Large post-Fukushima spike in congenital illness in U.S. West

A research project for a U.S-based scientific and educational organization has found a large spike in the occurrence of a congenital illness among children born in Hawaii and the four U.S. Pacific Coast states after the Fukushima nuclear-reactor disaster of March 2011.

The incidence of hypothyroidism among children born in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii a week to four months subsequent to the post-tsunami meltdown in Japan was found to be, for that time period, up to 28-percent greater than 36 other U.S states during the same period the previous year.

Congenital hypothyroidism, which is a rare condition that affects approximately one newborn in 4,000, can, if left untreated, cause severe brain and growth problems. The thyroid hormone deficiency can be treated with success relatively easily after detection, usually as a result of newborn screening.

Genetic defects and iodine deficiency are common causes of the condition, and iodine-131, present in nuclear fallout and nuclear-reactor emissions, is known to be a risk factor for hypothyroidism due to its destruction of thyroid cells after being taken up by the gland during exposure.

Radioiodine isotopes were detected among the massive amounts of fallout dispersed from Fukushima just days after the meltdowns. The research paper noted that I-131 levels up to 211 times above normal were measured in U.S. precipitation in the five Pacific states.

The peer-reviewed research paper, conducted on behalf of the Radiation and Public Health Project, was published in the March edition of the Open Journal of Pediatrics.

The paper’s abstract noted:  “Further analysis, in the US and in other nations, is needed to better understand any association between iodine exposure from Fukushima-Dai-ichi and congenital hypothyroidism risk.”