A study by Hiroshima University researchers has shown that men who entered the city just after the 1945 atomic bombing face a greater chance of dying from cancer than those who came three days later.
The findings suggest that human health may be impaired by residual radiation from the materials generated by a nuclear detonation, and challenge the view espoused by a state-funded institute that maintains such radiation caused no major difference in cancer risk in people who entered the city right after the bombing.
The team at the university's Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine will present the results of its statistical analysis Sunday at a meeting of the Japan Radiation Research Society to be held in the city of Aomori.