Radiation Exposure from Eating Pacific Bluefin Tuna Affected by Fukushima Nuke Accident Miniscule, US Researchers Say

32 microsieverts per year or 0.032 millisievert per year, for the Japanese people in Japan, 0.9 microsievert per year or 0.0009 millisievert per year for people in the US.

Exposure from radioactive polonium in fish is much greater than radioactive cesium of Fukushima origin, says Professor Nicholas Fisher at Stony Brook University in New York.　(See Table 1 at the bottom of the post.)

He also says the the amount of radioactive cesium in bluefin tuna caught off the coast of San Diego in 2012 dropped in half, compared to the bluefin tuna caught in 2011.

Unlike most of the Japanese media these days, the US media, including CNN below, still talks about radiation in terms of dental X-ray or transcontinental flight. Just give us the number, please.

From CNN (6/3/2013):

Fukushima tuna study finds miniscule health risks

Go ahead, order the sushi.

Levels of radioactivity found in Pacific bluefin tuna that spawned off Japan around the time of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident are far below anything that would pose a health risk and have dropped in fish caught the following year, U.S. researchers reported Monday.

The latest findings follow up on a 2012 study that found radioactive cesium, a nuclear reactor byproduct, in tuna caught off California in the months after the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi. The attention that study received led scientists to take another look at the data, said Nicholas Fisher, a marine science professor at New York's Stony Brook University.

"People did not know how to translate that into a dose, or into what risk do I have from eating that tuna," Fisher said. "The paper that's coming out today addresses that."

They found that anyone who eats the bluefin -- highly prized for sushi and sashimi -- would get about 5% of the radiation they'd get from eating one typical banana, a fruit high in naturally radioactive potassium. The results were released Monday by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Even subsistence fishermen, who eat far more fish than the typical American, would receive a dose of radiation from the cesium isotopes released in the meltdown equivalent to a single dental X-ray, Fisher and his colleagues reported. That translates to a "worst-case scenario" of two additional cancer deaths for every 10 million people in that category, he said.

The doses were calculated from fish caught off San Diego in August 2011. A follow-up study with fish caught in 2012 found the amount of cesium-134 and -137 dropped by about half in those tuna, Fisher said.

(Full article at the link)

Japan's Kyodo News says exposure from radioactive polonium in fish is much greater than radioactive cesium of Fukushima origin.

It also says the radiation exposure would be 0.032 millisievert in one year.

The paper abstract:

Pacific bluefin tuna transport Fukushima-derived radionuclides from Japan to California

Daniel J. Madigan, Zofia Baumann, and Nicholas S. Fisher

Abstract

The Fukushima Dai-ichi release of radionuclides into ocean waters caused significant local and global concern regarding the spread of radioactive material. We report unequivocal evidence that Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis, transported Fukushima-derived radionuclides across the entire North Pacific Ocean. We measured γ-emitting radionuclides in California-caught tunas and found 134Cs (4.0 ± 1.4 Bq kg−1) and elevated 137Cs (6.3 ± 1.5 Bq kg−1) in 15 Pacific bluefin tuna sampled in August 2011. We found no 134Cs and background concentrations (∼1 Bq kg−1) of 137Cs in pre-Fukushima bluefin and post-Fukushima yellowfin tunas, ruling out elevated radiocesium uptake before 2011 or in California waters post-Fukushima. These findings indicate that Pacific bluefin tuna can rapidly transport radionuclides from a point source in Japan to distant ecoregions and demonstrate the importance of migratory animals as transport vectors of radionuclides. Other large, highly migratory marine animals make extensive use of waters around Japan, and these animals may also be transport vectors of Fukushima-derived radionuclides to distant regions of the North and South Pacific Oceans. These results reveal tools to trace migration origin (using the presence of 134Cs) and potentially migration timing (using 134Cs:137Cs ratios) in highly migratory marine species in the Pacific Ocean.

Full paper PDF: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/05/30/1221834110.full.pdf

Part about radiation exposure for Japan and for the US:

Table 1 showing the radiation dose:

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#Radioactive Japan: One of the Most Contaminated Villages and Towns in #Fukushima Lures Children Back with $100 Book Coupons

Meanwhile in one of the most contaminated towns and villages in Fukushima after the nuclear accident more than two years ago, officials have just launched a new program to encourage children to receive annual health checkups.

If a child undergoes one annual health checkup, he/she will receive 10,000 yen (these days it's close to US$100) worth of book coupons (gift certificates for books).

If a child happens to have evacuated from the village and does not go to the village schools (temporarily re-located to Fukushima City and Kawamata-machi, both contaminated to lesser degrees than this particular village), oh well that's too bad, his/her coupon value will be only 5,000 yen.

The officials openly admit the scheme is to incentivize people with children to come back to the village.

What's the name of the village?

Iitate-mura, with extremely high levels of iodine-131 and several thousand becquerels/kg of neptunium right after the March 2011 accident, and which, thanks to the very politically savvy mayor, has managed to keep the businesses and factories inside the village operating despite the village having been designated as "planned evacuation zone".

From Fukushima Minpo reporting as if it's a good thing (4/18/2013; part):

スタンプで受診率向上へ　飯舘村　内部被ばく、甲状腺検査　中学生以下図書カードに交換

Collect the stamps: Iitate-mura to give book coupons to children in middle schools and younger to boost the participation rate for internal radiation exposure [WBC] tests and thyroid tests

東京電力福島第一原発事故で全村避難した飯舘村は１７日、村の幼稚園児から中学生までの子ども全員に毎年、内部被ばく検査と甲状腺検査を受けることを促す「全までいっ子内部被ばく・甲状腺検査事業」を開始した。受診するとスタンプがたまり、図書カードと交換できる。受診率の低下が背景にあり、園児や児童・生徒に受診を習慣化させたい考えだ。

Iitate-mura, whose residents have evacuated from the village because of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, started a new program on April 17 to urge children in the village from kindergarteners to middle schoolers to get tested for internal radiation exposure and thyroid every year. If children get tested, they will be given a stamp, which will be exchanged with book coupons. The project is in response to the lower participation rate, and [the village officials] want these children to make it a habit to be tested.

村が打ち出した内部被ばく・甲状腺検査事業は、福島市のあづま脳神経外科病院で年１回、両検査を受けるとスタンプが１個もらえる。スタンプは１個１万円分の図書カードに交換でき、卒園・卒業時にスタンプ数に応じた図書カードが交付される。幼稚園や学校が病院での検査を学校行事として計画する。

The program will give one stamp to a child if the child receives both internal radiation check and thyroid test once a year at Azuma Neurosurgical Hospital in Fukushima City. One stamp can be exchanged for book coupons worth 10,000 yen, and at graduation from kindergartens and schools children will be given the book coupons depending on the number of stamps they will have accumulated. [The village] kindergarten and schools will plan the tests at the hospital as school events.

避難のため村の幼稚園や学校から転校した子どもも対象だが、１スタンプで交換できるのは５千円分の図書カード。福島市飯野町にある村の幼稚園と中学校、川俣町にある村の小学校に戻ってもらう狙いもある。

The program also covers children who have transferred to other schools after they evacuated from the village. However, for them, one stamp is exchangeable for book coupons worth 5,000 yen. One of the program's aims is to have them come back to the village kindergarten and middle school in Iino-machi in Fukushima City, and the village elementary school in Kawamata-machi.

村は子どもの健康管理のため、年１回の内部被ばくと甲状腺の検査受診を求めているが、一度受診するとその後は受診しない子どもが増えている。受診者のほとんどが問題のない数値だったため、定期的な受診に結び付いていない、と村は分析している。

The village officials want children to undergo annual internal radiation testing and thyroid testing, but an increasing number of children have stopped taking these tests after the initial tests. The officials believe that since the initial test results for most children were not in the range that would cause alarm they haven't led to regular checkups.

Testing at a neurosurgical hospital? I checked the website of Azuma Neurosurgical Hospital. They do have pediatrics as one of their specialties but the doctor in charge of the pediatrics section is a surgeon specialized in cardiology. There is no thyroid specialist, or for that matter, radiation specialist.

The hospital has Fastscan by Camberra.

From Camberra's website about Fastscan:

The Fastscan whole body counter is designed to quickly and accurately monitor people for internal contamination of radionuclides with energies between 300 keV to 1.8 MeV. The FASTSCAN system uses large area sodium iodide detectors and CANBERRA's Apex-InVivo™ and Genie™ software to achieve low minimum detectable activities with count times as fast as one minute. It is intended for use in power plants and other facilities where the possible contamination spectra are well known and uncomplicated.

That doesn't seem to fit the situation in Fukushima and Tohoku/Kanto regions affected by the nuclear accident.

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#Radioactive Japan: Number of Food Items to Be Tested for Radiation Will Be Reduced by 25%, First Major Revision Since the Start of Nuclear Accident

It looks like the nuclear accident is so behind them in Japan, rat or no rat. Ministry of Health and Labor announced that the radioactivity testing for food items will be scaled down significantly, by exempting 34 items from testing.

That's 25% of food items that have been regularly tested since the start of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

They have been testing only 132 food items to begin with.

What's puzzling is that certain fruits that have consistently been found with elevated amounts (if not exceeding the safety standard of 100 Bq/kg) of radioactive cesium are going to be exempted - peaches, apples, and pears.

