Long Island: Petition for Health Assessment Drafted Based on Radon/Polonium Survey

FREELANCE INVESTIGATIONS EXCLUSIVE

After seeing the results of a recent water survey conducted by local residents in East Patchogue and Bellport, Long Island, that showed high levels of radon in their drinking and backyard water, a petition for a Health Assessment was just drafted. 

This week Dr. Carmine Vasile and the members of KREET (Kids Rights to Environmental Quality Today) have submitted a request for a Health Assessment to the CDC and officials at the NY State Dept. of Health, The Suffolk County Department of Health, the SCWA (Suffolk County Water Authority) and other regulatory agencies in New York State and Washington D.C..  

One such request went to Sven E. Rodenbeck, Sc.D., P.E., BCEEUSPHS ATSDR/DCHI   Rear Admiral (retired) at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (a public agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services).

 ATSDR is directed by Congressional mandate to perform specific functions concerning the effect on the public health of hazardous substances in the environment.  These functions include public health assessments of waste sites, health consultations regarding specific hazardous substances, applied research in support of public health assessments, information development and dissemination and education and training concerning hazardous substances.(..from the ATSDR website.)

Dr. Vasile wrote the following letter after he obtained  test results from a water survey conducted by local residents. The study found radon in the drinking water. In prior correspondence Dr. Vasile had been told if new information was available to make it known to Mr. Rodenbeck .  The following letter is that communication with all accompanying test result information from the East Patchogue and Bellport area homes and the Cancer Study results published in NEWSDAY recently.

July 10, 2018

Petition for Health Assessment Based on New Information in KREET’s Radon/Polonium Survey and NY State’s 2018 Database Indicating The Leading Cause of Death in Long Island Men and  Women are Lung  and  Bronchus Cancers


Dear Mr. Rodenbeck: 

Attached to your June 15, 2018 email, was a September 22, 2015 letter by Sandra Cashman, Acting Director, Division of the Executive Secretariat, Office of the Chief of Staff, CDC. 

It states: “We would reconsider this determination if new information was provided that suggested people are being exposed over a long period of time to high levels of radon or other radioisotopes.”

Please notify Dr. Cashman and her supervisors that the new information she requires has been obtained and compiled by KREET members (www.kreet.org). It’s summarized in Table A.

Specifically, Rows ## 5-18 contain new evidence indicating people have been exposed over a long period of time to high levels of ingested, excreted and exhaled Alpha, Beta  and  Gamma (Photon) radiation from Radon-222 and other co-occurring radioisotopes; including Polonium-218/214/210, Lead-214/210 and  Bismuth-214/210.

In fact, Slide #6 @ www.gfxtechnology.com/IEEE3.pptx indicates many people are also being exposed to huge amounts of co-occurring Lead-210, Bismuth-210 and Polonium-210; some receiving annual doses up to 6,300 mrem (6.3 Rem); 1,575 times the 4 mrem MCL set by the updated Radionuclides Rule of 1976 (summarized in Slide #4).


Therefore, a proper Health Analysis for people living at 21 and  95 Durkee Lane must include total dose for ingestion and  inhalation of Radon-222 and its decay products.

New NYS Initiative Reveals Abnormally High Lung Cancer Rates on Long Island

As ATSDR is well aware, over 3 decades ago, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop stated that radioactivity, rather than tar, accounts for at least 90% of all smoking-related lung cancers. Polonium-210, a decay product of Radon-222, is the major cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and  dogs. 

Therefore, the information presented in Tables A and B alone justify a Health Assessment.

Table A Analysis of Drinking & Irrigation Water Based Upon 2015 NYSDOH Analysis in Response to a Polonium Petition to Governor Cuomo Corresponding to Row 4* 1. Table A, Column B indicates adults (and large dogs) drinking over 2 liters of water per day (2 LPD) are receiving annual doses ranging from 1.4 to 11.8 mrem; based on the NYSDOH analysis in the “Gavitt.pdf” attachment fromwww.gfxtechnology.com/Gavitt.pdf. (The Radionuclides Rule of 1976 set 4 mrem/yr as the MCL for co-occurring radionuclides; with a Gross Alpha MCL of 15 pCi/L, excluding Radon-222.) 2. Columns C and D indicate every calculated Gross Alpha concentration exceeds the EPA’s 15 pCi/L Gross Alpha MCL. These calculations would agree with Alpha spectrometry results; not EPA Method 900 used by water sellers to suppress both Alpha and Beta radiation. 3. Column G, Row 7 and  8 indicate the ratio of Radon in Water to Radon in Air is 246:1  and  253:1, respectively; much less than 10,000:1; indicated in the attached NYSDOH analysis. Therefore, a proper Health Analysis for people living at 21 and  95 Durkee Lane must include total dose for ingestion and  inhalation of Radon-222 and its decay products.

* http://www.gfxtechnology.com/Gavitt.pd and http://www.gfxtechnology.com/Cuomo.pdf

Table B Cancer cases and deaths on Long Island (https://projects.newsday.com/databases/long-island/cancer-rates/)

* More than 18,000 cases of cancer a year occurred on average on Long Island from 2011 through 2015, according to the most recent data available from the state Department of Health, and an average of nearly 5,274 deaths a year were reported. This database was posted on July 5, 2018. (“High cancer rates in Suffolk cluster” by Delthia Rickes (Newsday 7/6/18)

Accordingly, please order a Health Assessment centered on the addresses listed in Table A, as well as the teachers and children exposed to Radon-222 at the Frank P. Long School. Additionally, please issue warning to all Long Island doctors and veterinarians that their patients could be suffering from radiation poisoning.

Yours truly,
Dr. Carmine F. Vasile
Member KREET (www.kreet.org)

July

Sven E. Rodenbeck, Sc.D., P.E., BCEE
Rear Admiral (retired), USPHS ATSDR/DCHI Mailstop F59, 4770 Buford Highway, NE Atlanta, GA 30341 <svr1@cdc.gov>Office Telephone: (770) 488-3660 FAX: 543

http://www.gfxtechnology.com/KREET.pdf

If anyone is interested in knowing if there is Radon in your water, the test kits are $25.00 at Home Depot.  Easy to do. If you find Radon in your water, reach out to the members of KREET to add your research to the study and find out what to do next.