From Winter 2010-2011 Forum

An investigative journalism team from KHOU TV in Houston, TX reported on "radioactive contaminants that raise health risks, according to state lab reports and public health scientists". The report, which was aired in November, had much more extensive information on the website of KHOU and some has been added to our website. The lead investigative author and his team intend to eventually go national with the report which stated that hundreds of water suppliers are allowing water to contain radioactive contaminants. A four month investigation that is still ongoing found radiation found in the Texas Commission Environmental Quality (TCEQ) as well as by an independent laboratory. Many people were surprised that water supplies have any level of radiation.

The report quoted Dr. David Ozonoff, a professor of environmental health and chair emeritus of Boston University's School of Public Health and a member of the Massachusetts Cancer Advisory Committee who said, of one particular type of radiation known as the alpha particle that kept appearing again and again, "The alpha particle — this is the 800 pound gorrilla of radioactive particles." Dr. Ozonoff said that water with any amount of alpha particles, even when below federal legal limits, would raise the risk of health problems including but not limited to cancer. One example of an alpha particle is uranium. He said, "The alpha particles can damage DNA and create a possible mutation in your cells." The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) admits "a single alpha passing through a cell is sufficient to induce a mutational effect." That is why the EPA set a "zero-threshold" for radionuclides. However, the EPA also sets a "legal" limit for contaminants and, until that legal limit is exceeded, they cannot force a system to take any clean-up action. Dr. Ozonoff, however, believes people remain at risk even when levels are below that limit saying, "All you need is one cell to go bad." Dr. Ozonoff said it was much like playing the a "cancer lottery". When the doctor was told that the water was "superior", he said, "Superior compared to what? Maybe to a watering hole in Africa." The mayor quietly contacted the doctor to ask him for suggestions to minimize the situation in Houston.

The television segment also interviwed Dr. Joshua Hamilton who is a toxicologist and public-health scientist and is the chief scientific officer at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. He was formally a professor at Dartmouth Medical College. That laboratory, as do all Marine Biology laboratories in this country, uses the ciguatera assay as their "gold standard". Of the radiation found, he said, "I think, from a public health standpoint, it’s hard to defend. It's certainly not defensible from a scientific standpoint. You're not really getting an accurate picture of what your health risk might be. Nor does your community know what the actual exposures are. I don’t see how it could be accidental."

Alpha particles from uranium are radioactive and are enriched to make nuclear weaponry as well as to fuel nuclear power plants. Although the legal goal is zero, the government allows 30 micrograms per liter. Annual water reports are not forced to report any radiation annually because the EPA instructs them specifically to not include those levels! Many scientists and toxicologists agree that any amount of exposure to radiation increases the risk for illness. Science has already linked specific mitochondrial deletions to this toxin.

When the lead investigative reporter, Mark Greenblatt, asked the head of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality what she thought about the bad science that was found, her response was, "Well, I guess I would have no comment on that." The spokesperson for the public works department merely said, "You're lying." The first segment report can be seen on our website as well as the first report on water supplies that linked blue-green algal blooms that contain cynobacterias to water supplies.

Science is not subject to any particular belief. Science is facts that are that are confirmed through repetition. Treating what some "suspect" is causative may actually be harmful in the longterm. This is from one online "blog" by PWC/ME Sandy Robinson (www.fightingfatigue.org/?p=7470) posted over a year ago: "Three studies of patients who received stem cell transplants in the 90's revealed that despite initial success, about ten years later the stem cells had been corrupted and the patients’ disease returned. Though the stem cells worked as expected and lasted 10 years, they were eventually corrupted by the same disease process that damaged the very cells they were replacing."