From Kyodo News (3/19/2013):

食品のセシウム検査縮小へ　厚労省

Testing for radioactive cesium in food to be scaled down, Ministry of Health and Labor says

　政府は１９日、自治体が実施している食品の放射性セシウム検査で、葉もの野菜や、果実の一部とイワシなど魚類の一部などを４月以降、原則として重点検査対象から除外すると発表した。厚生労働省によると、対象食品数（品目・類）は１３２から９８に減る。重点検査の大幅見直しは初めて。

On March 19, the national government announced that certain leafy vegetables, fruits, and certain kinds of fish will be exempt from the tests conducted by the municipalities for radioactive cesium, starting April. The number of food items to be tested will be reduced from the current 132 to 98. It is the first time that the radiation test for food has been significantly revised.

　同省は「検査で放射性セシウムが検出されない食品が多くなっているため」としている。

The reason given by the ministry is that radioactive cesium is not detected any more in increasing number of food items.

　具体的には、野菜類ではホウレンソウやレタス、キャベツ、ダイコン、ジャガイモなど、果実ではモモ、リンゴ、ナシなど、魚類ではコウナゴ（イカナゴの稚魚）、イワシ、サバ、ブリなどが除外される。

For example, the items to be excluded from the testing are spinach, lettuce, cabbage, daikon, potatoes and others for the vegetables, peach, apple, pear and others for the fruits, young lancefish, sardine, mackerel, yellowtail and others for the fish.

Well, as you know, peaches, apples, pears and persimmons from Fukushima will be sold to Thailand as "gourmet fruits" for the rich. JETRO just announced that Malaysia will no longer require the radiation test certificates for the food items from Japan. Rich Malaysians will get to eat those "gourmet fruits", too.

Information at the website of Ministry of Health and Labor is as clear as mud. You can't readily tell which vegetables, fruits and fish have been exempted by the Nuclear Disaster Response Headquarters. You have to know exactly what they have been testing (132 items) to know what will be exempt, as the ministry's press release only confirms what are still to be tested.

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#Radioactive #Fukushima: Fukushima City Residents Want to Eat the Produce They Bring In to Measure Radioactivity, Researchers Oblige

I couldn't tell that was what it was, when I saw the title of an article at one of the local newspapers in Fukushima, but it turned out that was what it was.

Go figure. Let them, at this point. After nearly 2 years, they choose to be there and choose to grow their food and eat it. "Oh we weren't told" doesn't fly any more.

I hope they don't feed it to their children or grandchildren, but hope has been just that, hope.

Fukushima farmers certainly do feed it to the rest of Japan, because they are victims of TEPCO and residents in big cities outside Fukushima owe it to them, in their minds.

From Fukushima Minpo (2/16/2013):

破砕せずに放射性物質測定　福島、機器新たに運用開始へ

Radioactivity measurement without chopping up samples - new equipment will be used in Fukushima

　東北大は１９日から福島市のモニタリングセンターで農作物や食品など切り刻まなくても測定できる放射性物質測定器の運用を始める。「１キロも切り刻むのは面倒」「測定した後、食べたい」など市民の要望に応える。

On February 19, Tohoku University will start using the new equipment to measure radioactivity in farm produce and food items without chopping them up at a monitoring center in Fukushima City. It is to respond to the residents' complaints and requests, such as "it's too tedious to chop up 1 kilogram of sample" and "I want to eat it after it's tested".

　測定器は、市放射線対策アドバイザーで、同大大学院工学研究科量子エネルギー工学専攻生活環境早期復旧技術研究センター長の石井慶造教授が開発した。

The new equipment was developed by Professor Keizo Ishii of Tohoku University Graduate School of Engineering Department of Quantum Science who is also an advisor to Fukushima City on radiation countermeasures.

　通常は、放射性物質を感知するセンサー１本を使用するところ、７本使用し、破砕せずに、少量でも測定できることが特徴。籠に農作物や食品を入れたまま機器に入れ５分で測定できる。検出下限値は２５ベクレル。０・７キロから３キロまで測定できる。

The regular equipment has one sensor that detects radioactivity. Professor Ishii's equipment will use 7 sensors, and will be able to measure radioactivity without chopping up the samples and in small sample amounts. Farm produce and food items can be left in a basket which is then placed in the equipment, and it takes only 5 minutes to measure. The detection limit is 25 becquerels/kg, and the sample sizes can be from 0.7 kilogram to 3 kilograms.

　これまで同大と福島市が協力し、運用開始に向けてデータなどを集めてきた。担当者は「家庭菜園などの少ない農産物も測って持ち帰ることができる。市民の安心につなげたい」と話している。

Tohoku University and Fukushima City have been collaborating on introducing this equipment. The city official in charge says, "Farm produce in small quantities, as from home gardens, can be measured, and people can take them back home. We want to use this equipment for the peace of mind of the city residents."

　１８日から申し込みを受け付け、１９日から測定を開始する。測定は火曜から金曜日。問い合わせは　電話０８０（５７３７）１５０７へ。

Residents can sign up on February 18, and the measurement will start on February 19. The measurement is done from Tuesday to Friday every week. For more details, call 080(5737)1507.

Peace of mind for 25 becquerels/kg detection limit. Some peace.

In case you haven't figured it out, they measure radioactivity in Japan not to understand what's been going on but to feel safe. If measuring radioactivity doesn't result in people feeling safe, they don't bother measuring, which is exactly what happened in the very early days of the nuclear accident.

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Japanese Researchers Found Cesium More Concentrated in Calf Than in Mother Cow in the Former Evacuation Zone in #Fukushima Prefecture

and organ-specific high concentration of radioactive silver and tellurium.

In a research paper on an open-access peer-reviewed magazine, the researchers at Tohoku University studying the cattle abandoned in the former "evacuation zone" (20-kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant) in Fukushima Prefecture say that calves had 1.5 times as much cesium per kilogram as the mothers.

So far, the popular meme pushed by people like Ms. Kayoko Ikeda (who seemingly started out as a staunch defender of people escaping radiation contamination, and who turned out to be an apologist for the official line) is that there's nothing to worry about radiation contamination because children, with their high metabolism, will expel radioactive materials out of their bodies very quickly.

Now, Tohoku University researchers and the media have timidly started to say, as Kyodo News reports (1/24/2013), that we have have to rethink our premise.

What a surprise. Now what?

From Kyodo News (1/24/2013):

セシウム、母牛より子牛が高濃度　東北大、セシウム調査

Tohoku University's survey reveals that radioactive cesium is more concentrated in calf than in mother

東京電力福島第１原発事故で、原発から半径２０キロ圏内にある当時警戒区域に指定されていた福島県南相馬市と川内村に取り残された牛の内部被ばく調査を進める福本学東北大教授（病理学）らの研究グループが、母牛よりも子牛の方に高濃度の放射性セシウムがたまっていたとの研究結果をまとめ、２３日付の米オンライン科学誌プロスワンに発表した。

A research group headed by Professor Manabu Fukumoto (pathology) at Tohoku University  has been studying the internal radiation exposure in cows abandoned in part of Minamisoma City and Kawauchi-mura in the 20-kilometer radius evacuation zone because of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. The group published the result on an online science magazine in the US called Plos One on January 23 which the researchers found radioactive cesium was more concentrated in calves than in mothers.

福本教授は、子牛と母牛が全く同じ物を食べていたとは限らないとした上で「代謝が盛んな子どもの方が、放射性物質がたまりにくいとされるが、見直す必要があるのではないか」と話し、今回のデータはメカニズムの解明に向けた基礎データになるとしている。

Professor Fukumoto says calves did not necessarily ate exactly the same food as the mothers, but says "It has been said that children with high metabolism do not retain radioactive materials long, but maybe we need to take a fresh look." The data will be the basis to understand the mechanism [of cesium accumulation], Professor Fukumoto says.

The researchers also found high concentrations of short half-lived radionuclides like Ag-110m (half-life 250 days) in liver and Te-129m (half-life 34 days) in kidney.

Abstract of the paper "Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant", at Plos One (emphasis is mine):

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident released large amounts of radioactive substances into the environment. In order to provide basic information for biokinetics of radionuclides and for dose assessment of internal exposure brought by the FNPP accident, we determined the activity concentration of radionuclides in the organs of 79 cattle within a 20-km radius around the FNPP. In all the specimens examined, deposition of Cesium-134 (¹³⁴Cs, half-life: 2.065 y) and ¹³⁷Cs (30.07 y) was observed. Furthermore, organ-specific deposition of radionuclides with relatively short half-lives was detected, such as silver-110m (^110mAg, 249.8 d) in the liver and tellurium-129m (^129mTe, 33.6 d) in the kidney. Regression analysis showed a linear correlation between the radiocesium activity concentration in whole peripheral blood (PB) and that in each organ. The resulting slopes were organ dependent with the maximum value of 21.3 being obtained for skeletal muscles (R² = 0.83, standard error (SE) = 0.76). Thus, the activity concentration of ¹³⁴ Cs and ¹³⁷Cs in an organ can be estimated from that in PB. The level of radioactive cesium in the organs of fetus and infants were 1.19-fold (R² = 0.62, SE = 0.12), and 1.51-fold (R² = 0.70, SE = 0.09) higher than that of the corresponding maternal organ, respectively. Furthermore, radiocesium activity concentration in organs was found to be dependent on the feeding conditions and the geographic location of the cattle. This study is the first to reveal the detailed systemic distribution of radionuclides in cattle attributed to the FNPP accident.

