Despite assurances from the US government that the amount of radiation reaching America from the nuclear disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant following the tragic earthquake were safe, many of us felt the need to protect our families.  We were told radiation levels were no greater than taking a flight on an airplane or receiving dental x-rays, yet the fact that this was additional radiation to these “normal” sources was largely overlooked.

Did this increase in radiation from the  nuclear disaster contribute to health problems that led to an increase in US death rates, especially for children under one year of age?

Now, a peer-reviewed study has examined the increase in US deaths following Japan’s nuclear disaster, and the numbers are staggering and comparable to Chernobyl.

Natural News reports:

Epidemiologist Joseph Mangano, MPH, MBA, and his colleagues say that, based on compiled data, at least 14,000 people in the US were killed during the 14 weeks following the Fukushima catastrophe — and the majority of these deaths were in children under age one…

“This study of Fukushima health hazards is the first to be published in a scientific journal,” said Mangano. “It raises concerns, and strongly suggests that health studies continue, to understand the true impact of Fukushima in Japan and around the world. Findings are important to the current debate of whether to build new reactors, and how long to keep aging ones in operation.”

Market Watch further explains:

 This is the first peer-reviewed study published in a medical journal documenting the health hazards of Fukushima.

Authors Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman note that their estimate of 14,000 excess U.S. deaths in the 14 weeks after the Fukushima meltdowns is comparable to the 16,500 excess deaths in the 17 weeks after the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. The rise in reported deaths after Fukushima was largest among U.S. infants under age one.

The 2010-2011 increase for infant deaths in the spring was 1.8 percent, compared to a decrease of 8.37 percent in the preceding 14 weeks…

Just six days after the disastrous meltdowns struck four reactors at Fukushima on March 11, scientists detected the plume of toxic fallout had arrived over American shores. Subsequent measurements by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found levels of radiation in air, water, and milk hundreds of times above normal across the U.S. The highest detected levels of Iodine-131 in precipitation in the U.S. were as follows (normal is about 2 picocuries I-131 per liter of water): Boise, ID (390); Kansas City (200); Salt Lake City (190); Jacksonville, FL (150); Olympia, WA (125); and Boston, MA (92)…

Internist and toxicologist Janette Sherman, MD, said: “Based on our continuing research, the actual death count here may be as high as 18,000, with influenza and pneumonia, which were up five-fold in the period in question as a cause of death. Deaths are seen across all ages, but we continue to find that infants are hardest hit because their tissues are rapidly multiplying, they have undeveloped immune systems, and the doses of radioisotopes are proportionally greater than for adults.”

Could there be another explanation for the increase in deaths?  Have other increases been recorded without there being such a catastrophic nuclear event?

Our government, of course, did not want to instill fear in the US population following the event, but honesty as to the increased risks, especially to those under the age of one, would have been nice, especially if simple solutions, such as increased iodine, could have prevented these deaths.