Date/Location: Friday, June 21, 2013; 15:00-18:00; United Nations Library

Speakers: Dr. Igor Branovan, Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev, Denis Zdorov, Dmitriy Maksimchev, Dr.Michael Tuttle, Dr.Valentina Drozd, Dr.Larisa Danilova

Written by: Alyssa Strasser

Attended by: Alyssa Strasser, Gregory Swistel, Nora Crossnohere, Marli Kasdan, Imam Yashruti, Mary C.Y. Lam, Candace K.T. Tang, Janice H.Y. Wong, Sunny T.C. Hor

Dr. Danilova started her discussion of the Nuclear Accidents in Chernobyl by explaining that after Chernobyl, testing and measurements were not done right and there is still a lot of unanswered questions. The most important question, why is thyroid cancer still an issue, especially in children?

The other part of the question is why is the majority of people with thyroid cancer in Belarus and in the United States? Its important to look at other factors of Chernobyl, it might not be solely radiation that is causing cancer. As of right now ionizing radiation is the only known factor of thyroid cancer.

Dr. Danilova believes that it’s important to start looking at Nitrates and the combination of radiation that could possibly cause thyroid cancer. Due to agricultural practices in Belarus, the concentration of nitrate has risen, now 40% of Belarus’s water contains Nitrogen. Belarus had begun to use fertilizers to help re-grow much of the land that contained high doses of Nitrates. The US also has high amounts of Nitrates in its water.

These two countries of containing high amounts of Nitrates are the only two that have high amounts of Thyroid cancer in children. We need to address the role of nitrate pollution in combination with radiation exposure.

Edited by : Wayne Dean Doyle