According to the paper, the researchers collected 79 cattle, 27 of which were from Minami-soma city located north and 52 from Kawauchi between August 29 and November 15, 2011.

From the Results and Discussion section:

Before the cattle were euthanized, we noticed 3 mother and infant pairs in Plot 2. We confirmed that these infants were born after the FNPP accident and that they were being weaned at the time. As shown in Figure 2B, most of the points lie on the upper side of the dashed equality line (infant side). The regression analysis showed that radiocesium activity concentration was 1.51 times higher in the infant organs than in the corresponding maternal organs (R² = 0.70, SE = 0.09). Therefore, we concluded that the deposition of ¹³⁷Cs in infant organs is correlated with that in the corresponding maternal organs but is higher than that in maternal ones. Shorter half-lives of retention are adopted for infants and children than for adults [12]. Inaba et al. mentioned that water and electrolyte metabolism should differ considerably between newborn and adult, and that potassium contents of the feeding might affect the radiocesium activity concentration [13]. We do not have any data regarding the proportion attributed to milk and grass which the infants were taking at the time of the sacrifice.

In our data, the thyroid showed lower ¹³⁷Cs deposition compared with other visceral organs (Figures 1 and 2B). Bandazhevsky previously reported that the highest accumulation of radiocesium was found in the endocrine glands, in particular, the thyroid, in humans [14]. Although we need to consider the species difference between humans and cattle, radiocesium is suggested to have little impact on thyroid carcinogenesis.

About Ag-110m in liver:

Radioactive ^110mAg is not a fission product but is formed by the neutron capture of stable ¹⁰⁹Ag. We detected ^110mAg in the liver of all of the cattle except for fetuses examined (Table 1 and Figure 3A). The ratio of deposited radioactivity concentration of ^110mAg to ¹³⁷Cs in the soil of Plot 2 and Plot 3 was lower than 0.5% and that in the grass of Plot 3 was lower than 5% (Table S3). The value in the soil was consistent with the distribution map of radiation doses by MEXT (http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/old/en/1​750/2011/10/1750_1031e_2.pdf) (MEXT Dose Map) as of June 14, 2011. In the current study, ^110mAg activity concentration in the liver did not show Plot dependent difference or association with ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration (Figure 3A). Both the human evidence and the animal studies indicate substantial deposition of silver in the liver but the retention rate is influenced by the route of intake [12]. It is reported that the liver deposition of ^110mAg in sheep and its transfer coefficient to the liver was higher than that of ¹³⁷Cs in the Chernobyl nuclear accident [16]. These data indicate that the transfer coefficient of ^110mAg to the liver is higher than that of ¹³⁷Cs. Furthermore, post-mortem data on the distribution of ^110mAg in a patient 195 days after injection showed the highest uptake in the liver (40%) among all organs [17]. There was no relationship between the activity concentration of ^110mAg in PB and in the liver (Figure 3B). Danscher et al. reported that silver predominantly accumulates in lysosome-associated tissues, such as lymph nodes, liver, kidneys and the central nervous system after silver administration in rats and mice. Furthermore, they showed the intense accumulation of silver in Kupper cells of the liver [18]. From these cumulative data and this study, we concluded that the liver is the primary target organ for ^110mAg deposition.

The entire paper is available free at the link

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EU set to relax regulations on food imports from Japan starting Nov. 1

From Japan Times, citing Jiji Tsushin News (10/24/2012):

BRUSSELS — The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said it will relax regulations on imports of Japanese food starting Nov. 1.

The regulations were introduced in the wake of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.

During an interview in July, Maria Damanaki, EU commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, expressed the commission's willingness to loosen the restrictions, saying the danger of Japanese seafood "is around zero."

The commission plans to reduce the frequency of sampling tests of Japanese food to 5 percent of import volume for all items from at least 5 to 10 percent.

The EU has required Tokyo and 11 other prefectures across the nation to conduct tests on food before exports are shipped. It plans to limit the regulation to certain items about which safety concerns remain, including tea leaves and some kinds of mushrooms, for the 12 prefectures with the exception of Fukushima.

Yomiuri Shinbun (10/22/2012) has a bit more details as to what food items and which prefectures:

• Agricultural products imported to the EU from Japan which no longer require certificates: all food items and animal feeds except for 8 items including tea leaves and mushrooms

• 
  

• Prefectures to which the EU's new rule applies: Tokyo, Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Iwate, Miyagi, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa

I guess the EU does not know or chooses not to know that vegetables, meat, fish produced or caught in locations in Iwate, Miyagi, Gunma, Ibaraki, Chiba are being found with radioactive cesium exceeding the 100 Bq/kg safety limit of Japan or very close to it, and it is not last year but this year. However, since the EU import so little food supply from Japan anyway (9,000 tonnes from all Japan in 2010, says the EU), I suppose it is acceptable to the technocrats at the EU.

So, what are the 8 food items that the EU still requires the certificates? Let's check the Delegation of the European Union to Japan site. It has this news, dated October 22, 2012:

Food safety: Commission reviews measures on imports from Japan

EU News 501/2012

22 October 2012
Brussels

Experts meeting in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) endorsed a Commission proposal to revise rules on import conditions of food and feed originating from Japan following the Fukushima nuclear accident. Existing restrictions for food and feed imports coming from the prefecture Fukushima are maintained whereas control measures have been eased for several other prefectures. For the prefecture Fukushima, the existing measures applying to all food and feed, with the exception of alcoholic beverages, are maintained until 31 March 2014. Based on over 40,000 samples of products harvested in the second growing season after the nuclear accident, the restrictive measures in place have been eased for 11 prefectures (Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Miyagi, Saitama, Tokyo, Iwate, Chiba and Kanagawa). An interim review is foreseen before 31 March 2013 for crops where samples of products for the second growing season (March-November) were not available in time for this review. For the control at import, a reduction of the frequency of controls to 5% will apply. Based on the monitoring results from the 2013 growing season, it is foreseen to undertake a review of these measures shortly before 31 March 2014. The measures will be published at the end of this month following the adoption of the proposal by the Commission and are foreseen to enter into force on 1 November 2012.

Well, we're no wiser. There is no mention of 8 food items, and I have little enthusiasm in delving into the EU press releases from last year. Maybe that's the wishful thinking of Yomiuri.

I did check the EU's statement from March 24, 2011, and I had to laugh at this passage near the end of the statement:

According to the latest information, the Japanese authorities have taken the necessary measures to ensure that food (and drinking water) testing above their established acceptable levels of radio-activity is neither sold to the Japanese public nor exported.

Well it was sold to the Japanese public. Yokohama City was busy last year feeding school children with radioactive beef because the business-minded mayor of Yokohama couldn't pass up a bargain of buying premier domestic beef at a discount. As for exports, the French authorities caught green tea from Shizuoka that had over 1,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. This year, green tea from Tochigi was found with 24 becquerels/kg of cesium, AFTER it was brewed, indicating the dried tea may have had 100 times that.

Trivial details, for the political class.

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Report: US Army Tested Chemical (and Possibly Radioactive) Weapons on St. Louis in 1950s

Sociologist Lisa Martino-Taylor at St. Louis Community College says they may have been radioactive. There is no mention of what radioactive particles, if any, were mixed with zinc cadmium sulfide and sprayed from the rooftops by the US army.

But AP report below mentions one former resident recalling having a powdery substance dumped on her and her friends by the Army planes as they were playing on the street.

From AP News (10/4/2012; emphasis is mine):

ST. LOUIS — Doris Spates was a baby when her father died inexplicably in 1955. She has watched four siblings die of cancer, and she survived cervical cancer.

After learning that the Army conducted secret chemical testing in her impoverished St. Louis neighborhood at the height of the Cold War, she wonders if her own government is to blame.

In the mid-1950s, and again a decade later, the Army used motorized blowers atop a low-income housing high-rise, at schools and from the backs of station wagons to send a potentially dangerous compound into the already-hazy air in predominantly black areas of St. Louis.

Local officials were told at the time that the government was testing a smoke screen that could shield St. Louis from aerial observation in case the Russians attacked.

But in 1994, the government said the tests were part of a biological weapons program and St. Louis was chosen because it bore some resemblance to Russian cities that the U.S. might attack. The material being sprayed was zinc cadmium sulfide, a fine fluorescent powder.

Now, new research is raising greater concern about the implications of those tests. St. Louis Community College-Meramec sociology professor Lisa Martino-Taylor's research has raised the possibility that the Army performed radiation testing by mixing radioactive particles with the zinc cadmium sulfide, though she concedes there is no direct proof.

But her report, released late last month, was troubling enough that both U.S. senators from Missouri wrote to Army Secretary John McHugh demanding answers.

Aides to Sens. Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt said they have received no response. Army spokesman Dave Foster declined an interview request from The Associated Press, saying the Army would first respond to the senators.

The area of the secret testing is described by the Army in documents obtained by Martino-Taylor through a Freedom of Information Act request as "a densely populated slum district." About three-quarters of the residents were black.

Spates, now 57 and retired, was born in 1955, delivered inside her family's apartment on the top floor of the since-demolished Pruitt-Igoe housing development in north St. Louis. Her family didn't know that on the roof, the Army was intentionally spewing hundreds of pounds of zinc cadmium sulfide into the air.

