Hi Veronica,
Thankyou very much for this information. It is wonderful to have such a
great collection of people on Lactnet.
The IAEA website states that authorities are distributing iodine in the
event that there is radiation exposure- I presume that this is also a part
of the emergency plan. Clearly at this point the recommendation is as per
usual, that women continue breastfeeding. At what point would this
recommendation change?? I have also asked my emergency nutrition colleagues
for information. At the time of the last large nuclear accident infant
feeding in emergencies as a speciality didn't really exists. Do you or
anyone else know what happened re infant feeding after Chernobyl?
Karleen Gribble
Australia

-----Original Message-----
From: Lactation Information and Discussion
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Veronica Garea
Sent: Sunday, 13 March 2011 8:32 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Radiation and breastfeeding

Hi Karleen
you said "I vaguely recall that some time ago we had a Lactnet member with
expertise
in lactation and radiation. "

That would be me.

The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP) hass been
classified as Level 4 in the INES scale
http://www-ns.iaea.org/tech-areas/emergency/ines.asp "Accident with local
consequences". By "local" the scale means on site.

Accident management and emergency plans for facilities require evacuation
even when there is no actual and current exposure risk. This is good
practice.

Mothers are not currently exposed to incorporation of radioisotopes. There
is no reason to make any recommendation other than those pertinent for any
emergency.

I am following the situation as closely as I can. If there is any change in
this information, I will let you know here in Lactnet.

Best regards

Veronica

Veronica Garea, ME Nuc Eng, PhD Eng Phys
Nuclear safety specialist and LLL Leader
On Sat, Mar 12, 2011 at 4:23 PM, LACTNET automatic digest system

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