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Path: utzoo!linus!alliant!gottlieb
From: gottlieb@alliant.UUCP (Bob Gottlieb)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.sci,net.bio
Subject: Re: Plutonium
Message-ID: <260@alliant.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 16-May-86 13:09:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: alliant.260
Posted: Fri May 16 13:09:11 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 18-May-86 15:29:13 EDT
References: <616@bu-cs.UUCP>
Reply-To: gottlieb@alliant.UUCP (Bob Gottlieb)
Organization: Alliant Computer Systems, Acton, MA
Lines: 33
Xref: linus net.politics:15280 net.sci:565 net.bio:335

In article <616@bu-cs.UUCP> bzs@bu-cs.UUCP (Barry Shein) writes:

>Maybe we are!...more seriously, isn't anyone else in this plutonium
>discussion at least mildly disturbed at the 10% increase in Cancer
>deaths over the last 20 years recently reported by the Harvard School
>of Public Health?

The thrust of that paper (according to Nightline) was that while most
cancers have stayed the same or declined slightly in fatalities, 
Lung Cancer has continued to rise.

This could mean either:

o Atmospheric Radioactives (Pu, et al) lodge in our lungs, causing cancer.

o If you smoke cigarettes, Lung Cancer is sure to get you sooner or later.

I believe that the rate of Lung Cancer is 15 times higher for smokers
than for non-smokers. It would be interesting to attempt to correlate the
rise in Lung Cancer with non-smokers, taking into account exposure to
other people's smoke.

Personally, I feel that while Reactors are dangerous, they don't even begin
to touch the dangers from smoking tobacco.
-- 

						-- Bob Gottlieb
UUCP: ...!linus!alliant!gottlieb
Mail: Alliant Computer Systems Corp, 42 Nagog Park, Acton, MA 01720
Phone: (617) 263-9110
Foot:  "You can't get there from here".
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