Three months after her birth, her father died. Four of her 11 siblings succumbed to cancer at relatively young ages.

"I'm wondering if it got into our system," Spates said. "When I heard about the testing, I thought, 'Oh my God. If they did that, there's no telling what else they're hiding.'"

Mary Helen Brindell wonders, too. Now 68, her family lived in a working-class mixed-race neighborhood where spraying occurred.

The Army has admitted only to using blowers to spread the chemical, but Brindell recalled a summer day playing baseball with other kids in the street when a squadron of green Army planes flew close to the ground and dropped a powdery substance. She went inside, washed it off her face and arms, then went back out to play.

Over the years, Brindell has battled four types of cancer — breast, thyroid, skin and uterine.

"I feel betrayed," said Brindell, who is white. "How could they do this? We pointed our fingers during the Holocaust, and we do something like this?"

Martino-Taylor said she wasn't aware of any lawsuits filed by anyone affected by the military tests. She also said there have been no payouts "or even an apology" from the government to those affected.

The secret testing in St. Louis was exposed to Congress in 1994, prompting a demand for a health study. A committee of the National Research Council determined in 1997 that the testing did not expose residents to harmful levels of the chemical. But the committee said research was sparse and the finding relied on limited data from animal testing.

It also noted that high doses of cadmium over long periods of exposure could cause bone and kidney problems and lung cancer. The committee recommended that the Army conduct follow-up studies "to determine whether inhaled zinc cadmium sulfide breaks down into toxic cadmium compounds, which can be absorbed into the blood to produce toxicity in the lungs and other organs."

But it isn't clear if follow-up studies were ever performed. Martino-Taylor said she has gotten no answer from the Army and her research has turned up no additional studies. Foster, the Army spokesman, declined comment.

(full article at the link)

For UK's Daily Mail, there seems to be no doubt it was "radioactive" ("Revealed: Army scientists secretly sprayed St Louis with 'radioactive' particles for YEARS to test chemical warfare technology", 10/4/2012). Daily Mail's article has a bit more about "radioactive materials":

However, Professor Martino-Taylor believes the documents she's uncovered, prove the zinc cadmium silfide was also mixed with radioactive particles.

She has linked the St Louis testing to a now-defunct company called US Radium. The controversial company came under fire, and numerous lawsuits, after several of its workers were exposed to dangerous levels of radioactive materials in its fluorescent paint.

'US Radium had this reputation where they had been found legally liable for producing a radioactive powdered paint that killed many young women who painted fluorescent watch tiles,' said Professor Martino-Taylor.

In her findings, one of the compounds that was sprayed upon the public was called 'FP2266', according to the army's documents, and was manufactured by US Radium. The compound, also known as Radium 226, was the same one that killed and sickened many of the US Radium workers.

The Army has admitted that it added a fluorescent substance to the 'harmless' compound, but whether or not the additive was radioactive remains classified.

Radium 226's half life is 1,600 years. It is an alpha emitter, so unless you inhale it... uh... the residents did, didn't they?

Radium 226 was also the radioactive material found in several locations in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo in October and November last year. (See my post.)

(H/T reader 'La terra non ha uscite di emergenza' for Daily Mail article)

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#Radioactive Japan: WBC Result of a Child in Iwaki City, #Fukushima Seems to Suggest Chronic Ingestion of Radioactive Cesium of More than 10 Bq Per Day

Iwaki City in southern Fukushima Prefecture has been testing the residents in higher radiation districts since November last year using the Whole Body Counter (WBC) for internal radiation exposure. On September 25, the municipal government announced the result of the test for about 12,000 residents. (Iwaki City's population is about 330,000.)

Iwaki City's radiation levels are moderately high (it was on the path of the radioactive plume (or cloud) on March 15, 2011), but compared to the municipalities in Nakadori (middle third, including Date City, Fukushima City, and Koriyama City) and northern Hamadori (ocean-side third, including Futaba-machi, Okuma-machi, and Namie-machi) they are much lower. Still, the test has found one child with 3,300 becquerels of radioactive cesium.

Some speculate that this particular child was eating food grown in the home garden. Iwaki City hasn't disclosed the details of the child (age, sex, where he/she lives, what he/she eats, etc.). The date this child was tested hasn't been disclosed.

From Mainichi Shinbun Fukushima local version (9/26/2012):

東日本大震災:いわき・内部被ばく検査　国の基準下回る　妊婦と１８歳以下計１万２１３４人

Iwaki City's internal radiation exposure test on 12,134 pregnant women and children under 18 show radiation exposure below the national standard

いわき市は２５日、昨冬から実施している市内の１８歳以下の子どもと、昨年７月末までに妊娠した妊婦対象の内部被ばく検査結果を発表した。計１万２１３４人全員が、健康に影響を与えるとされる国基準の預託実効線量１ミリシーベルトを下回った。

Iwaki City announced the result of the internal radiation exposure test it had been doing since last winter on children under 18 and women who had been pregnant by July last year. All 12,134 people tested were below the national standard of 1 millisievert effective dose, which is said to affect health.

昨年１１月から、県の車載型ホールボディーカウンター（ＷＢＣ）で学校を巡回し、４２３５人を検査。最大値の子どもは放射性セシウム３３００ベクレルで、生涯にわたって受ける内部被ばく線量の累計量を推計した預託実効線量は０・３４マイクロシーベルトだった。

The city went to schools with the Whole Body Counter (WBC) mounted on a vehicle [bus], and tested 4,235 children. The maximum internal radiation was 3,300 becquerels of radioactive cesium, and the effective dose for the child in the course of the child's life was 0.34 microsievert.

市は５月に固定型ＷＢＣ２台を購入し、市総合保健福祉センターと総合磐城共立病院で、１日計１１０人を検査。８８２９人（集計済み７８９９人）の最大値は９９０ベクレル（預託実効線量０・０５３マイクロシーベルト）で、９７％の人が検出限界値未満（下限値４２０ベクレル）だった。

The city purchased two fixed-type WBC this May, and tested 110 people per day at the city's Health and Welfare Center and Iwaki Kyoritsu General Hospital. Of 8,829 people tested so far (with data totaled up for 7,899 of them), the maximum was 990 becquerels (effective dose of 0.053 microsievert), with 97% people below the detection limit (420 becquerels).

職員がＷＢＣの扱いに慣れ、現在は１日計１９４人まで検査枠を拡大。市内の対象者約６万４０００人の検査を来夏までに終える予定だったが、今年度末に前倒しし、新たに出産前の妊婦全員に検査対象を拡大する。

As the city workers have gotten used to handling the WBC, they can now test up to 194 people a day. The city planned to finish the testing of 64,000 people in the city by next summer, but the test will be finished by the end of the fiscal 2012 (March 2013) and expand the test to include all pregnant women.

What this Mainichi article doesn't tell you is the percentage of children found with internal radiation exposure above the detection limit. It only mentions the percentage of pregnant women.

Iwaki City posted this table on their website without further breakdown by age or district. From the Mainichi article above, the first row is children under 18 who were tested by the mobile WBC, and the second row is pregnant women (click to enlarge):

So, internal radiation exposure above the detection limit of 420 becquerels was found in 9.4% of children tested, while in adults, with much bigger sample numbers, it was only 2.8%, with much lower maximum exposure (990 becquerels).

If the child was tested in November when Iwaki City started testing children under 18 in the particular districts within the city known for higher levels of radiation, then it was about 8 months, or 240 days from the time of the accident. Looking at the chart from ICRP publication 111, page 21, in order to reach 3,300 becquerels in 240 days, the child would have to be ingesting much more than 10 becquerels of radioactive cesium per day, more likely over 20 becquerels and possibly close to 30 becquerels per day.

Why were children found with internal radiation exposure at a much higher percentage than adult women? They may absorb more but I thought they would excrete faster.

I remember reading an article about internal radiation exposure and WBC very early in the accident last year. People who worked in the nuclear industry were freaking out that staying for a short time in Fukushima after the accident resulted in thousands of becquerels of radioactive cesium inside the body. So that was a big deal then, and this child having thousands of becquerels of radioactive cesium is not, judging by the reaction in Japan. The focus seems to be on the effective dose, and the thinking is "since it's so low there's nothing to worry about".

By the way, there are sites (both in Japanese and in English) that claim 3,300 becquerels of radioactive cesium has been detected in a pregnant woman and that number is per kilogram. That information is wrong. It was from a child, and it is not per kilogram.

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One Case of Thyroid Cancer Found Among 80,000 Fukushima Children Tested So Far

The researchers say it has nothing to do with the nuclear accident, and the child must have developed the thyroid cancer before the accident.

From Kyodo News (9/11/2012):

１８歳以下１人が甲状腺がん　福島健康調査８万人分析

One case of thyroid cancer, under 18, according to the health survey of 80,000

東京電力福島第１原発事故による放射線の影響を調べている福島県の「県民健康管理調査」の検討委員会（座長・山下俊一福島県立医大副学長）が１１日開かれ、事故発生当時１８歳以下を対象とした甲状腺検査について、１人が甲状腺がんと報告された。

The committee for "Fukushima Health Management Survey" to study the effect of radiation from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident (headed by Shunichi Yamashita, Vice President of Fukushima Medical University) held a meeting on September 11, and it was reported that one case of thyroid cancer had been found among the subjects of the thyroid testing who were 18 years old and younger at the time of the accident.

