ML19305D126

Response to Aamodt Second Set of Interrogatories.Includes Info Re Connection Between Incidence of Hypothyroidism in PA & TMI-2 Accident.Es Boudin,Gk Tokuhata & Ma Reilly Draft Affidavits Encl

ML19305D126
Person / Time
Site:	Three Mile Island
Issue date:	03/17/1980
From:	Carter K PENNSYLVANIA, COMMONWEALTH OF
To:	Aamodt M AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
Shared Package
ML19305D120	List: ML19305D119 ML19305D122 ML19305D126 ML19305D129
References
NUDOCS 8004140080
Download: ML19305D126 (9)

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' C EtATED CORREspoypD UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGUIEIORY 00tMISSION BEEDRE THE AT W IC SAFEIY AND LICENSING BOARD l In the matter of )

) o 9N MEIROPOLITAN EDISON OWPANY ) Docket No. 50-289 6

) (Restart) G

('Ihree Mile Island Nuclear ) -

Station, Unit No. 1) )

a fl.AR 20 Eh :

RESPONSE OF THE 00ttDNWEALTH OF $$E!d}.g"ay O PENNSYLVANIA 10 AAFOUT INIERROGATORY "")ib,.5 ,. 7 (SECOND SET) g f/O t'

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1. How many hospitals in Lancaster County were participating in the State hypothyroidism screening of ne@orns in 1977, 1978 and 1979?

(a) Provide names of hospitals.

(b) Number of births at each.

(c) Nutrber of births screened for hypothyroidism.

RESPONSE

1977 - No Program July,1978 start of program 7/1/78-12/31/78 1/1/79-12/31/79 (a) (b) Live Births (c) Number of Infants Screened for 1978-79 Columbia N/A* 61 163 Ephrata M/A 296 678 Iancaster General N/A 1327 2509 Lancaster Osteopathic N/A 458 N/A*

St. Joseph's N/A 518 N/A*

VHot available at this time

2. How many cases of infant hypothyroidism were reported for Iancaster County in 1977, 1978 and 19797

RESPONSE

1977 - none 1978, July thru Dec. 1979, Jan. thru Dec.

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a. Indicate the location of the residence of family of each newborn by township.

894 +149984

RESPONSE

East ihmpfield, Lancaster, Upper Leacock, Earl (2), W. Donegal and Bart.

3. What was the level of confidence of Dr. Bodine [ sic] in stating to the press the norning of February 21, 1980 that there was no connection between the defects and the DiI-2 accident or an other environmental effect?

RESPONSE

To the direct recollection of Dr. Bouden, she has made no specific statement concerning the defects in relationship to environmental effects other than Dil-2 accident.

4. Were cases with relationship to inheritance and undeveloped thyroid (referred to by Dr. Bodine [ sic]) factored out of the data with which the Lancaster data was compared?

RESPONSE

The seven cases for Lancaster County include all cases of neonatal hypothyroidism known to the program.

5. Why is it necessary to take as nuch as two years to complete a study? (Based on Dr. Tokuhata's statement.)

RESPONSE

Data on the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism in Pennsylvania are available only since July, 1978, when the State began a screening program for this condition. Data collected during this start-up one-half year period (1978) are not as good as that for 1979, thus not suitable for direct conparison. In terms of historical observation in an epidemiological investigation, it would be necessaly to continue surveillance at least over the next year (1981). County-by-county- '

conparison will be made between 1980 and 1981 data.

6. khy does Dr. Tokuhata have little confidence that such a study m uld be reliable? (Based on his statement).

RESPONSE

'Ihis question seems to reflect sonhat distorted interpretation of what u s said. khat was said and meant was inherent difficulties involved in nost epidemiologic investigations of this type (" cluster" analysis in relation to conplete diagnostic evaluation of cases involved).

Epidemiologic inferences are made usually in terms of statistical probability within a given biomedical framework. Since epidemiology is an applied science (not exact science), it is often difficult to draw any definitive conclusions from a single episode depending upon avaiability of all the necessary input data, including genetic,' constitutional, environmental, nudical, and other factors. How complete and accurate is radiation exposure data, including radioactive iodine on an individual basis for pregnant w men residing in those areas where cases have been identified?

'Ihere is still considerable disagreement even anong professional experts in the field of radiation health, as to the health effects of " low" level radiation, khat is the likelihood of our being able to identify all other possible causative factors and being able to meastre (quantify) them accurately and conpletely? Questions of this type are difficult to answer with certabty.

7. Drs. Bodine [ sic] and Tokuhata referred to a " dose" to the public from the 'IMI-2 accident. How was this dose figured?

(a) How was the radioactive iodine measured?

RESPONSE

I was using the tenn " low" level radiation as quoted from the following public document: Population Dose and Health Effect of the Accident at the 'Ihree Mile Island Nuclear Station. (A preliminary assessment for the period March 28 through April 7, 1979) DHER-May 10, 1979.

8. Since the radioactive iodine in milk was elevated during the M accident, was there any need to warn any segment of the public who ,

consume milk in excess of noms?

(a) For instance, how nuch radioactive iodine would an individual who consumed three quarts of milk have ingested assuming the v st possible case, i.e., all milk from the farm with the highest levels of radioactive iodine measured from IMI accident to date?

RESPONSE

The highest datum recorded for cows milk in the course of the accident was 20 picocuries per liter (pCi/1) recorded on April 4,1979 at the fam. Based on this datum and data from other surveillance, it was hardly apparent that warnings to any segment of the population was warranted, considering federal guidance.

