Fukushima Radiation Nears California Coast, Judged Harmless

sciencehabit writes After a two-and-a-half year ocean journey, radioactive contamination from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan has drifted to within 160 kilometers of the California coast, according to a new study. But the radiation levels are minuscule and do not pose a threat, researchers say. The team found a high of just 8 becquerels of radiation per cubic meter in ocean samples off the coast. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for drinking water allow up to 7400 becquerels per cubic meter.

Comments

Re:8 disintegrations/sec per cubic meter. Nothing.

[Mr D from 63]

What is more interesting is our technological capability to detect such minute concentrations of just about anything.

...and the fish?

[Anonymous Coward]

what about the fish that are living in it the whole time? How contaminated are they? And we still eat fish out of that water.

Re:caesium137 has an approx 30yr half-life

[Immerman]

Sure the danger is minimal so long as it stays in the water. The problem is that cesium is bio-concentrated - so if you drink the water your body filters out and stores the cesium so that before long your own radioactivity is far higher than the water. Worse if you eat animals who live in the water - like mercury poisoning the effect becomes more dramatic the further up the food chain you go.

And once the cesium is incorporated into your body then that low penetration is working against you, with almost 100% of the radiation damaging your body tissues rather than escaping into the environment.