甲状腺検査の対象は約３６万人で、これまで結果が判明したのは約８万人。

About 360,000 [children] are scheduled to have thyroid examinations. So far, 80,000 children have been examined and the results are in.

調査主体の福島県立医大の鈴木真一教授は検討委で「チェルノブイリ原発事故でも甲状腺がんが見つかったのは最短４年。福島では広島、長崎のような外部被ばくや、チェルノブイリのような内部被ばくも起きていない」と述べ、放射線の影響を否定した。

Professor Shinichi Suzuki of Fukushima Medical University, which is in charge of the examinations, denied the effect of radiation exposure, saying in the committee meeting, "It took the minimum 4 years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident that a first case of thyroid cancer was reported. In Fukushima, there has been no external radiation exposure like in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and no internal radiation exposure like in Chernobyl."

It's either Kyodo News misquoted Professor Suzuki or Professor Suzuki misrepresented the fact that 4 years after the Chernobyl accident the cases of thyroid cancer started to increase.

As to the supposed absence of internal radiation exposure, Professor Suzuki had better ask people like Mayor Abe of Kawasaki City (who's intent on force-feeding children with cesium oranges) or the Board of Education of Koriyama City (who wants to teach children about global warming by making them suffer through summer heat and radiation).

According to the latest data from Fukushima Prefecture, the examinations done in the fiscal 2012 (that started on April 1, 2012) so far are for children in Fukushima City (from May to August). Other major cities in Nakadori (middle third) are scheduled for later in the year, starting with Nihonmatsu City and Motomiya City in September. Testing in Koriyama City starts in October.

Compared to the results in the fiscal 2011 (that ended on March 31, 2012), the percentage of children with nodules or cysts of any size are larger in Fukushima City at 43.7%, compared to 35.8% in the fiscal 2011 results. Whether that means anything seems to depend on who you ask.

(Label translation is mine. The original document by Fukushima Prefecture is in Japanese only.)

All I know so far is that before the Fukushima nuclear accident, there were no routine thyroid checks for children; for that matter, there were none for adults either, unless thyroid problems were suspected by the doctors from other symptoms. In other words, there is no baseline data.

In the absence of the baseline data, there are some fantastic stories circulating on Twitter and blogs in Japan. Here's a togetter talking about: "According to my doctor, 40% of children tested in Kanagawa Prefecture were found with cysts on their thyroids!" and "I heard 40% of children tested in Kagoshima Prefecture had cysts!" The natural conclusion among people who were tweeting this horrible news is that the entire Japan is so contaminated that children are developing thyroid "abnormalities" everywhere in Japan.

A more logical conclusion (since Kagoshima is not contaminated with radioactive materials of Fukushima origin) is that maybe it is quite normal for about 40% of children at any location at any time to have small growths on their thyroids. But Japan has long ceased to be logical.

Someone even created an official-looking document saying "We were told that only Fukushima Medical University is allowed to conduct the thyroid test", and it was widely disseminated on the net. A day later, the document was yanked by the person who had posted it originally. Oh well. What can you believe these days?

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New (2012) Crop of #Fukushima Rice that "Passed" the Test Is On Sale in Tokyo

Sure it passed. The detection limit was 25 becquerels/kg, testing done in 5 to 10 seconds at most using brand-new detectors built specifically for the task of rapidly "measuring" the radioactive cesium in rice grown in Fukushima Prefecture.

Never mind the details like that. Shoppers in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo (itself in the more contaminated section of Tokyo) are happy to snap up this year's fresh crop.

From Nikkei Shinbun quoting Kyodo News (9/1/2012; emphasis is mine):

福島産の新米、東京で販売開始　全袋検査に合格

New crop of Fukushima rice sale started in Tokyo, all bags passed the inspection [for radioactive materials]

福島県でことし収穫された新米の販売が１日、東京都江戸川区のアンテナショップ「ふくしま市場」で始まった。同県では８月から放射性物質の全袋検査を実施しており、合格したコメの県外販売は初めて。

New crop of rice harvested in Fukushima Prefecture this year started on September 1 at "Fukushima Market", a shop to test selling the Fukushima produce in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo. Fukushima Prefecture has started testing all bags of rice for radioactive materials since August, and this was the first sale of the rice that passed the test outside Fukushima.

　店頭には、検査で検出限界値（１キロ当たり25ベクレル）を下回った本宮市産「五百川」と会津坂下町産「瑞穂黄金」の早場米２品種が並べられた。設置された試食コーナーで買い物客が味を確かめ、名産の桃などと一緒に買っていた。

Bags of rice from Motomiya City and from Aizubange-machi, both of which tested below the detection limit (25 becquerels/kg) were put on sale. Shoppers were sampling at a sampling corner of the store, and seen purchasing [the rice] together with the peaches from Fukushima.

　家族４人で訪れていた江戸川区の会社員岡本孝雄さん（45）は震災前からの福島米ファン。「ことしもおいしかった。検査もしているし、何も心配せずに買いました」と話していた。

Mr. Takao Okamoto (age 45), an office worker who lives in Edogawa-ku, was visiting the shop with his family of four. He [said] he had been a fan of Fukushima rice even before the March 11, 2011 disaster. He said, "[The rice] tastes great this year, too. They test the rice, so I bought without any worries at all."

(Poor kids.)

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19,507 Bq Radioactive Cesium from a Man in Fukushima Who's Been Eating Shiitake Mushrooms with More Than 140,000 Bq/kg of Cesium

Mind-boggling numbers, but I'm sure they will be dismissed as "no effect on health" because the man is in his 70s.

Another man was found with 11,191 becquerels. Their wives were also found with high levels of radioactive materials in their bodies.

Why? They have been eating food that they grow.

From Mainichi Shinbun (8/22/2012; link added) reporting the news that the health section at Asahi Shinbun reported in early August:

内部被ばく：自家栽培の野菜食べ　福島の男性２人

Two men in Fukushima with internal radiation exposure from eating home-grown vegetables

市場に流通しない自家栽培の野菜を食べた福島県の７０代男性２人が、比較的高い１万ベクレル超の放射性物質を取り込む内部被ばくをしていたことが、東京大医科学研究所の調査で分かった。うち１人は約２万ベクレルに達したが、これによる被ばく線量は年０．８５ミリシーベルトで、国が設けた食品からの被ばく限度（年１ミリシーベルト）は下回った。調べた坪倉正治医師は「健康被害が出るレベルではないが、自家栽培の野菜などを食べる場合は検査してほしい」と話す。

A survey by the Tokyo University Institute of Medical Science has revealed that two men in their 70s in Fukushima Prefecture who have been eating home-grown vegetables that are not sold to the market have internal radiation exposure with relatively high amount of radioactive materials, exceeding 10,000 becquerels. One of them has about 20,000 becquerels, which would translate to 0.85 millisievert [internal] exposure in one year. It is still lower than the internal radiation exposure limit from food (1 millisievert/year) set by the national government. Dr. Masaharu Tsubokura, who conducted the survey, says, "It may not be the level that would affect health, but I would like people to test the food they grow before eating them."

２人の男性は、同県川俣町と二本松市在住。今年７〜８月、内部被ばく量を測定する装置「ホールボディーカウンター」を使い、体内の放射性セシウム（１３４と１３７）の量を調べた。その結果、川俣町の男性からは１万９５０７ベクレル、その妻からは７７２４ベクレルが検出された。二本松市の男性の内部被ばく量は１万１１９１ベクレル、妻は６７７１ベクレルだった。いずれも東京電力福島第１原発事故で放出された放射性セシウムを食品から取り込んだとみられる。

One of the two men lives in Kawamata-machi, and the other lives in Nihonmatsu City. They were tested for internal radiation exposure by using the Whole Body Counter to measure radioactive cesium (cesium-134 and -137) in their bodies in July and August this year. The man in Kawamata-machi was found with 19,507 becquerels, and his wife was found with 7,724 becquerels. The man in Nihonmatsu City was found with 11,191 becquerels, and his wife 6,771 becquerels. For all of them, it is assumed that they have ingested radioactive cesium released by the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident through food.

川俣町の夫婦は、同県浪江町の原木で自家用に栽培したシイタケや自宅近くで採ったタケノコ、干し柿などを毎日食べており、シイタケからは１４万ベクレルを超す放射性物質が検出された。二本松市の夫婦は、この夫婦からもらった野菜を食べていたという。

The husband and wife in Kawamata-machi have been eating shiitake mushrooms they grow on the logs from Namie-machi [in Fukushima Prefecture], bamboo shoots harvested near their home, and dried persimmons. From the mushrooms, over 140,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive materials [cesium] was found. The couple in Nihonmatsu City has been eating the vegetables given by the couple in Kawamata-machi.

Shiitake logs from Namie-machi... It seems no one bothered to tell them that Namie-machi is probably more heavily contaminated than some of the towns closer to the Fukushima plant. Being in their 70s, their news sources are likely to be the traditional media such as newspapers and TV.

Kawamata-machi is located just west of Iitate-mura, another heavily contaminated location in Fukushima.

Dr. Tsubokura says in the original Asahi article that these levels of internal radiation exposure are seen in Belarus.

