March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Radiation above government limits was found in milk and spinach produced near the nuclear power plant damaged by Japan’s strongest earthquake, the top spokesman said, acknowledging for the first time that the disaster had contaminated the food supply.
“This is not at the level that would have any direct effect on your health,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news briefing in Tokyo today. Eating the spinach for one year would be equivalent to 20 percent of the radiation exposure associated with a CT scan, he said.
Engineers have been struggling to contain overheating of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, creating the danger of spreading radiation and a meltdown. The milk is from Fukushima prefecture and the spinach from neighboring Ibaraki prefecture, Edano said.
The government did not say how the milk and spinach became contaminated, making it difficult to assess the risks, Lam Ching-wan, a chemical pathologist at the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine, said by telephone. South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore have started screening food imports from Japan.
“They should seriously think about restricting any agricultural products in that area,” he said. “It seems that the whole ecosystem could be affected, so they shouldn’t take any chances.”
Testing Grains, Vegetables
One millisievert, a measure of radioactivity levels, in a liter of milk consumed by a 6-year-old child would increase the risk of cancer by 0.017 percent, Lam said. A full-body CT scan would produce exposure of 12 millisieverts, according to the World Health Organization.
People living within 30 kilometers (19 miles) of the Fukushima plant should wear masks and long sleeves and stay out of the rain, Japan’s nuclear safety agency said today.
Officials in Japan’s 47 prefectures have been asked to test agricultural products, seafood and drinking water for possible contamination to keep tainted grains, milk, vegetables, meat and eggs from being consumed, Kumiko Tanaka, an official at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, said yesterday.
Ibaraki also produces cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, strawberries and pears. Fukushima also produces cucumbers, tomatoes and string beans.
Japan exported 481 billion yen ($5.9 billion) worth of seafood last year, accounting for 0.7 percent of total exports, according to data on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Chernobyl Measures
South Korea plans to strengthen radioactivity tests on livestock and seafood from Japan, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said March 15 in an e-mailed statement. South Korea imported 527 metric tons of livestock products, mostly dairy, and 84,018 tons of seafood from Japan last year, it said.
“We will use the same measures that we used during Chernobyl in 1986,” Pipat Yingseree, secretary-general of Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration, said March 15 in Bangkok. “If it becomes clear that there is radioactive contamination, we will ask for cooperation from operators to delay food imports from Japan, and we will implement serious checks by seizing all products and inspecting all of them.”
Sushi restaurants and hotels, including Shangri-La Asia, and London’s Zuma and Roka Japanese restaurants have stopped buying fresh produce from Japan over fears of possible contamination. The Hong Kong government has been testing radiation levels on all food imported from Japan since March 12.
California officials will screen milk produced in the state for signs of radiation contamination transmitted by grass-eating cows, said Howard Backer, interim director of the California Department of Public Health.
California authorities are reassuring residents that any radiation drifting across the Pacific Ocean from Japan’s earthquake-damaged nuclear reactors would not pose any health threat. Officials are monitoring radiation levels and had not detected any rise as of March 17, Backer said.
--Editors: Peter Hirschberg, Michael Tighe
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Frederik Balfour at cwteo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net
“This is not at the level that would have any direct effect on your health,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news briefing in Tokyo today. Eating the spinach for one year would be equivalent to 20 percent of the radiation exposure associated with a CT scan, he said.
Engineers have been struggling to contain overheating of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, creating the danger of spreading radiation and a meltdown. The milk is from Fukushima prefecture and the spinach from neighboring Ibaraki prefecture, Edano said.
The government did not say how the milk and spinach became contaminated, making it difficult to assess the risks, Lam Ching-wan, a chemical pathologist at the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine, said by telephone. South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore have started screening food imports from Japan.
“They should seriously think about restricting any agricultural products in that area,” he said. “It seems that the whole ecosystem could be affected, so they shouldn’t take any chances.”
Testing Grains, Vegetables
One millisievert, a measure of radioactivity levels, in a liter of milk consumed by a 6-year-old child would increase the risk of cancer by 0.017 percent, Lam said. A full-body CT scan would produce exposure of 12 millisieverts, according to the World Health Organization.
People living within 30 kilometers (19 miles) of the Fukushima plant should wear masks and long sleeves and stay out of the rain, Japan’s nuclear safety agency said today.
Officials in Japan’s 47 prefectures have been asked to test agricultural products, seafood and drinking water for possible contamination to keep tainted grains, milk, vegetables, meat and eggs from being consumed, Kumiko Tanaka, an official at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, said yesterday.
Ibaraki also produces cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, strawberries and pears. Fukushima also produces cucumbers, tomatoes and string beans.
Japan exported 481 billion yen ($5.9 billion) worth of seafood last year, accounting for 0.7 percent of total exports, according to data on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Chernobyl Measures
South Korea plans to strengthen radioactivity tests on livestock and seafood from Japan, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said March 15 in an e-mailed statement. South Korea imported 527 metric tons of livestock products, mostly dairy, and 84,018 tons of seafood from Japan last year, it said.
“We will use the same measures that we used during Chernobyl in 1986,” Pipat Yingseree, secretary-general of Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration, said March 15 in Bangkok. “If it becomes clear that there is radioactive contamination, we will ask for cooperation from operators to delay food imports from Japan, and we will implement serious checks by seizing all products and inspecting all of them.”
Sushi restaurants and hotels, including Shangri-La Asia, and London’s Zuma and Roka Japanese restaurants have stopped buying fresh produce from Japan over fears of possible contamination. The Hong Kong government has been testing radiation levels on all food imported from Japan since March 12.
California officials will screen milk produced in the state for signs of radiation contamination transmitted by grass-eating cows, said Howard Backer, interim director of the California Department of Public Health.
California authorities are reassuring residents that any radiation drifting across the Pacific Ocean from Japan’s earthquake-damaged nuclear reactors would not pose any health threat. Officials are monitoring radiation levels and had not detected any rise as of March 17, Backer said.
--Editors: Peter Hirschberg, Michael Tighe
To contact the reporter responsible for this story: Frederik Balfour at cwteo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg at phirschberg@bloomberg.net
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