FDA guidance issued in the Federal Register of Friday, December 15, 1978 (FR Vol. 43, No. 242) pages 48790 through 48797, suggests a Preventative l

Protective Action Guide (PAG) of 90,000 picocurie intake to yield a dose cocmitment to a newborn infant thyroid of 1,500 millirem.* Milk contamination never approached this value, nor did the data ever suggest it might.

An individual capable of consuming three quarts of milk in one day is highly unlikely to be an infant. The hypothesized individual would need to be an adult or nearly so. This situation places the dose comnitment per picocurie intake nore than an order of magnitude lower than that for the newborn. The net effect is that an adult could drink nore than ten times nore milk per day than the newborn infant to accunulate the same

• Preventative PAG establishes a level at which responsible officials

should take protective action to prevent or reduce the concentration of l

radioactivity in food or animal food.

dose comitment. If the infant was not at significant risk, the adult, even at a higher intake, was less so.

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9. How do you reconcile the cumulative effects of radioactive iodine and criteria of 10 picoeuries as acceptable over the lifespan of someone who consunes one quart of milk a day from birth, asstmdng a 70 year lifespan?

(a) How many years would it take for that person to reach a

" dangerous" level of radioactive iodine constuption?

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RESPONSE

No current gui&nce suggests a chronic exposure to 10 pCi/l in milk.

If, however, one wre to consider that consumption of 90,000 pCi/l ,

131 by a neeorn infant would yield a dose comitment of 1500 mlrem, it follows that an intake of 10 pCi/1 per da'y would, over a year, yield an intake of 3650 pCi and a corresponding dose cmmitment of 61 mlrem.

Assuming one continues at an intake rate of 1 liter per day for life '

for 70 years and one's thyroid ceases to be newborn (conservative) at age 10, the total lifetime dose comitment would be (10 x 61) + (60 x 6.1)

= 976 millirem. If the annual background radiation is taken as 88 mlrem per year (local) with the thyroid accepted as being in the whole body, the thyroid would, in 70 years, have accumulated (88 x 70) = 6160 millirem.

The intake of 10 pCi per day and its dose comitment plus the contribution of natural background can be normalized to a background of 102 mlrem/ year.

With the natural background in Denver Colorado being placed at 160 mlrem per year, one might look for various thyroidal late effects if 10 pCi/ day intake were significant. We have no knowledge of the publication of such data.

Since NCRP Report No. 55 suggests that external radiation may

.be twice as effective in producing late effects as are 1iternally deposited radio-iodines, one would expect a correspondingly high rate of late. effects c

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l in areas having higher external natural background. We have no knowledge of the publication of such supporting data.

Respectfully submitted,

!0-nam w. cmen Assistant Attorney General Attorney for

'Ihe Camxxwealth of Pennsylvania March 17, 1980 e

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UNHED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR FIGULAIDRY 00ttfISSION BEEDRE THE A10tf1C SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of )

)

IEIROPOLITAN EDISON 00tiPANY, ) Docket No. 50-289 *

) (Restart)

(Three Mile Island Nuclear )

Station, Unit No. 1) )  :

AFFIDAVIT OF EVELYN S. BOUDEN Conmmw.alth of Pennsylvania )

) SS

County of Dauphin )

EVELYN S. BOUDEN, M.D., being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that she is Director of the Division of Parent, Child and School Health, Pennsylvania Health Departm2nt, and that the information ,

contained in Ccn onwealth's response to Interrogatories Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 is true and correct to the best of her kncxdedge, information-and belief.

LVELYN S. BOUDEN, M.D.

Director Division of Parent, Child and School Health Pennsylvania Department of Health Swrn to and subscribed before ne this day of March, 1980. -

IOTARY PUBLIC

UNITED STATES OF AIERICA NUCLEAR REGUIATORY 00t14ISSION BEFDRE 'nE A1U41C SAFEIY AND LICESING BOARD In the Matter of )

)

FEIROPOLITAN EDISON 00iPANY, ) Docket No. 50-289

) (Restart)

(Three Mile Island Nuclear )

Station, Unit No. 1) )

AFFIDAVIT OF GEORGE K. 1DKUHATA Cocnonwealth of Pennsylvania )

) SS County of Dauphin )

GEORGE K. IOKUHATA, Dr. P.H. , Ph.D. , being duly smrn according to law, deposes and says that he is Director of the Division of Epidemiological Research, Pennsylvania Health Department; and that the information contained in Comoiwealth's response to Interrogatories Nos. 5, 6, and 7 is true and correct to the best of his knowledge, information and belief.

GEORGE K. 10KUHATA, Dr. P.H., Ph.D.

Director Division of Epidemiological Research Pennsylvania Department of Health Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of March,1980.

NOTARY PUBLIC

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY 00tNISSION BEFORE 11E A104IC SAFEIY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of )

)

!ETROPOLITAN EDISON 034PANY, ) Docket No. 50-289 ~

) (Restart)

(Three Mile Island Nuclear )

Station, thit No.1) )

AFFIDAVIT OF MARGARET A. REILLY 00t4DNWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA ) '

) SS COUNIY OF DAUPHIN )

MARGARET A. REILLY, being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that she is Chief of the Enviruuumtal Radiation Division, i Bureau of Radiation Protection, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources; that the information contained in Conntxrealth's response to Interrogatories Nos. 8 and 9 is true and correct to the best of -

her knowledge, information and belief.

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1/kQQAb ',IL k, m RGAREr s. REu u Chief, Environmental Radiation Division Bureau of Radiation Protection Department of Environmental Resources Sworn to and subscribed before ne this /7t4 day of March, 1980.

h.c.q)? bsa 'o NOTARYPUBLIg t,y a c.

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