Doctor's studies offer more clarity on the issue of radiation-related birth defects in children. After Chernobyl "most health investigations were focused on cancer induced by radiation, but Wertelecki initiated population studies concerned with ongoing child development, especially birth defects, which continue to this day.

Wertelecki: "It is not the scale of a nuclear accident itself that makes a human disaster it is the response by officials afterward and the public panic produced. The public should not be treated as idiots and told only the 'good half' of the story, as is often done by official agencies. People have the right to know, the need to believe those who are in charge."

Wertelecki is not alone in questioning extrapolation of atomic bomb impact study results from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to all nuclear accidents. And his work supports concern in Japan about the effect on children and pregnant women due to a contaminated food supply. His concerns, shared by many, include not only birth defects now and in the near future but also the long term impact on future generations due to radiation's mutagenic properties.

The impact of the bombs was external radiation, which was intense but short-lived, said the physician. The impact of Chernobyl and Fukushima-Daiichi is ongoing and radiation still in the environment is inhaled or swallowed, leading to accumulation in the body. One mushroom eaten in affected areas may deliver as much radiation as hundreds of chest x-rays, he concluded.

Read full text: Sally Pearsall Ericson  l Al.com 16 July, 2012

Resources: Article- Pediatrics, Wertelecki, 2010 www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/125/4/e836