With mounting fears over the spread of radiation from nuclear power plants damaged by Japan, the most at risk are those try the more difficult to contain.
The New York Times called the skeleton crews of workers and soldiers inside plants "may be the last chance of Japan to prevent a wider nuclear disaster . " But those who study radiation treatment and mitigation say there are not many of these workers can do to protect themselves. "There is no proven radioprotective [for workers] at this stage", although some are being studied in animals, said David Weinstock, a bone marrow transplant physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston . Weinstock is part of a group called Radiation Injury Treatment Network (RITN).
Although widely spoken of potassium iodide tablets are most useful for children and nursing mothers trying to prevent the intake of radioactive iodine, which is mostly taken up by drinking contaminated milk or eating dairy products. that's what happened after Chernobyl. A drug intravenous amifostine could theoretically help, Nelson said Chao, also a member of RITN and chief of the division of the cell therapy and bone marrow transplant at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. It was developed to protect cancer patients during treatments radiotherapy and is now rarely used. But Chao says. "There is no data on how" could be proposed, particularly because it can not be taken by mouth
The best protection is to minimize the dose of radiation and limiting the exposure time as much as possible. Wear protective clothing and masks or respirators, Japanese workers are doing, can help to prevent particles or radioactive dust, Norman said Kleiman, a radiobiologist who studies radiation exposure at Columbia University.
But the speed necessary to maintain really remote radiation is not practical. "You literally have to be dressed head to toe lead to avoid exposure, and that is simply not possible, "says Weinstock.
Much research has been made in helping people who have been exposed. High levels of radiation target rapidly dividing cells in the body, especially the skin, blood, and intestines - like chemotherapy for cancer (which is why many people in the field of care also for cancer patients). So exposure to radiation can kill blood cells, leaving people without a functioning immune system, and cause diarrhea and severe burns. After Chernobyl, doctors have experimented perform bone marrow transplants, but they are not particularly effective, probably because of protocol or because someone who was so sick they needed a transplant had also suffered irreparable damage to other organ systems, Chao said. Since Chernobyl, there are new treatments that stimulate the production of blood cells after cancer treatment. But their value for people exposed to radiation is an open question.
Meanwhile, details are sketchy on the level of risk within the nuclear power plants in Japan. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) information shared by the Japanese authorities today that 17 workers "have suffered deposition of radioactive material in their faces," but at low doses. Another worker "suffered significant exposure" and was taken to a central offsite. Firefighters have also been exposed to radiation.
"The workers accept the risk by the nature of their work they accept willingly and hopefully they are paid for it, "said Steven Simon, a health physicist at the National cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland." You do not have the same opportunities to the [as the general public] protect because they agreed to go to a high-risk area. "
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