However, one of the strange things I've noticed since April 1 this year when the new safety standard of 100 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium was put in place is that people in general don't care much about food contamination any more. It was a big deal, literally up until March 31, the last day under the provisional 500 Bq/kg safety level. If a food item was found with double-digit cesium per kilogram, people were worried.

But now, with the safety limit of 100 Bq/kg and the detection limit of 20 bq/kg using NaI scintillation survey meters (which I think is too high for comfort), less and less people care if a food item is found with, say 60, 70 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. It doesn't make a headline news any more (though it is duly reported in the media).

Instead, they worry about a nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, boy-wonder mayor of Osaka, Friday "single issue" protests at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo.

They are good ways to not have to deal with the issues at hand, which remain, in my personal opinion, radioactive materials from the nuclear accident in the environment and how to deal with them.

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Chiba Produce Fair in Thailand - "All-Out Offensive to Sell Chiba Pears", Says Sankei Shinbun Article

According to the article, wealthy Thais were snapping up pears grown and harvested in Chiba for as much as 1,000 yen (US$12.67) a piece.

The event in Bangkok was attended by the governor of Chiba Prefecture, a former popular TV actor with little acting skills.

Wealthy Thais will be snapping up peaches from Fukushima, too.

From Sankei Shinbun (8/19/2012; part):

県産ナシをタイで売り込め！　現地スーパーで千葉フェア

"Let's sell our pears in Thailand!" Chiba Fair in the supermarket in Thailand

タイ訪問中の森田健作千葉県知事は１９日、バンコクの日系スーパーでの物産展「千葉フェア」に出席し、ナシをはじめとする県の名産品をＰＲした。タイの果物市場には他国も進出しているが、県は質が高くタイではまだ供給が少ないナシを富裕層に売り込んでいきたい考えだ。

Kensaku Morita, governor of Chiba who's visiting Thailand, attended the "Chiba Fair" at a Japanese supermarket in Bangkok to promote the popular produce from Chiba including pears. There are other countries already in the fruit market in Thailand. Chiba Prefecture plans to target the wealthy Thais to push Chiba's high-quality pears which are still in small supply in Thailand.

千葉フェアは、バンコク市内の富裕層が多く住む地域に立地するイオン（千葉市）現地法人の店舗で、５日間にわたって開催。特設コーナーには果物、野菜、鮮魚など、さまざまな県産品が並んだ。

"Chiba Fair" is being held for 5 days at a subsidiary of AEON (headquartered in Chiba City) in part of Bangkok where the wealthy people live. In the special corner in the supermarket, various products from Chiba are displayed, including fruits, vegetables, and fresh fish.

この日は特設コーナー近くのステージで、銚子産マグロの解体ショーが行われ、続いて森田知事も登場。「千葉はナシが日本一。今日食べてもらって、おいしさを知ってください」とアピールし、用意していた白井市産の旬のナシを来場者に振る舞った。

On August 19, they cut up a whole tuna from Choshi on the stage near the special corner, and Governor Morita himself took the stage. He promoted the pears, saying "Chiba has the No.1 pears in Japan. Please try today, and see how delicious they are." He then handed out the pears grown and harvested in season in Shirai City.

千葉フェアに並んだナシは時期や品種、輸送方法などの兼ね合いで、１個１千円近くと高価だったが買い求める客もおり、現地の輸入業者は「高価でも贈答用として需要がある」と話す。

The pears at the Chiba Fair were expensive, at nearly 1,000 yen per pear due to the seasonality, types of pears, and method of transportation. But there were customers who were buying them. The local importer says, "There will be a demand as gifts, even if they are expensive."

According to Chiba Prefecture's website, pears in Shirai City were tested in July this year to see if they contained radioactive cesium. The results were:

Monitoring test using the germanium semiconductor detector: ND (detection limit 2.2 Bq/kg for cesium-134, 2.5 Bq/kg for cesium-137)

Simple screening test using NaI scintillation survey meter (from 17 locations): ND (detection limit 17 to 19 Bq/kg)

Zero information on the volume (or weight) of the samples, how densely they were packed to be tested, and how long they were tested. (I guess the officials think citizens are dumber than them.)

AEON Group is headed by the older brother of the vice prime minister Katsuya Okada.

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#Radioactive Japan: Tsukuba City, Ibaraki's Official Radiation Test for Food Showed Only One-Third of What Was Actually In the Food (Barley), Says a Citizens' Group

In April this year, a citizen volunteer group in Tsukuba City in Ibaraki Prefecture set up "Ibaraki Citizens Radioactivity Measuring Station" to test food and soil for radioactive materials (iodine, cesium). The group uses AT1320A by ATOMTEX (Belarus) with an NaI scintillation survey meter.

The group says over 100 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the barley harvested in 2011, using their detector. From the same barley, Tsukuba City had only detected 35 Bq/kg. Tsukuba City uses Hitachi NaI scintillation survey meter, according to the city's website. (The new safety limit for radioactive cesium is 100 Bq/kg.)

So why the huge difference?

It turned out that the city's measurement time was too short, and the software for the detector was not updated. When the city lengthened the measurement time and did the software upgrade, the city's detector found 115 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium.

What a surprise.

According to their blogpost on May 29, 2012, here's what happened:

市民測定所にて、スタッフの11年産の大麦が110Bq/kg程度と計測されました。測定時間を延長するなど、再測定を何度も実施したところ、やはり100Bq/kg程度。

At our Citizens Radioactivity Measuring Station, barley harvested in 2011 by one of our staff was found with 110 Bq/kg [of radioactive cesium]. We repeated the measurement a number of times by extending the measurement time, but the result was still about 100 Bq/kg.

同じ大麦を、以前、つくば市の測定器で測定した際には、35Bq/kgの結果でした。あまりにも結果に開きがあるので、つくば市にて再測定。

The same barley had been tested before, using the detector of Tsukuba City. The result then had been 35 Bq/kg. The two numbers diverged so much, so we had it tested again by Tsukuba City's detector.

結果は115Bq/kg。

The result was 115 Bq/kg.

測定時間が10分から30分へ延長したことと、ソフトのバージョンアップのため、測定所の結果と同等の結果が得られるようになっていました。

[Since the previous measurement,] the city lengthened the measuring time from 10 minutes to 30 minutes and did the software version update [for the detector], which allowed their detector to obtain the similar result as ours.

＊＊＊

これを受けて、口頭で、近隣の麦類に対して、再検査を実施してもらえるよう、茨城県とつくば市に要望するも、「自家用」であるため、対応できないとの回答でした。

Based on this result, we made an oral request to Ibaraki Prefecture and Tsukuba City to re-test the barley grown in the neighborhood areas [of Tsukuba, I assume], but they said they wouldn't, because the barley was for "personal consumption".

その後、話し合いの場を持った上で、今回、書面として、要望書を提出しました。

After we had an opportunity to further discuss with them, we submitted the written request [to the prefecture and the city] today.

The group calls for the consistent and continuous monitoring of radioactive materials in food, and prompt and open disclosure of the results. For Tsukuba City in particular, the group is asking the city to (1) test commercially available food if the radioactivity in food for non-commercial, personal consumption exceeds 100 Bq/kg; and (2) test using the germanium semiconductor detector owned by the prefectural government when the radioactivity in food (commercial or non-commercial) exceeds 100 Bq/kg by the group's testing

Mainichi Shinbun (5/30/2012) reported on this written request from this group. In the article, Mainichi says "Tsukuba City stopped publishing the test results for the agricultural products for personal consumption".

This news hasn't got much attention in Japan, and the group's site does not have an update.

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#Radioactive Japan: 107.2 Bq/kg of Cesium from Pork from Koriyama City, First Pork to Exceed Safety Limit

Radioactive cesium exceeding the safety limit of 100 becquerels/kg was detected from one of 6 pigs shipped from a pig farm in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture. The other 5 were also found with radioactive cesium, ranging from 11 Bq/kg to 78 Bq/kg.

First, from Yomiuri Shinbun (5/22/2012):

福島・郡山産の豚肉からセシウム…出荷自粛

Radioactive cesium from pork produced in Koriyama City, Fukushima, voluntary shipment halt

福島県郡山市は２２日、市内の養豚農家が出荷した豚１頭の肉から、国の規制値（１キロ・グラム当たり１００ベクレル）を超える１０７・２ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたと発表した。

Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture announced on May 22 that the meat from one of the pigs shipped by a pig farmer in the city was found with 107.2 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium, exceeding the national safety limit (100 Bq/kg).

農水省によると、４月に導入された新規制値を超えるセシウムが豚から検出されるのは初めて。

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, it is the first case of cesium detection from pork that exceeded the new safety limit introduced in April.

同市によると、２１日に出荷された６頭を簡易検査したところ、そのうち１頭から５０ベクレル超を検出。再検査した結果、新規制値超の放射性セシウムを検出した。市は簡易検査で問題のなかった５頭の出荷自粛を農家に求め、すべて市場に出回っていない。

According to the city, the meat from 6 pigs that was shipped on May 21 was tested using the simplified method [NaI scintillation, most likely]. From the meat from one of the pigs, more than 50 Bq/kg of cesium was detected. After more detailed inspection [likely using germanium semiconductor detector], radioactive cesium exceeding the new safety limit was detected. The city has requested the voluntary halt of shipment of the meat from 5 pigs that passed the simplified test, so none of the meat is being sold in the market.

