Mushrooming ill-effects

radioactive fallout from Cold War nuclear weapons tests throughout the world caused at least 15,000 cancer deaths in the us, revealed a us government study made public recently.

The health and human services department study also indicated that 20,000 non-fatal cancers among us residents born after 1951 could be linked to the above-ground weapons tests.

The study revealed that nuclear tests conducted in the erstwhile Soviet Union had a much wider repercussion on the us than previously known. It was also found that the us' and Britain's tests wrought havoc on several Pacific Islands. The us tests in Nevada also spread substantial amounts of radioactivity across a broad stretch of the country, the research added.

"Any person living in the contiguous us since 1951 has been exposed to radioactive fallout," the study said adding that, "all organs and tissues of the body have received some radiation exposure". The government report also stated that radiation appears to have had the greatest impact on risks for thyroid cancer.

The data showed that even as the negative effect of global tests blanketed much of the us, with heavy pockets in Iowa, Tennessee, California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, the Nevada tests hit states such as Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri.

The study was ordered by the us Congress in 1998.