Thursday, January 17, 2013

#Radioactive Japan: "Soft Drink" from Iwate Prefecture Tested With 4.1 Bq/kg of Radioactive Cesium


(UPDATE) It turned out to be apple juice. Someone called the agency in Iwate who did the testing and asked. Why didn't they just say it upfront, that it was apple juice? That agency will probably be scolded by the Iwate prefectural government for sharing the information.

People have been freaking out on their own speculation that radioactive cesium must have been from the water itself.

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No details other than it was "soft drink" bottled in Ichinoseki City in Iwate Prefecture, whose contamination had been initially denied by the city officials in the early days of the nuclear accident. It could be juice, it could be plain water. I can't find information on the Iwaki Prefecture's website.

One bottle tested had 4.1 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium, the other had 2.2 Bq/kg. The national safety standard for radioactive cesium is 10 Bq/kg.

In pre-Fukushima Japan, the level of radioactive cesium (Cs-137) in tap water in Iwate Prefecture was ND (not detected), according to the database by Japan Chemical Analysis Center.

Ministry of Health and Welfare's data on January 15, 2013 says these bottles of soft drink were sampled from those sold in retail stores:

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please let it be Pocari Sweat or Calpis at least the names would be funny. I seriously doubt they'll reveal the manufacturer especially since the level isn't actionable since they don't want to start any "baseless rumors".

Anonymous said...

Nuka Cola

Anonymous said...

Since most people dont drink just ONE soft drink in a dayt,hey will max out fast. If soft drink or bottled water its up to 2 or 3 liters needed by humans per day. And if ` liter is about 1 kg in mass/volume. SO 2 liters*4.1 Bq/Kg cesium= 8.2 Bq/kg, and if three, 12.3 Bq. Of course, one does need to add in all the other food products, everything varies by item/type and amount. GADS.

Anonymous said...

Sounds "safe".

Anonymous said...

http://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclides/cesium.html#affecthealth

I bet there are other radionuclides in the drinks. I joked elsewhere about bottling Daiichi's low level contaminated water to sell to the public instead of dumping it into the ocean, looks like both things are happening.

Anonymous said...

Fujishima Unnatural Spring Water

Anonymous said...

Eating 1000 kg or drinking 1000 liters of such stuff per year is ~4000 Bq/year ~0.05 mSv/year, which is the equivalent of ca. a single long-distance flight…

Anonymous said...

Here I am, nearly two years since the accident, thinking that by now no one will come and talk about bananas and long-distance flight...

Anonymous said...

Yeah well, the nuclear industry expects us all to be stupid and dumb downed. At least the majority of sheeple.

NRC exposure limits are only external limits, not expecting anyone to inhale during a transpacific flight and only sit next to a bunch of bananas, not eat them.

Anonymous said...

I hope nobody thinks that it is zero Bq/l everywhere else in the world.

Anonymous said...

Exposure limits are for external + internal (total), roughly:
- External radiation (gamma + other) * coefficients -> effective dose
- Internal (ingestion, inhalation) * coefficients -> effective dose
Sum up all effective doses and you get your count in Sv.
Average natural internal dose ~1.5 mSv/year from Nature's "nuclear waste", 0.5 ingested in the body + 1 inhaled from radon, so max. 0.05 mSv total is a lesser worry (radon easily exceeds 10 mSv/y in some places).
Just to say that people should be more worried about external exposure if they live or want to resettle in the "hot" area, where can exceed this dose in a few hours just standing outside…

Anonymous said...

If I choose to get some exposure because I fly back home to see Mom it is one thing; if I get exposure because TEPCO saved some pennies on safety measures it is another thing: in the latter case I have no choice no reward for the risk I take.
Beppe

Anonymous said...

@1:09 I wish it were ND as it was before Fukushima and as it is in most of the world.

Anonymous said...

@January 17, 2013 at 11:52 PM

Of course everyone else here already knows that long distance flight and bananas are not comparable to ingesting Cesium.
But since you don't I'll just point out a few things.
A few months after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the gov was really doing nothing at all except having some 'town hall' type meetings. One featured a physician who was the head of isotope treatments at a medical facility. He was said to be 'shaking with anger' as he addressed the gov officials. He explained, for example, that drinking water with as little as 2 beqs of radiation in it had proven sufficient to increase the incidence of bladder cancer.
Long distance flight is primarily exposure to beta radiation (and hence the doubling of incidence of skin cancer for flight attendants who spend years in the air) and some gamma radiation (and hence the increase in breast cancer among female flight attendants who spent years in the air). Now both of these are external exposures and are therefore not remotely the same as ingesting cesium.
Cesium which becomes lodged in flesh continuously irradiates tissue in close proximity. This can result in creating damaged tissue which becomes cancerous. You get off your long distance flight after x hours but ingested cesium continues irradiating your cells and organs much longer. And cesium can end up in the brain - this is a location you don't want to have irradiated, right?

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