The potential effects of Radiation poisoning due to the earthquake in Japan - Essay Example

The Potential Effects of Radiation Poisoning Due to the Earthquake in Japan The radiation brought by the recent catastrophic damage to Japan’s nuclear power plant due to earthquake and tsunami in abrupt sequence entails a range of hazardous impact upon the health of Japanese individuals who have been exposed to the leaks of radioactive substances. Radiation poisoning acquired in this situation may well vary in rate or degree based upon the intensity of radiation as well as the point of location within its extent of coverage.

One may reasonably expect a single unique devastating effect of its own, ill health consequences in chain or series of subsequent reactions which are dealt with as threats of either short-term or long-term risks. Several highly unfavorable complications in response to a person’s exposure may be enumerated at random including sudden illness followed by nausea and vomiting within approximately 10 Sv-quantity of radiation (CBC). Headaches and fever with diarrhea may further result since the external bodily systems in direct contact with radioactivity affect the digestive tract and the bloodstream.

Radioactive iodine, Cesium, and Thallium are particularly absorbed in the process through the thyroid gland, the cells lining the stomach and intestine walls, and also targets vulnerability via the bone marrow (CBC). Because it leads to the destruction of white blood cells, the diffused elements of radiation may equivalently contaminate internal body parts with different types of infection and thus spread infectious diseases thereafter (CBC). If the appropriate treatment is not administered urgently and sufficiently, the body’s capacity to properly carry out cell division during reparations becomes diminished and the serious impairment of this function gradually facilitates the growth of cancer cells (CBC).

As genes and genetic materials are altered drastically in nature from their original structures or forms during mutation, especially for people with fast rates of mitosis like children, the highest probability of getting cancer is undoubtedly pronounced (CBC). Government authorities and concerned groups, hence, should act in their outstanding power and compassion to resolve the health crisis as such posed by the nuclear plant issue in the tsunami’s aftermath. Work Cited CBC News. “FAQs: Radiation’s Health Effects.

” 15 Mar 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/03/15/f-radiation-sickness.html. 15 Mar 2011.