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Nearly half of children living in Fukushima region have radioactive iodine in their thyroid glands - (Read Full Article)

An anonymous official from the Japanese government recently came forward with the startling results of radiation tests conducted on children shortly after the disastrous earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. According to www.dawn.com the official revealed that 45 percent of children tested had radioactive iodine lodged in their thyroid glands.

The Japanese government's nuclear accident task force tested 1,149 children 15 and younger just a few weeks after the events of March 11. 1,080 of these tests were confirmed to be valid, and 482 of them, representing 44.6 percent of children, confirmed the presence of damaging radioactive iodine in their thyroid glands.

The thyroid gland, which is located in the front of the neck just below the larynx, is responsible for regulating the body's metabolism, producing necessary hormones for every tissue in the body, increasing protein synthesis, regulating oxygen consumption by cells, and balancing calcium.

This important gland, which is designed to uptake the nutritious, mineral version of iodine, can also uptake deadly radioactive iodine and other toxic chemicals like fluoride. When this occurs, the thyroid gland is unable to properly function, as hormone production becomes altered or inhibited. The end result is the potential development of a wide variety of diseases.

Fukushima: Strontium levels up to 240 times over legal limit near plant, uninhabitable land area now the size of 17 Manhattans - (Read Full Story)

Representing the first time the substance has been detected at the crippled plant, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported on Sunday that seawater and groundwater samples taken near the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility in Japan have tested positive for radioactive strontium. And according to a recent report in The Japan Times, levels of strontium detected were up to 240 times over the legal limit, indicating a serious environmental and health threat.

Radioactive strontium, which is known to accumulate in bones and eventually lead to diseases like cancer and leukemia, is one of at least three "hot particles" being continually released by the damaged plant, according to experts. The others include radioactive cesium and plutonium, both of which are implicated in causing birth defects, cancer, and death.

"We are discovering hot particles everywhere in Japan, even in Tokyo," said Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president with 39 years of nuclear engineering experience, to Al Jazeera. "Scientists are finding these everywhere. Over the last 90 days these hot particles have continued to fall and are being deposited in high concentrations. A lot of people are picking these up in car engine air filters.”