Genetic Changes Shown to Be Important Indicators for Disease Progression in Cervical Cancer Patients Nov 16, 2009
The authors, led by Heidi Lyng, examined more than 140 patients diagnosed and treated at the Norwegian Radium Hospital. Through the use of screening methods that covered all genes in the human genome, the researchers report as their key finding the discovery of a set of biological processes that are known hallmarks of cancer associated with gains and losses of specific genes. (Science Daily)
Is Marcellus Shale too hot to handle? Nov 9, 2009
The information comes from New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, which analyzed 13 samples of wastewater brought thousands of feet to the surface from drilling and found that they contain levels of radium-226, a derivative of uranium, as high as 267 times the limit safe for discharge into the environment and thousands of times the limit safe for people to drink ... Radium, a potent carcinogen, is among the most dangerous of these metals because it gives off radon gas and takes... (Albany Times Union)
What brought Erin? Oct 21, 2009
They say Ionized radiation , Radium 226, where is their proof. With the flow of clean water test results disputing their claims I just do not believe Cancer Cluster Originators. (The Palm Beach Post)
Acreage residents seek cancer answers from health officials Oct 21, 2009
You say Radium 226, where is your proof ... "Concerned" Post your test results Supporting Radium 226 that you claim ... Our market values will bounce back especially now that they have a culprit (Radium 226) and are just trying to figure out how to get it out of the water. (The Palm Beach Post)
Treatment Not Testicular Cancer Poses Greatest Risk To Survivors' Long-term Health Oct 16, 2009
Researchers from the Norwegian Radium Hospital at the University of Oslo found that the number of problems faced by survivors are higher than generally thought, because clinicians only report those that are life-threatening or require medical intervention. Awareness of this discrepancy has led to a greater focus on patient-reported outcomes. (Science Daily)
"I can't do it alone" Oct 10, 2009
That echoed the findings of a report issued last week by the state Department of Environmental Protection, which found elevated levels of radium or radioactive alpha particles in a handful of wells in the sprawling, semi-rural community in central Palm Beach County ... Lemuel Srolovic, an attorney with the firm, said tonight that one of the 10 wells his firm tested did not meet state drinking-water standards for radium-226/228 ... All 10 locations tested positive for either radium-226,... (The Palm Beach Post)
Brockovich to speak to reporters before meeting with Acreage residents about cancer fears today Oct 9, 2009
But four wells didn't meet drinking water standards because of elevated levels of radium or alpha particles, a measure of radiation. Weitz & Luxenberg met with the community on Aug. 24 at Seminole Ridge High School and is returning Thursday to update residents on its work and discuss the state's findings. (The Palm Beach Post)
Odd facts about Nobel Prize winners Oct 7, 2009
According to , when it was suggested that Curie not accept the prize, she wrote a shrewd letter, "which pointed out that she had been awarded the Prize for her discovery of radium and polonium, and that she could not accept the principle that appreciation of the value of scientific work should be influenced by slander concerning a researcher's private life.". 12. (CNN)
DEP: Acreage water not tainted Oct 3, 2009
ZFour wells show higher-than-allowed levels of alpha particles or radium - both of which can result from naturally occurring radiation ... The DEP report said four of the 50 private wells sampled in The Acreage had elevated levels of radium or alpha particles - both signs of radiation that may require the homeowners to install treatment systems ... The homes where the DEP found elevated radium and alpha levels did not appear to be near the locations where residents have reported brain cancer in... (The Palm Beach Post)
State says Acreage may have elevated cancer rates; launches second phase of investigation Aug 30, 2009
But a raw water sample - water before it's treated for consumption - from one well at Seminole Water Plant showed "a minor exceedance for radium 226." ... The agency does not expect the new tests will show above normal levels of radium 226, a naturally occurring radioactive material, the report said. (The Palm Beach Post)
Mercury in Fish Widespread, Study Shows Aug 20, 2009
By the way - not only do coal fired power station rain down mercury, they also release radioactive uranium, radium, cesium, potassium-40 and thorium due to burning mildly radioactive coal. In fact a typical US coal fired power station releases into the wider environment, more radioactivity then a typical US nuclear power plant. (CBS News)
Update: Divers Recover Missing Girl's Body Aug 17, 2009
RADIUM SPRINGS, N.M. -- New Mexico State Police have recovered the body of 7-year-old Liesha Quinonez, of El Paso, Texas ... Several law enforcement agencies -- including the New Mexico State Police, Dona Ana Sheriffs Department, United States Border Patrol, Las Cruces Fire Department, American Medical Response, Radium Springs Voluntary Fire Department and State Parks Search and Rescue -- all worked together to look for the girl. (KFOXTV.com, TX)
Search Begins For Missing Young Girl Aug 16, 2009
RADIUM SPRINGS, N.M. -- New Mexico State Police, along with the Border Patrol, Dona Ana County Sheriffs Department and several other law enforcement agencies are on the lookout for a missing girl. State police said the 7-year-old was last seen in the Radium Springs area. (KFOXTV.com, TX)
DOCTOR IS IN: Long summer days bring sunshine and skin challenges Aug 11, 2009
occupational exposures to coal tar, pitch, creosote, arsenic compounds, or radium. family history. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Living)
Study shows seed implants a suitable prostate cancer treatment option for men of all ages Aug 4, 2009
The idea dates back to 1913 when surgeons inserted a radium capsule into the prostatic urethra, the canal that runs from the bladder to the prostate. Implanting radioactive material locally to stop the growth of cancer cells was more art than science until the 1980's, when the development of transrectal ultrasound allowed surgeons to have a clearer view of the target tissue. (EurekAlert!)
