A short Asahi Shinbun article mentions that in passing.
The August 30 article is for Asahi's Fukushima local version, and it is about the decision by the Fukushima Prefecture's Fishery Cooperatives Association to not do the coastal trawl-net fishing for the month of September.
But at the end of the article there's this:
一方、いわき市の小名浜港では同日、宮城県沖でとれたカツオ１８トンが初水揚げされた。いわき明星大で簡易測定したが放射性物質は検出されず、市内のほか東京方面へも出荷された。
On the other hand, Onahama Port in Iwaki City had its first landing of 18 tonnes of shipjack tuna caught off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture. A quick testing was done by Iwaki Meisei University didn't find radioactive materials, and the fish were sold in the city and also shipped to the Tokyo region.
I don't know what's involved in the quick testing. So maybe there were no radioactive materials, or maybe there were but below detection limit.
I don't think shipjack tuna know where Fukushima Prefecture ends and where Miyagi Prefecture starts, but the fishery for shipjack tuna is about 200 kilometers off the coast of Tohoku and Kanto. Just because the fish come from Onahama Port in Fukushima Prefecture, it doesn't mean they are potentially radioactive.
(Just remember the radioactive materials that leaked into the ocean is 15,000 terabecquerels, and that number is without calculating the iodine-131 equivalent of cesium, as you would if you were trying to figure out the INES event scale.)
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14 comments:
I think "quick testing" means:
Trawler arrives at Onahama.
One guy with a counter makes a single measurement at a fish container surface.
Less than 500 ticks/sec!
Very good, "testing" stopped.
Quickly got rid of the fish before somebody else comes and wants to do some serious testing.
Thanks for tracking these stories ex-skf.
My wife (who follows your Japanese blog) wants to take our two young sons to visit family in Osaka later this month. I'm having a hard time convincing myself it is safe for our children. However, we live in Seattle, and I realize we are getting fallout here too. Any input you may have for us would be greatly appreciated.
You should ask a health professional about that instead of a blogger unless this blogger has some real credentials. I have an Environmental Health degree and I would say you shouldn't be worried about the levels of radioactivity on the west coast, but I would probably not take children to an area in Japan that might have much higher amounts of radioactivity since they have cells dividing much quicker and more frequently. If you do decide to go out there I would recommend picking up modifilan and chlorella to take while you are there.
You should ask a health professional? Those people that push toxic vaccines to our newborns? Instead of looking for real information without bias? Take your environmental health degree (brainwashing) and put it to good use, wiping your a** with it!
Safecast http://blog.safecast.org/ can help with planning Japan trips, however the rad counts while in the air over the Pacific have been very high. Once you are there, though, evidently there has been less harm to places like Osaka than to Seattle! (I am in Oregon)
http://cerea.enpc.fr/en/fukushima.html
They tried quick testing on beef a while back only to find out it doesn't work. I'd love to see one of the consumer friendly Co-ops test these fish.
@Anon 5:38 AM, I'd like to hear Ex-skf's views, professional or not. He/she has reviewed so much information about this and I would value the feedback, educational credentials not withstanding. This is the first I've heard of modifilan and chlorella. Are these effective for de-toxifiation of Cs-137, or just iodine-based stubstances?
@Anon 5:53 AM, Yes, real information without bias is what we're all here for!
@risa, Indeed, I've seen more than one simulation (thanks to this blog!) that suggests that the West Coast has it worse than western Japan. We were living in Tokyo when the earthquake hit. We then had the choice of moving to Osaka or Seattle. I thought Seattle was the right choice a the time. =(
So hard to make sense of this craziness. Hoping to make a more informed decision this time around. If I were just to go on the simulations, then maybe I'd feel ok about my kids in Osaka. But as ex-skf has informed us, there is a "socialization" of the contamination in Japan. And even if you could get food not affected by the exported manure or compost from Tohoku, the packaging may well come from Kanto. At least they haven't started burning Fukushima debris in Kansai yet. Although the plan has been approved, I heard from my wife that JR is refusing to transport the radioactive debris.
