Darthfader:
"These results are descriptive and do not take into account the parents' psychologic condition, even though this same study also finds a higher prevalence of psychologic disorders among exposed parents"
I find it odd that the psychological condition of the parents should be statistically significant in view of the large number of the study sample. Are we to believe that most of the parents of the affected children was subnormal?
http://theforeigner.no/pages/news/scientists-discover-lower-iq-in-post-chernobyl-children/
Scientists discover lower IQ in post-Chernobyl children
Published on Wednesday, 19th May, 2010 at 22:09 under the news category, by Michael Sandelson.
Fear radiation levels affected foetuses.
A critical period
Two Norwegian researchers have found radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power station could have influenced the intelligence levels of unborn children.
Chernobyl’s reactor 4 exploded early on 26 April, releasing enormous amounts of radioactive particles into the atmosphere that were dispersed over a wide area. Worst hit in Norway were the mountainous regions of Midt-Norge.
The results have been published in the latest edition of the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.
“The Chernobyl accident may have had a subtle effect on the cognitive functioning of those exposed to low-dose ionizing radiation during the most sensitive gestational period,” write Bjørn Rishovd Rund, professor of psychology and head of research at Vestre Viken helseforetak (health trust), and Kristin Sverdvik Heiervang, Research Fellow and the University of Oslo.
A total of 178 teenagers were tested. 84 came from the most contaminated area of Norway and who were exposed to radiation at the time, whilst the remaining 94 came from uncontaminated parts.
The data was then analysed in two different ways. The first method used the 94 as a control group, comparing their IQ scores with the others.An IQ comparison was then made between those exposed during the most sensitive period (between 8 and 16 weeks) and those later on in pregnancy.
“Adolescents exposed to low-dose ionizing radiation in the uterus scored significantly lower in full-scale IQ than unexposed adolescents.”
They also found teenagers who’d passed the most sensitive period prior to the accident and the control group performed just as well as each other.
AND THIS OTHER REPORT:
http://www.newsinenglish.no/2010/05/19/chernobyl-effects-still-showing-up/
Chernobyl effects still showing up
May 19, 2010
A new study suggests that babies exposed to radioactive fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster when they were still in the womb have subsequently scored lower than other youth on IQ tests. The findings of the study, though, are controversial.
The Chernobyl accident sent clouds of radioactive fallout via the winds northwest to Norway. The country, especially its mountainous areas in the central part of Norway, became the hardest-hit outside the former Soviet Union.
Reindeer herds were contaminated, for example, along with agriculture. Newspaper Aftenposten reported Wednesday that a new study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology suggests the radiation also may have affected unborn children.
“Our research indicates that even low doses of radiation can have consequences on the development of the brain during the most sensitive portions of a pregnancy,” Bjørn Rishovd Rund, a professor at the University of Oslo, told Aftenposten.
He and associate Kristin Sverdvik Heiervang tested 84 18-year-olds in Oppland and Nord-Trøndelag counties who were still in the womb when the radiation hit hardest. Another group of 18-year-olds from another part of Norway were tested separately, as a control group.
Those exposed to the radiation scored lower in intelligence, memory, attention spans, ability to solve problems and abstract thought, concluded the researchers.
The study didn’t measure how much radiation to which the teenagers may have been exposed. Its results have surprised officials charged with nuclear safety in Norway.
“There has been some research that indicates radiation can result in lower IQs, but only at doses a hundred times greater than what occurred in Norway,” said Astrid Liland of the state nuclear safety agency Statens strålevern. She’s skeptical, as are health officials.
“This is just one study involving a limited number of people,” she said. “You can’t be sure based on that.” Others worried that youth born in 1986 may be stigmatized.
Roger Ingebrigtsen, state secretary in the health ministry, told Aftenposten that he expects the study’s findings to be “thoroughly evaluated.” He cautioned against “being critical as soon as researchers come with conclusions you don’t like.”
Villabolo
