukushima 1ity# etc.A %' :(#DD; ).;; @(.D:# >;.)CA %G )#';%.%
H') Middle @!ihonmatsu 1ity# etc.A %% %D#>&> %%.'' @%.>'# ');.C;A %G %#&;;.:
H') ,oriyama 1ity '; :)#>:% D.&D @%.);# %D>.D&A %G '#;C>.'
H') South @Shirakawa 1ity# etc.A C %&#>%' C.&D @%.;># %>).(%A %G '#%%).(
H': =waki 1ity %) )D#:%> :.)( @(.>&# %%:.;%A %G ;#;>).'
H': SE area excluding =waki 1ity & ':#CD& ).': @(.&;# >C.):A %G )#;%'.D
H': Rest excluding Ai0uwakamatsu % %C#;'D % %G%C#;'D
The final witness to speak# the /ni*ersity of Tokyo "rofessor Moriguchi# pointed out the
current situation lacks sufficient aggregation and analysis of data# -eginning with the early
exposure data# necessary to conduct dose estimation. He introduced newly found direct
measurement data for radionuclides from the air pollution continuous sur*eillance system that
measures air-orne particulate matter
&
. He stated dose reconstruction from the early exposure
could -e performed -y analy0ing hourly data -eginning from March %'# '(%%# immediately
after the accident. He called for the need to aggregate and archi*e radionuclide data from
e*ery possi-le exposure route.
A e-ate Heats /p 9etween Mem-ers and "rofessor TsudaH
uring the latter part of the meeting# a heated de-ate emerged# especially regarding
"rofessor TsudaIs analysis of thyroid cancer data. Jen Su0uki# the clinic director at
=nternational /ni*ersity of Health and Kelfare# asked if Tsuda compared the odds ratio with
those from the M2E sur*ey in three prefectures# Aomori# 3amanashi and !agasaki.
"rofessor Tsuda answered that it would -e difficult to make a comparison with the M2E
sur*ey due to different age structures of the two cohorts# -ut if he were to compare the two#
thyroid cancer cases in the Fukushima cohort would likely -e statistically significant. Mr.
Su0uki then asked another <uestion a-out the need for age adLustments within the
Fukushima cohort. "rofessor Tsuda answered that# 5The data is pro*ided in age groups of :
years. = did confirm that each region had the same age groups# so the age adLustment was
3
-arely necessary#6 and claimed that 5=tIs only -een ;.% to ;.' years 4since the accident7 -ut
there are so many cases o-ser*ed in Fukushima. Ke need to take immediate
countermeasures.6
Ji*en this statement# 1hairman !agataki made a comment# 5=t would -e disastrous for this
meeting to come to a conclusion that 4thyroid7 cancers are increasing.6 !ext# 2saka /ni*ersity
"rofessor So-ue critici0ed that ; years would -e too short for the onset of disease. Howe*er#
"rofessor Tsuda insisted that the statistical significance holds e*en if the duration of disease
were set as &( years. He argued that the odds ratio of ; to ) would -e considered <uite high
from the standpoint of countermeasures for general en*ironmental issues.
"rofessor Tsuda continued# 5The su-Lects of this sur*ey are humans. They are still exposed
to radiation. Ke canIt wait until the results come out.6 Mr. !agataki <uestioned# 5Khat do you
mean they are still exposed to radiationM6 "rofessor Tsuda answered# 5All of us as well as
Fukushima residents are -eing exposed to radiation. Fukushima residents are exposed to
higher air dose rates#6 and demanded the implementation of expanded medical checkups and
4other7 countermeasures.
1onclusions Expected uring the Month of AugustH
Audiences are selected -y lottery at expert meetings. Seats are assigned# and -ooing is
se*erely reprimanded. uring this session# the audience applauded se*eral times when
witnesses spoke. Kith each applause# a staff mem-er# o*erly cautious# ga*e a *er-al
warning.
The next session is scheduled for : pm on August :th. There would -e two sessions during
the month of August -efore the final recommendations are made. Although one of the
witnesses# "rofessor Moriguchi# proposed a drastic o*erhaul of dose assessment# the three8
page summary
D
@outlinesA of dose assessment is expected to -e appro*ed without any further
corrections. =n addition# the Expert Meeting aims to adopt /!S1EARIs approach for the
health risks -ased on the exposure dose.N
2riginal articleH httpHGGwww.ourplanet8t*.orgGM<OnodeG%C(&
4
1
http://www.env.go.jp/chemi/rhm/conf/conf01-08/ext01.pdf (Japanee!
2 http://www.env.go.jp/chemi/rhm/conf/conf01-08/ext02.pdf (Japanee!
3 http://www.env.go.jp/chemi/rhm/conf/conf01-08/ext03.pdf (Japanee!
4 http://www.env.go.jp/chemi/rhm/conf/conf01-08/ext04.pdf (Japanee!
" Tsuda uses a formula# "re*alence @"A P =ncidence @=A x A*erage duration of disease @A# to o-tain incidence
ratios to compare the pre*alence rate of thyroid cancer -eing disco*ered in Fukushima "refecture with the
national incidence of pediatric thyroid cancer. Here# he showed an example with O; years# as it has -een ;
years since the accident.
# http://www.env.go.jp/chemi/rhm/conf/conf01-08/ext0".pdf (Japanee!
$ http://www.env.go.jp/chemi/rhm/conf/conf01-08/mat02.pdf (Japanee!