- Title: JAPAN: Fukushima mothers concerned about thyroid cancer risk in children
- Date: 28th February 2013
- Summary: NIHONMATSU, FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN (FEBRUARY 25, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING BY RADIATION MONITOR OUTSIDE KINDERGARTEN VARIOUS OF MOTHER MAKIKO SUZUKI OPENING RESULTS OF FUKUSHIMA PREFECTURE THYROID TEST SUZUKI TALKING IN FRONT OF TOYS SUZUKI'S SIX-YEAR-OLD SON MAARU PLAYING VIDEO GAME (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) MOTHER, MAKIKO SUZUKI, SAYING: "The officia
- Embargoed: 15th March 2013 12:00
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- Location: Japan
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- Country: Japan
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVA7TQBKOXVE8QC347WWBM7S51CV
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- Story Text: People in the area worst affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident two years ago have a higher risk of developing certain cancers, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday (February 28).
A magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, killed nearly 19,000 people and devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, triggering meltdowns, spewing radiation and forcing about 160,000 people to flee their homes.
It was the worst nuclear accident since a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine in 1986.
In the most contaminated areas, the World Health Organisation says there could now be a 70 percent higher risk of females exposed as infants developing thyroid cancer over their lifetimes.
And while local authorities are monitoring every child who lived in Fukushima at the time of the accident, for mothers like Makiko Suzuki, it's not enough.
"The official test by Fukushima Prefecture said my son had a cyst in his thyroid less than 20 millimetres in size, but it was a completely different result when I checked that with another doctor. He told me it was actually a hard 7 millimetre nodule," Suzuki told Reuters at her home in the town of Nihonmatsu.
"When I got the detailed results back, it turned out even the location was different - the prefecture said it was on the right, but the other doctor said it was on the left," she said.
With money tight, Suzuki says she and her six-year-old son Maaru are now trapped in medical limbo.
"I want to get another opinion, but it's difficult. Thyroid specialists are really rare - I'd have to travel really far to find a decent doctor who knows all about thyroid cancer," she said.
The thyroid is a key concern as radioactive iodine concentrates in the gland, and children are deemed especially vulnerable.
Four years after the Chernobyl power plant exploded in Ukraine in 1986, cases of thyroid cancer began to spike among children under the age of 14.
Two years on, Fukushima says more than 40 percent of its children under the age of 18 have thyroid 'abnormalities', whether cysts or nodules.
But scientists add that only about 0.5 percent of them fall into a category they say warrants further testing - more than 20 millimetres for cysts or 5 millimetres for nodules.
Children below that level, classed as A1 and A2, must wait for the next round of government-funded tests years in the future.
"At the official test there's no explanation for mothers at all. Most of them then just get this letter later on saying their child is in category A1 or A2, which means there's no need for immediate further testing - just another check in two or two-and-a-half years," said Shunji Sekine, a doctor conducting independent second tests for worried mothers.
As yet, there is little research available on the connection between small abnormalities and rates of thyroid cancer.
The Japanese government has commissioned control samples of children outside Fukushima Prefecture, due to be released in March, which will indicate where the Fukushima figure stands.
But lead scientist in the Fukushima survey, Shinichi Suzuki, says the rate of small cysts and nodules was not a surprise.
"We do not believe there's any cause for concern when it comes to the smaller abnormalities. Until now there was no system to detect and tell mothers about them. We're monitoring the health of children over the long term, that's why we inform mothers -- but a normal clinic would probably say there was nothing there at all," Suzuki told Reuters.
But he also admits there's a caveat.
"In the case of Chernobyl, Thyroid cancer started to appear four or five years later. It doesn't show up straightaway. Long-term, even more than 25 years on, there are still cases of thyroid cancer appearing in Chernobyl. So whatever we tell mothers right now, they're unlikely to be reassured."
The report concluded that for the general population inside Japan, the predicted health risks were low, but that one-third of emergency workers were estimated to have increased risk. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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