Unplanned Events & Incidents
Levels of Caesium-134 found in samples of water taken from the Pacific Ocean off the US West Coast would have no impact on human health, fish or shellfish.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reported that samples of water from 150km off the Californian coast contained very small amounts of Caesium-134, at concentrations that are “well below what is thought to be of human health or fisheries concern” and within safety limits established by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Readings showed levels of less than two becquerels per cubic metre, more than 1,000 times lower than acceptable limits in drinking water established by the EPA. Details are online: www.whoi.edu/news-release/Fukushima-detection.
Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers): Fukushima Radiation In Tuna Is Equal To ‘Five Percent Of Dose From A Banana’ (News in Brief No. 296, 20 November 2013)