I
do not often post disinfo, but this is the LA Times article that has
been talked about so much.
West
Coast radiation from Fukushima disaster poses no risk, experts say
Scientists
trying to quell an outburst of concern say radiation from the 2011
tsunami that hit the Japanese nuclear power plant has dropped.
26
January, 2013
Radiation detected off
the U.S. West Coast from the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear
plant in Japan has declined since the 2011 tsunami disaster and
never approached levels that could pose a risk to human health,
seafood or wildlife, scientists say.
Experts
have been trying to dispel worries stemming from a burst of online
videos and blog posts in recent months that contend radiation from
Fukushima is contaminating beaches and seafood and harming sea
creatures across the Pacific.
Those
assertions are false and the concerns largely unfounded, scientists
and government officials said last week, because Fukushima
radionuclides in ocean water and marine life are at trace levels
and declining — so low that they are trivial compared with what
already exists in nature.
"There
is no public health risk at California beaches due to radioactivity
related to events at Fukushima," the California Department of
Public Health said in a statement.
Concentrations
of radioactive cesium from the nuclear plant that were detected in
the tissue of bluefin tuna, which migrate from waters near Japan
across the Pacific to the coast of California and Mexico, were very
low to begin with and have been falling since 2011, said Nicholas
Fisher, a professor of marine science at Stony
Brook University.
"The
dose is measurable but it's extremely low," said Fisher, an
expert on marine radioactivity.
Even
at its worst in the months after the disaster, the dose of
radioactivity that Fisher's lab found in tuna caught off California
was far lower than what people are exposed to from medical X-rays
or eating bananas or other potassium-rich foods, which contain
naturally occurring radioactive isotopes.
The
latest concerns are mostly driven by online videos, blogs and
social media — including a post titled
"28 Signs That the West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With
Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima." A video posted
on YouTube last month shows an unidentified man with a Geiger
counter detecting elevated radiation levels on a beach in Half Moon
Bay, south of San Francisco, and has received more than 650,000
views.
The
California Department of Public Health sent inspectors to the beach
shown in the video, and their tests found similarly elevated
radiation levels. But their analysis indicates they are naturally
occurring — probably from minerals in the sand — and not
associated with Fukushima.
Kim
Martini, an oceanographer at the University of Washington, noticed
a surge in outrageous worries about radiation in Seattle last fall,
including people who were
afraid to go to the beach and stopped eating seafood.
"Every
single environmental issue was being blamed on Fukushima," she
said. "And I thought there's no way that can be true."
Since
then she and other scientists have been posting information on the
blog Deep Sea News, with posts including "Is
the sea floor littered with dead animals due to radiation? No."
A
magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Japan on March 11, 2011, triggered a
series of tsunamis that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant, releasing radiation into the ocean and atmosphere.
Studies show that
leaks from the facility continue to send radionuclides into the
sea. But they dilute quickly in ocean water, scientists say.
Once
those contaminants disperse across the Pacific Ocean and reach the
West Coast, their concentration will be many thousands of times
lower and not of concern, according to an online FAQ by
Ken Buesseler, a marine scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution.
"This
is not to say that we should not be concerned about additional
sources of radioactivity in the ocean above the natural sources,
but at the levels expected even short distances from Japan, the
Pacific will be safe for boating, swimming, etc.," Buesseler
wrote.
State
and federal agencies boosted radiation monitoring after
the 2011 disaster but returned to normal after data showed the
slightly elevated levels in air and milk were declining. They have
detected only trace amounts of radiation from Fukushima, well below
what would be a public health concern.
For
now, those observations have not quelled the conspiracy theories.
The
Southern California environmental group Heal the Bay has fielded
such a swell of alarmist calls, emails and Facebook inquires that
its staff posted an online Q&A.
"We
understand why people are concerned," said Matthew King, a
spokesman for the group. "Many staffers are surfers and in the
water each week, and many love to eat seafood and sushi, so it's
only human nature to be a bit worried. But like everything else we
do, we are guided by the best available science."
Fisher,
the marine scientist, thinks one factor behind those worries is the
public's poor grasp of how radiation works.
"I
think it's fear of the unknown," said Martini, the Seattle
oceanographer. "Radiation is kind of scary. You don't really
see it and you can't detect it using your normal senses."
"There
are consequences of this disaster," she said, "but the
problem is really only in Japan."
This was an interesting piece to read after yesterday's episode of Democracy Now which was on location in Tokyo. Author McNeil, who lives in Tokyo with his family and has written about Fukishima sounded to me as if he was saying the same thing. That water dilutes radiation. That there isn't a need to worry.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the news from Mimi German and Radcast which leaves me with the impression that the situation on the West Coast of the USA is not easy to dismiss.
Where in all of this is the real story?
So, where do we fit in Ian Macfayden and his experience in the Pacific (he has dropped off the radar), the melting of the starfish, the sardines, whales off NZ, the shell fish. Was it climate change? Acidification? Pollution? Radiation? In the end it couldn't bode well for other species who live in the ocea.
No way that the radiation just disappears - you just need to listen to Dr Helen Caldicott or Chris Busby who say (amongst others) that the radiation becomes more and more concentrated as it moves through the food chain, until it reaches the top - us. These people talk as if the ocean was just water and nothing lives in it (which will become true). They are great on reassurances but almost never produce evidence - something that Radcast does in bucketfulls. I think what McFayden saw was a result of all of these - but the straw that broke the camels back, in this case, was radiation from Fukushima. No doubt in my mind. You are right, BTW about the guy in DN.
DeleteYes yes, yes. All those points you raised especially about the radiation becoming more and more concentrated as it moves up the food chain is what seems to drop off the "radar" screen of these reports. When I wrote that response yesterday I had even forgotten about the men on the Regan. I don't believe that wasn't even referred to by Goodman at all during that exchange with McNeil.
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