Oh ANN!

Ann Coulter never ceases to amaze me. She has an ability to say the most irresponsible things. This time it comes in her blog "A GLOWING REPORT ON RADIATION" (http://www.anncoulter.com/). Ann writes her blogs for the very far right, conservative Republicans. In this particular article she is talking about the science behind exposure to radiation and how it can be beneficial to people.She states there is a study in Canada that shows tuberculosis patients exposed to multiple chest X-rays have lower lung cancer rates. She also writes about a 1991 study that shows shipyard workers exposed to higher levels of radiation had a 24% lower death rate and a 25% lower cancer rate. She says that a growing number of scientist think that radiation can be beneficial at much higher doses than those that the Japanese are being exposed to. She thinks that the media is responsible for the bad hype on radiation. The reason all of this is significant to America is that we have some Nuclear reactors for both energy and research but we are not a people who are for putting nuclear plants in every city to use as an alternative to coal power. 
Ann is not a scientist. It is irresponsible for her to sway a population about things that she cannot be certain about. What about the deformities caused by the nuclear bombs used in Japan during World War 2. She brings up the accident at Chernobyl and how the only people who died were in the actual explosion. There are reports of radiation sickness that killed fire fighters who were on scene as well as birth defects in some of the children of local residents. Radioactive chemicals are DNA mutating. Even if levels higher than are deemed safe do not cause cancer in those exposed, what about the potential for birth defects in their young? What about the animals and plants exposed to this radiation? I don't think it is a good idea to argue science unless you are in the business of science. Ask any Chemist about radiation and see if they agree with ANN.