市は２２日に職員を派遣して農家にヒアリングを行ったが、原因究明には至っていない。今後、豚の餌である配合飼料などを検査して解明を急ぐ。

The city send an official to the pig farm on May 22 and interviewed, but the cause [for radioactive cesium in the meat] is not known yet. The city will test the formula feed and other feed for the pigs to try to identify the cause.

Koriyama City's press release on May 22, 2012 says the pork that was found with 107.2 Bq/kg of cesium will be destroyed, but the rest of the pork that tested lower than the safety limit (100 Bq/kg) is "supposed to be destroyed by the producer". That doesn't engender much confidence these days.

試料の種類	検査結果
	セシウム134	セシウム137	合計
豚肉1	19.1	21.7	40.8
豚肉2	21.0	27.7	48.7
豚肉3	検出せず（＜1.38）	11.2	11.2
豚肉4	41.8	65.4	107.2
豚肉5	20.2	37.3	57.5
豚肉6	26.9	50.6	77.5

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#Radioactive Tea from Chiba, This Year's First Pick: Max 14 Bq/kg of Cesium, Brewed, Exceeding the Safety Limit

This is the first case in Japan of this year's green tea exceeding the new safety limit of 10 Bq/kg of brewed tea.

14 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium in brewed tea could translate into the maximum 1,400 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium in the dried leaves, with the possible range between 800 to 1,400 Bq/kg, far exceeding even the provisional safety limit (500 Bq/kg) that was in place until April 1, 2012. For more on the old and new test methods for green tea, see my previous post. (If you read Japanese, here's a comprehensible togetter (string of tweets) on the subject compiled by @Kontan_Bigcat, titled "Standard for radioactive cesium in green tea was stricter last year, and here's why".)

Chiba Prefecture's test result (using only the new way of measuring brewed tea) of total 16 samples from 5 municipalities shows some samples close to the new safety limit of 10 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium in brewed tea. 2 samples exceeded the new safety limit.

Chiba Prefecture's page says the samples are prepared in this way, following the guideline from the Ministry of Health and Welfare dated March 15, 2012:

荒茶又は製茶10g以上を30倍量の重量の熱水（90℃）で60秒間浸出し、40メッシュ相当のふるい等でろ過した浸出液

Use "ara-cha" (bulk tea) or "sei-cha" (blend tea), more than 10 grams, add hot water (90 degrees Celsius) 30 times the weight of the tea, brew for 60 seconds, strain the liquid using a strainer (40 mesh)

(I put in the English labels)

No.	栽培地 Location	品目 Item	栽培状況	採取日	放射性セシウム
					セシウム134	セシウム137	合計 注3
1	成田市 Narita	茶（一番茶飲用）Tea, First pick	露地 grown outdoors	5月14日	1.91	3.21	5.1
2		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月14日	2.08	3.45	5.5
3		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月14日	5.45	8.72	14
4		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月14日	5.17	7.33	13
5	勝浦市 Katsuura	茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月15日	1.55	4.02	5.6
6		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月15日	1.98	3.61	5.6
7		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月15日	1.61	3.09	4.7
8	多古町 Tako	茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月14日	2.60	4.52	7.1
9		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月14日	2.06	3.32	5.4
10	八街市 Yachimata	茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月16日	1.89	2.91	4.8
11		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月16日	2.83	3.50	6.3
12		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月16日	1.69	2.99	4.7
13		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月16日	3.43	4.53	8.0
14		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月16日	2.33	3.41	5.7
15	芝山町 Shibayama	茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月16日	1.99	2.49	4.5
16		茶（一番茶飲用）	露地	5月16日	1.33	2.19	3.5

Based on the above result, the shipping ban on the teas in Tako-machi and Shibayama-machi has been lifted. Other municipalities (except for Narita City) will soon follow.

Last year, green tea (dry leaves) from Chiba Prefecture was found with radioactive cesium ranging from slightly over 200 Bq/kg to 2,300 Bq/kg. Even the fresh leaves were found with 260 to 980 Bq/kg of cesium, according to the excel sheet data from the prefecture.

For those who are still wondering what "Becquerel" means, Chiba Prefecture's page has the definition for you, too:

ベクレル：放射能の強さを表す単位で、単位時間（1秒間）内に原子核が崩壊する数を表す。

Becquerel: Unit of radioactivity. It indicates the number of nuclei decaying in a unit time (1 second).

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Hiroaki Koide: "Adults in Japan Should Eat Contaminated Food" to Atone for the Sins of Having Allowed Nuke Power

During the press conference in New York after the lecture on the status of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident and radiation contamination in Japan, Dr. Koide of Kyoto University repeated his mantra (or curse, to many Japanese) that the food contaminated with radioactive materials from Fukushima should be consumed by adults who have allowed the nuclear power plants.

From the Japanese transcript by Portirland blog (5/5/2012):

クリーンな食べ物はない。

There is no clean food.

残念ながら福島の事故は起きてしまい、全地球に汚染を広げてしまっている。そのため、クリーンとか安全という食べ物というものはありません。

Sadly, the Fukushima accident happened, and has spread contamination throughout the world. So there is no food that is clean or safe.

ただし、猛烈に汚れている食べ物から比較的安全な食べ物まで、連続的に分布している。それをどのように受け入れるかが問題。

But there is a continuous variety of food from extremely contaminated food to relatively safe food. The issue is how to accept [allocate] such food.

猛烈な汚染食品は原子力を進めていた方々に食べてもらう。東電幹部、原子力を進めてきた政治家や、学者に食べてもらう。そういう仕組みを作りたい。

Extremely contaminated food should be eaten by people who have promoted nuclear power. TEPCO top management, and politicians and scholars who have promoted nuclear power. I would like to build such a system.

後は、原子力をここまで許してきてしまった大人たちに、汚染された食べ物を食べてもらって、子どもたちに汚染されていないものを食べさせてあげる。

The rest of the contaminated food should be eaten by adults, who have allowed nuclear power to this extent, so that the non-contaminated food goes to children.

ただしそれを実現するためには、どの食べ物がどれだけ汚染されているのかを正確に検査する必要がある。その情報を提供するように東京電力に言っている

However, in order to achieve that, it is necessary to accurately measure the contamination levels. I've been telling TEPCO to provide that information.

その作業をしようとすると、膨大な作業になる。多くのお米・野菜・魚をきちんと検査することをしないと子どもたちに食べさせることはできない。

To do that, it would be a huge task. But unless we inspect many samples of rice, vegetables, fish, we can't let children eat them.

Well, I wonder how he is going to enforce his system. Some people have suggested some type of ID cards that will be required when purchasing food. With that system, if you are above certain age, you won't be allowed to buy "clean" food.

Koide's supporters almost always defend his position by pointing to the episode that Koide ate contaminated pastas from Italy after the Chernobyl accident because he thought he was partly responsible for the accident for having been a nuclear researcher and unable to stop nuclear power.

In the real world, Japanese children are being fed with radioactive food items in school lunches even after radioactive cesium is detected from the particular food items and even when there are safe (radiation-free) alternatives. Why? Because it is below the government-mandated safety limit. What good is testing? In the real world, mothers and fathers who want to buy clean food for their families are laughed at and even criticized for being selfish.

In such a world, Koide's insistence that adults should eat contaminated food somehow fits well. And we'll all go down...

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Now They Tell Us: Wholesaler in Tokyo Falsified Fukushima Cucumbers as "Made in Iwate, Yamagata" Last Year

It was discovered by the information from a citizen. Any penalty? Nah. The Tokyo Metropolitan government told the wholesaler to try their best not to do that again.

From ANN News (4/27/2012):

東京・足立区の野菜の仲卸業者が、福島県産のキュウリに「山形県産」などとうそのシールを貼って販売していたことが分かりました。

It was revealed that a intermediate wholesaler of vegetables [who buys from a wholesaler and sells to a retailer] in Adachi-ku in Tokyo had sold cucumbers made in Fukushima Prefecture by putting "Made in Yamagata" stickers.

足立区の野菜仲卸業者「大兼文喜」は去年9月、福島県産のキュウリ358箱を袋に小分けする際、「山形県産」や「岩手県産」の産地シールを貼り、一般消費者向けとして小売業者に販売していました。情報提供を受け、東京都などが調査したところ判明しました。調査に対し、大兼文喜は「前日までに山形県産と岩手県産の必要な量を確保できなかった」と話していて、代わりに在庫があった福島県産のキュウリを袋詰めして販売したということです。都は再発防止に努めるよう指示しました。

In September last year, intermediate wholesaler of vegetables "Daikane Bunki" in Adachi-ku, Tokyo sold 358 boxes of cucumbers made in Fukushima to retailers to be sold to the consumers. The company, when they packaged the cucumbers in small bags, put the "made in Yamagata" and "made in Iwate" stickers. The Tokyo metropolitan government investigated on the tip from a citizen. Daikane Bunki says, "We couldn't secure enough cucumbers from Yamagata and Iwate". So they packaged the cucumbers from Fukushima that they had in the inventory, and sold them. The Tokyo metropolitan government instructed the company that it should try not to do that again.

The wholesaler Daikane Bunki either took down their website or the site is inundated by irate consumers. Either way, it seems to have been removed.