Assessing the Risks of Tanning Beds Aug 2, 2009
Last week, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer division of the World Health Organization, classified tanning beds as "carcinogenic to humans" the agency's highest cancer risk category, which also includes radon gas, plutonium and radium. Since 1992, the beds had been deemed "probably carcinogenic to humans." But in the last 17 years, "many more studies have been published, in many countries and in many populations, concluding that exposure to sun beds causes... (Time.com)
Tanning devices listed as carcinogenic Jul 30, 2009
In the review all types of ionising radiation were classified as carcinogenic to humans, including radon gas, which seeps from soil and rocks, plutonium, radium, phosphorous-32 and radioiodines. Join the conversation. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
Chinese drywall linked to problems in U.S. homes Jul 7, 2009
Phosphogypsum contains radium, which under prolonged exposure can lead to a higher risk of lung cancer, and that is why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned phosphogypsum for use in construction in 1989 ... In Florida, four samples taken from troubled houses showed no indication of radium, said Lori Streit, a scientist at Unified Engineering Inc., which conducted the analysis. (The Palm Beach Post)
Planning commission set to act on uranium mill Jul 1, 2009
For example, radium- or thorium-bearing resin filters would not be candidates for processing or disposal at a uranium mill. It would therefore appear that a county condition allowing filters from mines such as the Whirlwind mine may not have a great deal of meaning until the state can analyze the filters in preparation for a license condition of its own. (Montrose Daily Press, CO)
US senators call for Chinese drywall probe Jun 24, 2009
" Williams points to other possible toxicants that are known to occur in incinerated coal sources that have not yet been tested for in the Chinese drywall. These include Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), and radioisotopes such as Radium 226, which are known to occur in coal mine waste and coal fly ash. "The bleaching process, as well as uncontrolled incineration of coal sources, can generate chlorinated compounds, such as dioxins or chlorinated PAHs. These chemicals have not yet been... (Asia Times Online)
It Happened This Week: May 29-June 4 May 30, 2009
West Point residents receive notices of radium and fluoride in the city's water supply. Sister Ceciliana Nieters, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Nieters, celebrated 50 years as a nun. (Fort Madison Daily Democrat, IO)
DNR approves New Berlin water deal May 22, 2009
The volume essentially replaces the amount New Berlin currently gets from groundwater wells that produce water with radium levels exceeding state and federal health standards ... The New Berlin areas outside the Great Lakes Basin are currently served by groundwater wells that produce drinking water with high levels of radium ... Approval of New Berlin s diversion request enables the city to assure all the drinking water it serves its residents meets state and federal standards for radium. (Milwaukee Business Journal, WI)
Young pay unexpected price for 'healthy' tan May 18, 2009
Risk factors for non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers include unprotected and excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation; persons with fair complexions; occupational exposures to coal tar, pitch, creosote, arsenic compounds or radium; a family history of skin cancers; multiple or atypical moles and severe sunburns as a child. Other factors include the use of tanning booths and diseases that suppress the immune system. (Park Hills Daily Journal, MO)
Mill termed perpetual radioactive hazardous waste facility May 17, 2009
Stills quoted from an EPA document categorizing radioactive hazards from uranium milling (beneficiation) that said, Waste constituents of concern include (radioactive) radionuclides (radium, radon, thorium, and to a lesser extent lead), arsenic, copper, selenium, vanadium, molybdenum, other heavy metals, and dissolved solids. Brines, spent ion exchange resins, and chemicals used in beneficiation operations are also constituents of wastes generated during beneficiation. (Montrose Daily Press, CO)
Types of Tom Swifties May 2, 2009
"Who discovered radium?" asked Marie curiously. "I'm going to end it all," Sue sighed. (Suite101.com)
Niger: Desert Residents Pay High Price for Lucrative Uranium Mining Apr 1, 2009
"The wind carries dust contaminated with the long-lasting radium [time required for it to lose toxicity is more than 1,600 years] and lead...Samples taken from 5km within site...Sandstorms [and] atmospheric waste from mines could be aggravating factors for pulmonary [illnesses] in the region," the researchers wrote in COMINAK's environmental study. But AREVA dismisses the link between mining and elevated health problems in its January 2009 report on mining activities in Niger. (allAfrica.com)
