Nearly half of children living in Fukushima region have radioactive iodine in their thyroid glands

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: thyroid gland, Fukushima, health news

(NaturalNews) An anonymous official from the Japanese government recently came forward with the startling results of radiation tests conducted on children shortly after the disastrous earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. According to www.dawn.com the official revealed that 45 percent of children tested had radioactive iodine lodged in their thyroid glands.

The Japanese government's nuclear accident task force tested 1,149 children 15 and younger just a few weeks after the events of March 11. 1,080 of these tests were confirmed to be valid, and 482 of them, representing 44.6 percent of children, confirmed the presence of damaging radioactive iodine in their thyroid glands.

The thyroid gland, which is located in the front of the neck just below the larynx, is responsible for regulating the body's metabolism, producing necessary hormones for every tissue in the body, increasing protein synthesis, regulating oxygen consumption by cells, and balancing calcium.

This important gland, which is designed to uptake the nutritious, mineral version of iodine, can also uptake deadly radioactive iodine and other toxic chemicals like fluoride. When this occurs, the thyroid gland is unable to properly function, as hormone production becomes altered or inhibited. The end result is the potential development of a wide variety of diseases.

When questioned by numerous participants as to why it took so long to release the test results, the anonymous agent allegedly responded that radioactive iodine levels were below the government's threshold limit of 0.2 microsieverts (mSv), and thus not a significant health threat.

Radioactive iodine is actually used as a treatment for hyperthyroidism, also known as overactive thyroid, in order to slow functionality of the thyroid gland. Repeated or overexposure to radioactive iodine can lead to thyroid cancer, which in turn can destroy the gland entirely if not cared for.

Sources for this story include:

http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/18/tests-find-th...