Agorism
04-22-2011, 08:52 PM
We're now right on the edge of the EPA's limit in California
Is Radiation from Japan in the USA at Dangerous Levels?
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2011/04/22/is-radiation-from-japan-in-the-usa-at-dangerous-levels/
Emissions of radiation from the crippled Fukushima power plant in Japan have been going on for quite some time now, and at extremely high levels. The local gravity of the crisis has caused many Americans to become alarmed about how the radiation from Japan, traveling across the Pacific Ocean, could harm them.
The images from the Fukushima plant are scary. Radiation sounds scary. But, let’s not just be scared. Let’s look at the facts.
The EPA is gathering information on radioactive isotopes that are coming from the Fukushima plant. That Radiation is being measured in the unit of picocuries. A picocurie is a trillionth of a curie. Babies who consume a concentration of 1,000 picocuries per liter over a 30 day period will receive 331 millirem. The legal limit for a fetus is 50 millirem per month. So, anything above a level of 151 picocuries per liter would probably exceeding legal levels for fetuses, the most vulnerable population.
Current radiation levels in rain falling on Richmond, California are:
138 picocuries per liter of Iodine 131
5.96 picocuries per liter of Tellurium 132
That’s 143.96 picocuries per day, under the legal safety limit, but close to it. However, rainwater is not consumed by pregnant women. Pregnant women don’t drink by standing out in rainstorms, and what’s coming down in rain now joins in with water already present.
Pregnant drink from available suppies of drinking water. So, how many picocuries of radiation have accumulated in drinking water in Richmond? That radiation there is at undetectable levels. The highest number of picocuries in drinking water sampled anywhere in the United States is in Ohio, not on the West Coast, and that picocurie level is at only 0.42 of Iodine 131 per liter – about 1/300th of the legal limit for fetuses, and even a smaller percentage of safe levels for adults.
There may be biological mechanisms that concentrate radiation originating from rainwater. The production of milk is such a mechanism, as grass soaks up radiation from water that’s rained down, and is eaten and concentrated in turn by cows who produce milk. So, what about the amount of radiation in milk? How could that affect the children growing within pregnant American women?
Even in Hilo, Hawaii, milk that comes from local cows has insignificant amounts of radiation: 24 picocuries of Cesium 134, 19 picocuries of Cesium 137, and 18 picocuries of Iodine 131. That’s a total of 61 picocuries, far under the 151 picocurie legal limit.
Is Radiation from Japan in the USA at Dangerous Levels?
http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2011/04/22/is-radiation-from-japan-in-the-usa-at-dangerous-levels/
Emissions of radiation from the crippled Fukushima power plant in Japan have been going on for quite some time now, and at extremely high levels. The local gravity of the crisis has caused many Americans to become alarmed about how the radiation from Japan, traveling across the Pacific Ocean, could harm them.
The images from the Fukushima plant are scary. Radiation sounds scary. But, let’s not just be scared. Let’s look at the facts.
The EPA is gathering information on radioactive isotopes that are coming from the Fukushima plant. That Radiation is being measured in the unit of picocuries. A picocurie is a trillionth of a curie. Babies who consume a concentration of 1,000 picocuries per liter over a 30 day period will receive 331 millirem. The legal limit for a fetus is 50 millirem per month. So, anything above a level of 151 picocuries per liter would probably exceeding legal levels for fetuses, the most vulnerable population.
Current radiation levels in rain falling on Richmond, California are:
138 picocuries per liter of Iodine 131
5.96 picocuries per liter of Tellurium 132
That’s 143.96 picocuries per day, under the legal safety limit, but close to it. However, rainwater is not consumed by pregnant women. Pregnant women don’t drink by standing out in rainstorms, and what’s coming down in rain now joins in with water already present.
Pregnant drink from available suppies of drinking water. So, how many picocuries of radiation have accumulated in drinking water in Richmond? That radiation there is at undetectable levels. The highest number of picocuries in drinking water sampled anywhere in the United States is in Ohio, not on the West Coast, and that picocurie level is at only 0.42 of Iodine 131 per liter – about 1/300th of the legal limit for fetuses, and even a smaller percentage of safe levels for adults.
There may be biological mechanisms that concentrate radiation originating from rainwater. The production of milk is such a mechanism, as grass soaks up radiation from water that’s rained down, and is eaten and concentrated in turn by cows who produce milk. So, what about the amount of radiation in milk? How could that affect the children growing within pregnant American women?
Even in Hilo, Hawaii, milk that comes from local cows has insignificant amounts of radiation: 24 picocuries of Cesium 134, 19 picocuries of Cesium 137, and 18 picocuries of Iodine 131. That’s a total of 61 picocuries, far under the 151 picocurie legal limit.