For Your Benefit: Some unenrolled vets can get VA health care Mar 23, 2009
Answer: Yes, under these conditions: treatment for military sexual trauma, or head or neck cancer related to nose or throat radium treatment while in the military; readjustment counseling services; treatment related to service-connected conditions; special registry examinations, such as Agent Orange, Gulf War; and care for a noncompensable service-connected condition ... Answer: Yes, under these conditions: treatment for military sexual trauma, or head or neck cancer related to nose or throat... (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Tantrik may have abused others too Mar 21, 2009
My elder niece had started working in a family-owned shop for designed radium number plates at Santa Cruz. The family has another shop at Mira Road. (India Times, India)
Agua Fria district may face charges for mercury spill Mar 19, 2009
Mercury and other toxic chemicals such as radium, a radioactive material, were unsafely stored at the school, a police interview with the Environmental Protection Agency found. The mercury was in a medical bottle, which is not a "suitable" container, the EPA said. (AZCentral)
A late payment for nuclear workers Mar 8, 2009
Before Vitro began operations there in the 1930s, the plant had been known as Standard Chemical Co., and produced the highly radioactive element radium, some of which was given to Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie, who visited the plant in the 1920s. In the 1980s, more than 20 years after the plant ceased operations, the federal government spent more than $40 million -- $107 million in today's money -- to bury radioactive waste under a clay mound at the site and decontaminate houses nearby. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Jordan's fossil water source has high radiation levels Feb 25, 2009
"The combined activities of 228 radium and 226 radium the two long-lived isotopes of radium in the groundwater we tested are up to 2000 percent higher than international drinking standards," said Avner Vengosh, associate professor of earth and ocean sciences in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University ... All samples were analyzed for major and trace elements and for four radium isotopes ... For comparative purposes, sandstone rocks from the Disi aquifer, along with Nubian... (EurekAlert!)
Exposure To Ash From TVA Spill Could Have 'Severe Health Implications' Feb 15, 2009
14, 2009) A report by Duke University scientists who analyzed water and ash samples from last month s coal sludge spill in eastern Tennessee concludes that exposure to radium- and arsenic-containing particulates in the ash could have severe health implications in the affected areas ... Vengosh s team found that the combined content of radium-228 and radium-226 the two long-lived isotopes of radium in the solid ash samples they collected from the TVA spill measured about 8 picocuries per gram ...... (Science Daily)
* AEC promotes its easy-to-use radiation detector Feb 10, 2009
Aside from naturally occurring radiation, such as radium, thorium and uranium, there are numerous manmade radiation sources such as X-rays and medical cobalt 60, said Tseng Hsun-hua (V), a researcher at the AECs Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER). INER has been working for the past three years with the AECs Radiation Monitoring Station and National Tsing Hua University to design a device that local governments or communities can use to check the safety of their environments,... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Toxins high at ash spill site, study finds Feb 7, 2009
Arsenic, radium levels high at ash spill site ... - High levels of arsenic and elevated levels of radioactive radium have been found in the sludge released in a massive coal ash spill at a Tennessee power plant, Duke University scientists reported ... Otherwise, they said, "exposure to radium- and arsenic-containing particulates in the ash could have severe health implications" for those living near the plant. (MSNBC -- Environment)
Post-Cancer Reproduction Still Low for Women, Men Feb 7, 2009
"There is much left to be done to improve post-diagnosis reproduction, in particular in women," Dr. Sophie Dorothea Fossa of The Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo and her colleagues conclude in a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Studies to date on reproduction among cancer survivors have been small, and most don't compare these individuals to controls who were never diagnosed with cancer. (MEDLINEplus)
