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How Japanese Scientists Are Monitoring Fukushima Babies For Radiation Exposure
KentuckyFC writes "Parents in the Fukushima region of Japan are intensely worried that their children may be consuming food and water contaminated with radiation. But whole body scanners used to monitor the internal radiation levels of adults don't work for children who cannot stand up inside them. What's more, the machines are not sensitive enough to detect problematic radiation levels in children. That's because children metabolize substances faster than adults and have a lower mass to start with, so the levels of radiation in their bodies tend to be lower. For example, if each adult ingests 3 Becquerels of cesium-137 every day, the internal levels would reach an equilibrium of about 400 Bq/adult body. But a similar intake for a 1-year old child would result in an equilibrium level of about 60 Bq/body, well below the 250 Bq/body sensitivity of adult scanners. Now a team of engineers has built a whole body scanner that is sensitive enough for the job and that children can play inside for the 4 minutes necessary to scan them. And they say the results of the first 100 scans of Fukushima children (average age 4.2 years) are reassuring--none show any evidence of cesium-137. So far."
Depends... how "young" are these "babies" of which you speak? I've seen some videos involving school uniforms...
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
That is because the radiation levels around the area of Fukisima are so low that no-one in the general population are likely to have any exposure
If one of them has an x-ray then they will get a radiation dose much much higher than any of these figures
This has been blown up out of all proportion to the actual likelyhood of anyone getting exposed
Then it's probably not working eh?
Okay, they've developed a new way to measure radioactivity (NOT radiation! I wish people would make the effort to distinguish between the two properly) in children.
And, horror of horrors, found that none of the children show any sign of abnormal radioactivity levels.
Which is why, presumably, the author of TFS added that "So far" to the end.
It should also be noted that cows haven't started slaughtering people by the millions. So far.
And gold hasn't started raining down from the skies. So far.
And the sun hasn't gone supernova this week. So far (it's early in the week).
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Hopefully they find one capable of defeating Godzilla.
You just count the number of fingers/toes >10, number of arms/legs/eyes >2, and note which super powers are emerging.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
But can it measure the harm done by fear of radiation?
. . .whole-body counting refers to the measurement of radioactivity within the human body. The technique is primarily applicable to radioactive material that emits gamma rays. Alpha particle decays can also be detected indirectly by their coincident gamma radiation. In certain circumstances, beta emitters can be measured, but with degraded sensitivity.
When it comes to internal exposure, I thought alpha and beta radiation were the more dangerous forms. Can anyone here confirm the "sensitivity" of quantifying alpha contamination through indirect detection, and how to assess beta emitter risk (any other methods that can detect it)? Any new technology companies addressing these on the horizon (that I can invest in)?
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
I'm afraid of being run over in a car accident. That's rational, surely?
If not, why?
The Fukishima nuclear plant has three inoperative nuclear power plants because it had a meltdown after being flooded by a tsunami.
Did you miss the news? If so, why did you not wonder what this entire thing was about?
In light of all their previous obfuscation and lies about Fukushima does anyone believe Japan is monitoring anything that might make Japan Inc. look bad?
How many die in murders?
So the laws against murder are "irrational"?
The thing is, people equate "fear of" to actual thing they are afraid of. They don't view their anxiety to be irrational. They just label the object of their anxiety as "more dangerous".
Fear of getting fat? - you ridicule and point out people that are fat.
Fear of crime? - tough on crime legislation! Even when crime rates are dropping.
Fear of failure in your child? - "No Child Left Behind" debacle
Just look at the Chernobyl debacle. There are hundreds of thousands of people on "disability" because 30 years ago they received more than 1mSv of radiation. Thousands and thousands have *died* because of panic induced alcoholism shortened and fucked up their lives. There were suicides because of Chernobyl. Yet, less than 100 people have died because of the actual radiation, most because they were fighting the actual fire and died in days and weeks afterward.
There are people alive today that honestly believe their lives were irreparably harmed by Chernobyl. Some of them are in their 80s with a clean bill of health. If someone gets cancer, they talk about "oh, another one because of Chernobyl" despite cancer rates being no different than in the "unexposed" places.
Victimization is the real harm being done. Once you label yourself a victim, you are fucked. Either because you view yourself as diminished individual or rest of society start to view you as something less. Just ask the Hibakusha. (ie. be a survivor, if anything, never a victim)
wat about the babies that have not yet been ..err..."combined"?
Most effects from radiation exposure didn't show up until exposed subjects were in their 40s or 50s, or at least that's what happened in the counties surround Hanford where we built the nuclear bomb.
So, I wouldn't be all that happy about this short-term result.
Some plants store heavy metals in their leaves over time, and kids eat them or play with them, putting almost anything in their mouths.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Are you fucking serious?
-1: Stupid, maybe. It is impossible for the first post to be redundant.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.