The National Cancer Institute revealed this past fall that as many as 75,000 Americans were exposed to radioactive fallout from bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s at levels high enough to cause thyroid cancer. Each of the 90 aboveground tests in Nevada sent clouds of radioactive iodine (I-131) and strontium (S-90) into the sky. In the weeks following each test, the drifting chemical haze settled as dry particles or rain across the country, especially in the states immediately downwind: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Utah.
Scientists worry most about those who grew up on farms in those states. When cows graze on grass doused with I-131, the chemical enters their milk. Children under six, who have small thyroid glands and consume lots of milk, received three to seven times higher doses of I-131 than adults did, according to the nci—and they were especially likely to get a high ...
