Nuclear power plant accidents (such as the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and the Fukushima accident in 2011 (primarily Americans in Japan).Nuclear testing by other nations elsewhere in the world (mainly in the 1950s and 1960s).In addition to nuclear testing in Nevada, the Pacific, and New Mexico, Americans were potentially exposed to I-131 from a number of events, including: From what is known about thyroid cancer and radiation, scientists think that people who were children during the period of atomic bomb testing are at higher risk for developing thyroid cancer. Much of the health risk associated with I-131 occurred among milk-drinkers-usually children. Depending on the location, grazing cows and goats sometimes consumed contaminated grasses resulting in I-131 collecting in the animals' milk. Some of the I-131 collected on pastures and on grasses. But I-131 traveled to all states, particularly those in the Midwestern, Eastern, and Northeastern United States. Scientists estimate that the larger amounts of I-131 from the Nevada test site fell over some parts of Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Montana. Therefore, although all areas of the United States received fallout from at least one nuclear weapons test, certain areas of North America received more fallout than others. How Americans Were Exposed to I-131īecause of wind and rainfall patterns, the distribution of I-131 fallout varied widely after each test.

It is located in the front of the neck, just above the top of the breastbone and overlying the windpipe.Īlthough the potential of developing thyroid cancer from exposure to I-131 from nuclear weapons testing is small, it is important for Americans who grew up during the atomic bomb testing between 19 to be aware of risks. The thyroid controls many body processes, including heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, as well as childhood growth and development. About 98 out of 100 people who are diagnosed with thyroid cancer survive the disease for at least five years after diagnosis. Typically, it is a slow-growing cancer that is highly treatable. Thyroid cancer is uncommon and is usually curable. People exposed to I-131, especially during childhood, may have an increased risk of thyroid disease, including thyroid cancer. As a result, people living in the United States at the time of the testing were exposed to varying levels of radiation.Īmong the numerous radioactive substances released in fallout, there has been a great deal of concern about and study of one radioactive form of iodine-called iodine-131, or I-131. The radioactive substances released by these tests are known as 'fallout.' They were carried thousands of miles away from the test site by winds. government conducted about 100 nuclear weapons (atomic bomb) tests in the atmosphere at a test site in Nevada, more than 100 in the Pacific, and one-the first ever-in New Mexico. During the Cold War in the mid-1940s through early 1960s, the U.S.

Atomic bomb test site