Response to “An Unexpected Mortality Increase in the United States Follows Arrival of the Radioactive Plume from Fukushima: Is There a Correlation?”

Abstract

The author responds to an article published in the Journal by Joseph J. Mangano and Janette D. Sherman suggesting that a large increase in U.S. deaths within days after Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant accident could be attributed to radiation released from this accident and arriving in the United States. This response posits that exposure to such extremely low doses of ionizing radiations cannot cause immediate deaths. The author argues that it is extremely unlikely an increase in U.S. deaths immediately after the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear plant accidents is caused by radiation released from these sites.