Radioactive sand causes cancer, disabilities in children in India

From Express Buzz in Tamil Nadu, India:

NAGERCOIL, India -- The mining and processing of beach sand along the coastal villages near Manavalakkurichi could fetch foreign exchange for India, but ontributes definitely to a little known fact that people in this region are affected by deadly diseases such as cancer and mental retardation.

Radioactive sand along the Kanyakumari coast, which has heavy minerals like Limonite, Monazite, Zivon, Silliminate and Garnet, is the reason for the high incidence of mental retardation and cancer in the region.

Among these heavy minerals, Monazite contains four to eight per cent Thorium Phosphate, an alpha ray emitter, and is significantly on the increase, mainly due to its use in the nuclear technology and power generating industry.

The NGO, Conservation of Nature Trust’s report revealed that radioactivity along the southwest Tamil Nadu coast is around 200-235 mr per year and they accelerate mutation at nucleotide positions.

Cancer and mental retardation cases are found in several hamlets of Manavalakurichi panchayat, including Periyavilai, Chinnavilai, Puthur and Kottilpadu.

Around 11 out of the 30 reported cases of cancer have already died and those mentally retarded, mostly children, have gone past 100.

The report added that some people along these coastal hamlets also involved in sand-mining activities are unaware and unmindful of the consequences of sand mining. However, the only assistance these people are offered is a hospital in Neyyoor, where cancer patients are treated virtually free of cost.