Fukushima's cucumbers have been found with radioactive iodine and cesium, but the maximum amounts found (36 becquerels/kg of iodine-131, 12 becquerels/kg of cesium-134, 15 becquerels/kg of cesium-137) was from house cucumbers grown in Nihonmatsu City on March 24, 2011. Since then, they are mostly ND (Not Detected). (You can search the database set up by the Fukushima prefectural government, here (in Japanese only).)

Then again, the monitoring was a sample testing, picking one plot of farmland per village/town/city and pick one vegetable, washing it carefully and measuring it. Then the whole village/town/city was declared "safe", and the shipment of the vegetable was freely allowed when the vegetable tested below the provisional safety limits of 2,000 becquerels/kg of iodine-131, and 500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium.

In retrospect, it shouldn't have engendered much confidence among the consumers, but it did; back then not many consumers were aware of the sample testing method. I remember reading a tweet by a Fukushima farmer very early on in the crisis (in early April, maybe), warning against this testing method, saying 99.9% of the vegetables or fruits from Fukushima were not tested. I remember retweeting his tweet, but that fell on deaf years back then.

There are still people out there in the positions of power and authority - politicians of major cities (like the mayor of Yokohama who kept feeding her city's school children with cesium beef), or a kindergarten principal (who ended up feeding her kindergarteners with mushrooms loaded with radioactive cesium recently) - who continue to believe "What's being sold in the market is safe".

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Ministry of Agriculture to Food Industry: Don't Use Own Radiation Standard, Use Government's

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries notified the food industry on April 20 that the industry should abide by the radiation safety standards set by the national government, and not use their own (i.e. lower) standards.

The reason? Actually there are two:

• So that the testing is "scientific" (meaning if companies are going to test on their own they are strongly encouraged to do so at the testing laboratories registered with the Ministry - there are 40 of them in Japan according to the Ministry's information);

• To avoid "excessive" regulation and to use the government standards in presenting the results.

From Asahi Shinbun (4/21/2012):

食品の放射能検査「独自基準やめて」　農水省が通知

Stop using radiation standards in food that is different from the national standards, Ministry of Agriculture notifies

食品の放射性物質検査をめぐって、農林水産省は２０日、スーパーや食品メーカー、外食産業などの業界団体（２７０団体）に対し、国が設けた放射性物質の基準を守るよう求める通知を出した。国よりも厳しい独自基準を設けて自主検査を実施し、「『放射性物質不検出』の食品しか売りません」などとする動きに歯止めをかけるのが狙いという。

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) issued the notice to the 270 industry groups such as supermarkets, food manufacturers and restaurants on April 20 that they should abide by the safety standards for radioactive materials set by the national government. The purpose is to restrain the move by the food industries to set their own, stricter standards and conduct testing, and to sell only the food not contaminated with radioactive materials.

国は４月から、それまでの暫定基準を改め、新基準（一般食品の放射性セシウムは１キロあたり１００ベクレル、牛乳と乳児用食品は５０ベクレル、飲料水１０ベクレル）を施行した。

The national government adopted the new safety standards for food in April (100 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in food in general, 50 becquerels/kg for milk and baby food, and 10 becquerels/kg for drinking water).

通知は同省食料産業局長名で出され、民間に広がる自主検査に対する注意喚起の形をとっている。通知は、この新基準が国際的な指標と比べても、さらに厳しい設定であることを強調。「過剰な規制と消費段階での混乱を避けるため、自主検査においても食品衛生法の基準値に基づいて判断するよう周知をお願いします」と記している。

The notice was signed by the head of the Food Industry Bureau of MAFF, and written to warn on voluntary inspection of radiation in the private sector. The notice emphasizes that the new government standards are even stricter than the international indicators, and says "To prevent the excessive regulation and confusion at the time of food consumption, we would like you to make it well known that the results of voluntary inspections should be interpreted according to the standards set by the Food Sanitation Act.

Let's all get internal radiation exposure, the government seems to be saying. After all, this government doesn't think anything of feeding the imperial family with milk with radioactive cesium. Why should it care for lowly citizens? The DPJ government also plans to send Prince and Princess Akishino, parents of the future emperor (5-year-old Prince Hisahito), to Uganda, of all places.

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16 Becquerels/kg of Radioactive Cesium from Milk for Japan's Imperial Family

That's the headline of the latest issue of Shukan Shincho, a Japanese weekly magazine.

The imperial family has the 252-hectare Imperial Stock Farm managed by the Imperial Household Agency. It is located in Takanezawa-machi in Tochigi Prefecture, and it produces organic vegetables, eggs, meat, and milk for use in the imperial household.

Part of northan Kanto - Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Gunma - has had elevated levels of radiation since the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident last year. Vegetables, mushrooms, teas, and beef from the area have been found with levels of radioactive cesium exceeding the old provisional safety limit of 500 becquerels/kg. But the Imperial Household Agency has kept sending the produce from the Farm to the Imperial Household with young children as if nothing has happened.

The photo below is an ad banner of the magazine you see inside the trains in Japan. The first headline (the right most one) says Prince Hisahito is very fond of the milk from the Imperial Stock Farm, and that milk has been found with 16 becquerels/kg of cesium, even when the commercial milk has no cesium.

Prince Hisahito is 5 years old. Crown Prince and Princess have the young daughter, Princess Aiko (age 11). The emperor himself is still recovering from his heart surgery.

Many on Twitter are saying "They finally talk about it, now? After more than 1 year?"

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#Radioactive Japan: New Cesium Safety Limit - What New Cesium Safety Limit?

No matter how the government tweak the safety limits for radioactive cesium in food items, the public are left fending for themselves after all.

First, if you don't measure it, you won't know it.

Chiba Prefecture says it has just found out that fresh shiitake mushrooms sold at an unmanned farm stand had 740 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. The mushrooms have already been consumed. The prefectural government assures us that the amount is small, and there will be "no immediate, direct" consequence on health.

As if all cesium people ingest is from this shiitake crop.

From Jiji Tsushin (4/9/2012):

無人販売農家のシイタケで検出＝７４０ベクレル、既に消費－千葉

740 becquerels from Shiitake sold at an unmanned farm stand in Chiba, already sold and consumed

千葉県は９日、白井市で露地栽培された原木シイタケから、基準値（１キロ当たり１００ベクレル）を超える７４０ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたと発表した。生産農家は無人販売所で約４キロを既に販売しており、全て消費された。県は同市に出荷自粛を要請した。

Chiba Prefecture announced on April 9 that shiitake mushrooms cultivated outdoors in Shirai City were found with 740 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, exceeding the safety limit of 100 becquerels/kg [notice it is not provisional anymore; it's permanent]. The farmer had already sold 4 kilograms of these mushrooms, and all had been consumed. The prefectural government requested the city to voluntarily halt shipment.

県は「消費量、放射線量ともに多くなく、すぐに直接被害が出るとは考えられない」としている。

The prefectural government says, "The amount of consumption and the amount of radioactivity are not so great, so it is inconceivable that there will be an immediate, direct damage."

The old, provisional safety limit was 500 becquerels/kg, and the radioactivity of these mushrooms even exceeded the old level. And the same old "requesting voluntary halt" to save money. (Voluntary action is not compensated by the government.)

Second, if you change testing methodology, voila, it is below the safety limit.

Ibaraki Prefecture is one of the prefectures in northern Kanto region whose teas tested above the provisional safety limit of 500 becquerels/kg last year. But now, the national government has changed the rule for teas. Teas are to be tested after they are brewed. So unless the tea has over 1,000 bequerels/kg of cesium, the brewed tea (liquid) will be well below 10 becquerels/kg (new safety limit for water).

From Jiji Tsushin (4/9/2012):

茨城・大子の春番茶、制限解除＝セシウム基準値以下－政府

Restriction lifted from the spring "bancha" tea from Daigo, Ibaraki Prefecture, as the amount of radioactive cesium is below the safety limit, says the national government

政府は９日、茨城県大子町の春番茶について、放射性セシウムの基準値（飲用茶の状態で１キロ当たり１０ベクレル）が３地点で下回ったとして出荷停止を解除した。

The national government lifted the restriction on shipment of the spring "bancha" tea from Daigo-machi in Ibaraki Prefecture on Spril 9, as the amount of radioactive cesium was below the safety limit (10 becquerels/kg in brewed tea) in three locations tested.

同町の生茶葉から昨年６月、暫定規制値（１キロ当たり５００ベクレル）を上回る放射性セシウムが検出され、出荷停止となっていた。

The shipment of tea from Daigo was halted when radioactive cesium exceeding the provisional safety limit (500 becquerels/kg) was found from fresh tea leaves in June last year.

I went to the Ibaraki Prefecture's website to look for the original data. The data does include the measurement of radioactive cesium the "old way" - measuring the dried tea leaves. If the old way of applying the safety limit on the dried leaves, there are many teas that easily exceed the new safety limit.

From Ibaraki Prefecture's test result, the top red bracket shows the measurement of cesium in "aracha" tea (bulk tea before blending) from Daigo-machi, and the bottom red bracket shows the measurement of cesium in the liquid after the tea is brewed:

Well, there are slight problems with the new way of only measuring brewed tea. There are people who "eat" tea leaves (although I doubt they still do it after the accident, but who knows). I drink "konacha", or powdered tea which is a strong, sushi-shop style green tea that is cheaper and stronger. My cup is left with green "sludge" at the bottom, which I ingest (my tea is from 2010). Many use green tea powders as health supplements.

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