SHARE Fact-Checks

A Letter to the Editor from SHARE’s Executive Director, Craig Wilson, published on November 21, 2009 in the RecordOnline.com:

Fact sheet

“Thyroid-cancer rates higher near Indian Point, article says” contains deceptive, alarmist conclusions that are reached through improper scientific standards. The article’s author, Mr. Mangano, asserts a link between a type of radiation, strontium 90, that is detectable at nuclear power plants only when using highly sensitive equipment, the level of this radiation within baby teeth from areas surrounding Indian Point and regional thyroid cancer rates. Mangano fails to properly discuss and include within his analysis additional sources of strontium 90, including the source that is known to account for 99 percent of this type of radiation within the atmosphere — the testing of nuclear weapons from the Cold War era.

The scientific community has debunked Mangano’s work and labeled it the “tooth fairy project,” with even Westchester County’s health commissioner, Dr. Joshua Lipsman, commenting, “What they do is what’s popularly referred to as ‘junk science.’” Recognizing Mangano’s unsupported conclusions, his standing within the scientific community and the unnecessary fear he causes, the media must carefully scrutinize his future work prior to its publication.

Craig Wilson
Executive Director of Safe Healthy Affordable Reliable Energy (SHARE)
New York