Editing Three Mile Island accident (section)

===Health effects and epidemiology===
{{main|Three Mile Island accident health effects}}
In the aftermath of the accident, investigations focused on the amount of radioactivity released. In total, approximately {{convert|2.5|MCi|PBq}} of radioactive gases and approximately {{convert|15|Ci|GBq}} of iodine-131 were released into the environment.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rogovin |first=Mitchell |title=Three Mile Island: a report to the commissioners and to the public. Volume I |date=January 1980 |publisher=U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5395798 |access-date=October 26, 2021 |page=153 |doi=10.2172/5395798 |osti=5395798 |quote=}}</ref> According to the [[American Nuclear Society]], using the official radioactivity emission figures, "The average radiation dose to people living within 10&nbsp;miles of the plant was eight&nbsp;[[millirem]] (0.08&nbsp;[[Sievert|mSv]]), and no more than 100&nbsp;millirem (1&nbsp;mSv) to any single individual. Eight&nbsp;millirem is about equal to a chest [[X-ray]], and 100&nbsp;millirem is about a third of the average background level of radiation received by US residents in a year."<ref>{{cite news |title=Three-Mile Island cancer rates probed |work=BBC News |date=November 1, 2002 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2385551.stm |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref>

According to health researcher Joseph Mangano, early scientific publications estimated no additional cancer deaths in the {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=on}} area around TMI, based on these numbers.<ref name=Mangano2004/> Disease rates in areas farther than 10&nbsp;miles from the plant were not examined.<ref name=Mangano2004/> Local activism in the 1980s, based on anecdotal reports of negative health effects, led to scientific studies being commissioned. A variety of epidemiology studies have concluded that the accident had no observable long-term health effects.<ref name="hatch90"/><ref name="Hatch MC, Wallenstein S, Beyea J, Nieves JW, Susser M 1991 719–724"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Levin |first=R. J. |year=2008 |title=Incidence of thyroid cancer in residents surrounding the Three-Mile Island nuclear facility |journal=Laryngoscope |volume=118 |issue=4 |pages=618–28 |doi=10.1097/MLG.0b013e3181613ad2 |pmid=18300710 |s2cid=27337295 |quote=These findings, however, do not provide a causal link to the TMI accident.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/158526327/Settlement-of-Medical-Claims |title=Settlement of Medical Claims |date=February 7, 1985 |via=Scribd |access-date=March 6, 2018}}</ref>

A peer-reviewed research article by Dr. Steven Wing found a significant increase in cancers between 1979 and 1985 among people who lived within ten miles of TMI.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wing |first1=S. |last2=Richardson |first2=D. |last3=Armstrong |first3=D. |last4=Crawford-Brown |first4=D. |title=A reevaluation of cancer incidence near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant: the collision of evidence and assumptions |journal=Environ Health Perspect |pages=52–57 |date=January 1997 |pmid=9074881 |volume=105 |issue=1 |pmc=1469835 |doi=10.1289/ehp.9710552|bibcode=1997EnvHP.105...52W }}</ref> In 2009, Dr. Wing stated that radiation releases during the accident were probably "thousands of times greater" than the NRC's estimates. A retrospective study of the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry found an increased incidence of thyroid cancer in some counties south of TMI (although, notably, not in [[Dauphin County, Pennsylvania|Dauphin County]] where the reactor was located) and in high-risk age groups but did not draw a [[causal]] link between these incidences and the accident.<ref name="ncbi.nlm.nih.gov" /><ref name="Levin RJ; De Simone NF; Slotkin JF; Henson BL. 1238:2064–71" /> The Talbott lab at the University of Pittsburgh reported finding a few, small increased cancer risks within the TMI population.<ref name="Han YY; Youk AO; Sasser H; Talbott EO. 1230–5" /> A more recent study reached "findings consistent with observations from other radiation-exposed populations," raising "the possibility that radiation released from [Three Mile Island] may have altered the molecular profile of [thyroid cancer] in the population surrounding TMI", establishing a potential causal mechanism, although not definitively proving causation.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28555940/|title=Altered molecular profile in thyroid cancers from patients affected by the Three Mile Island nuclear accident|first1=David|last1=Goldenberg|first2=Mariano|last2=Russo|first3=Kenneth|last3=Houser|first4=Henry|last4=Crist|first5=Jonathan B.|last5=Derr|first6=Vonn|last6=Walter|first7=Joshua I.|last7=Warrick|first8=Kathryn E.|last8=Sheldon|first9=James|last9=Broach|first10=Darrin V.|last10=Bann|date=July 17, 2017|journal=The Laryngoscope|volume=127|issue=Suppl 3 |pages=S1–S9|via=PubMed|doi=10.1002/lary.26687|pmid=28555940|s2cid=40795419}}</ref>

The [[Radiation and Public Health Project]], an organization with little credibility among epidemiologists,<ref>{{cite news |last=Newman |first=Andy |date=November 11, 2003 |title=In Baby Teeth, a Test of Fallout; A Long-Shot Search for Nuclear Peril in Molars and Cuspids |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/nyregion/baby-teeth-test-fallout-long-shot-search-for-nuclear-peril-molars-cuspids.html}}</ref> cited calculations by Mangano that showed a spike in infant mortality in downwind communities two years after the accident.<ref name="Mangano2004" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Teather |first=David |date=April 13, 2004 |title=US nuclear industry powers back into life |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2004/apr/13/nuclearindustry.usnews |access-date=December 29, 2008 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London, England}}</ref> Anecdotal evidence also records effects on the region's wildlife.<ref name="Mangano2004" /> [[John Gofman]] used his own, non-[[peer reviewed]] low-level radiation health model to predict 333 excess cancer or leukemia deaths from the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.<ref name="Gofman John W. xvii" /> The ongoing TMI epidemiological research has been accompanied by a discussion of problems in dose estimates due to a lack of accurate data, as well as illness classifications.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wing |first1=S. |last2=Richardson |first2=D. B. |last3=Hoffmann |first3=W. |date=April 2011 |title=Cancer risks near nuclear facilities: the importance of research design and explicit study hypotheses |journal=Environ Health Perspect |volume=119 |issue=4 |pages=417–21 |doi=10.1289/ehp.1002853 |pmc=3080920 |pmid=21147606|bibcode=2011EnvHP.119..417W }}</ref>