RERF responds to request by second-generation A-bomb survivors, will conduct thorough analysis of genetic effects
May 21, 2015
On May 11, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) responded to a request made by the National Association of Second-generation A-bomb Survivors, which is seeking a more detailed analysis of the genetic effects of the atomic bombings. RERF informed the group that it would carry out a thorough analysis, including a survey on mortality rates in line with the parents’ level of radiation exposure.
Through a medical check-up of second-generation A-bomb survivors, conducted once every four years, RERF has been checking whether they suffer from any lifestyle diseases and examining a possible correlation between their health conditions and their parents’ exposure to A-bomb radiation. Currently, an analysis is ongoing for the data involving 10,000 second-generation A-bomb survivors, which was gathered from 2010 to 2014. After the previous survey, conducted from 2002 to 2006, RERF concluded that it could find “no causal relationship.”
On this day, nine members of the group, including Noboru Sakiyama, the vice president, visited RERF and received a written response to the request they made on February 17, 2015 from Takanobu Teramoto, the executive director of RERF. According to the response, RERF explained that “an analysis based on their parents’ level of exposure to A-bomb radiation will be conducted” in a different framework from the normal clinical survey of second-generation survivors. Responding to a request which asks for an analysis that focuses only on those second-generation survivors who were born within five years of the atomic bombings, RERF said, “We plan to take the time of their birth into consideration. We will also analyze other factors, including the level of radiation exposure to both parents and the gender of the second-generation survivors.”
Katsuhiro Hirano, the secretary general of the association, said, “Our request represents concerns we have had about the results of the previous survey. I’m satisfied because RERF responded to almost all the items contained in our request.”
(Originally published on May 12, 2015)
Through a medical check-up of second-generation A-bomb survivors, conducted once every four years, RERF has been checking whether they suffer from any lifestyle diseases and examining a possible correlation between their health conditions and their parents’ exposure to A-bomb radiation. Currently, an analysis is ongoing for the data involving 10,000 second-generation A-bomb survivors, which was gathered from 2010 to 2014. After the previous survey, conducted from 2002 to 2006, RERF concluded that it could find “no causal relationship.”
On this day, nine members of the group, including Noboru Sakiyama, the vice president, visited RERF and received a written response to the request they made on February 17, 2015 from Takanobu Teramoto, the executive director of RERF. According to the response, RERF explained that “an analysis based on their parents’ level of exposure to A-bomb radiation will be conducted” in a different framework from the normal clinical survey of second-generation survivors. Responding to a request which asks for an analysis that focuses only on those second-generation survivors who were born within five years of the atomic bombings, RERF said, “We plan to take the time of their birth into consideration. We will also analyze other factors, including the level of radiation exposure to both parents and the gender of the second-generation survivors.”
Katsuhiro Hirano, the secretary general of the association, said, “Our request represents concerns we have had about the results of the previous survey. I’m satisfied because RERF responded to almost all the items contained in our request.”
(Originally published on May 12, 2015)