@anon in Seattle, my feeling without real credentials and paper published in peer review magazine is that as long as your wife and children pay attention to food and water to avoid internal radiation exposure potential (I hope your wife's parents are aware of food issues), it should be OK for a visit. Vegetables and meat from Tohoku and northern Kanto are actively sold in Kansai area, but there are many other choices from far less contaminated regions in Shikoku, Kyushu, and Chugoku.
In Kansai area, air radiation levels are naturally higher, so you don't need to worry too much about "high" readings posted on the web. Radioactive fallout (as measured by Ministry of Education and Science) has hardly reached Osaka, although the officials are keen on receiving radioactive debris for the landfill (but that may take a while as the residents are protesting).
That said, it seems too stressful a time period to visit Japan, particularly with small children, when not all information is in and the government is actively underplaying the radiation effect.
But the sensitivity to radiation is different for each person, and I can't advise one way or the other, professional or not. It may also depend on how old your children are.
If I were flying, I'd try to find a direct flight to Osaka, without stopping at Narita or Haneda, but it's just me.
As to the vitamins and supplements that build up defense against radiation and/or counter the effect of radiation, here's a link to the article at Life Extension. If you want expert opinion, I think you can call them. The article is also full of reference to double-blind scientific studies done and published in peer-reviewed magazines.
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2011/jun2011_Optimize-Your-Internal-Defenses-Against-Radiation-Exposure_01.htm?source=search&key=radiation
Chernobyl deaths about 1 million and counting: Chernobyl:Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment, Yablokov et al, NY Academy of Sciences, 2009, volume 1181, pgs appr 205-211. Internal exposure in lung, brain, bone marrow, once embedded is forever; some, not all cesium may be decorporated, but not all, and only if out of irradiated zones. I have notified your source as well.
Ask a health professional? Hahahahahahahahahahahahah. Good one.
"Environmental Health degree " claims over the internet should actually be spelled something like the way trolls do, like this .. eNVirOMeNTAl hElTh degree.
Takes more time to do it that way, but should be required.
Perhaps the next generation AIs will enforce it.
Perhaps "Arto" is in-house & could be of assistance?
@arevamirpal::laprimavera, Thanks so much for the insight. Balanced commentary on Fukushima is hard to come by. My wife's parents treat the radiation risks fairly lightly, maybe because they live in Osaka. They didn't know about the plans to bring radioactive debris to Kansai until my wife told them she read about it on your blog.
So now I'm the cowardly gaijin son-in-law, worrying about baseless rumours and stopping them from seeing their grandsons, nevermind that they are only three-years-old and two-months-old. I think if I look at the baby closely enough, I could almost see those cells divide. And my wife is crying her eyes out thinking this is her last best chance to visit home.
And I thought things would get easier after leaving Japan...
@anon, your wife commented on my Japanese blog. I didn't know your children are that young. Is it possible for her to not take the children on the trip? Even in peace time traveling with a toddler and a baby on a long distance trip is insane. Osaka should be safe enough for her, if she must go. How about inviting her parents over to Seattle later, to see their grandchildren, instead?
About the radioactive debris, Yokohama City is going to dump radioactive ashes from radioactive sewer sludge into Tokyo Bay landfill. I hope citizens of Osaka can stop their government's insanity.
@arevamirpal::laprimavera, I'll discuss the possibility of leaving the kids with me if she really feels she need to go (it's for her brother's wedding). Will need to get the baby on formula and get someone to look after them when I'm at work.
I'd happily host her parents for a visit in Seattle, but they're both still working. And you must know how the Japanese are about taking time off work.
As for Osaka mobilizing to have divorce itself from radioactive refuse, I'm not optimistic. The Japanese expression I dislike most, especially when it pertains to Fukushima, is しかたない (nothing can be done). I've the impression they'd rather trust their government to make the decisions and get back to watching the antics of Arashi and the like. Apologies for the cynicism. It's been a rough 6 months.
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