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| | | published Friday, July 15, 2011 | 1085 Views :: 0 Comments |
Gerald Pollet, Counterpunch July 11, 2011
Radiation levels in
rainwater collected in Portland, Oregon on March 25, 2011 were 86.8
pCi/L for Iodine 131 (I131), amongst the highest recorded in the US
after Fukushima. Rain in Olympia had even higher levels of radioactive
Iodine. The Portland result was not posted by EPA until April 4.
The maximum level of Iodine 131in rain in Olympia, WA was 125 pCi/L on March 24, which was not posted by EPA until April 4.
Highest levels in rainwater in California were collected March 22, 2011 in Richmond, CA with levels of 138 pCi/L.
The Drinking Water Standard is just 3 pCi/L
(picoCuries per Liter, which is a very small measurement). Thus, people
drinking undiluted rainwater n Portland would have consumed and been
exposed to Iodine 131 at levels nearly 30 times the DWS, and 41 times
the standard in Olympia. There are no results for Seattle or Bellingham
areas. The DWS is set at a level based on drinking 2L/day resulting in a
4 mrem per year dose, which is a 1 in 10,000 lifetime risk of fatal
cancer in adults, if consumed daily over 30 years. Children are 3 to 10
times more susceptible to develop cancer from the same does, especially
because Iodine concentrates in young thyroids. Of course, Iodine 131 may
cause non-cancerous health conditions.
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| | | published Tuesday, April 12, 2011 | 3388 Views :: 1 Comments |
For immediate release: April 7, 2011
Contact: Arjun Makhijani 301-270-5500
Takoma
Park, Maryland - Total releases of radioactive iodine-131 and
cesium-137 from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors in Japan now
appear to rival Chernobyl. As a result, there is now fallout through the
northern hemisphere, with hot spots appearing due to rain. For
instance, rainwater in Boise, Idaho, on March 22, 2011, was reported by
the Environmental Protection Agency at 242 picocuries per liter, about
80 times the U.S. drinking water standard if the level persisted for a
prolonged time. The drinking water standard is a common reference number
for water purity, even if the water is not used for drinking.
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| | | published Wednesday, April 12, 2006 | 6 Views :: 0 Comments |
Nearly 2,000 nuclear weapons tests have been conducted worldwide. The U.S. alone conducted 217 aboveground tests. About half of them were exploded at the Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site from the early 1950s to the early 1960s. Atmospheric fallout from the aboveground tests, and the thirty underground tests known to have “vented” significant radiation contained harmful radionuclides and was carried thousands of miles from the Test Site. The government assured the public that testing was a safe and necessary part of protecting America.
In 1983 Congress directed the National Cancer Institute
(NCI) to study the health impacts of U.S.
nuclear testing fallout, in particular radioactive iodine,
I-131. After more than a decade and much pressure
from public interest groups and Congress, the
study was released in 1997.
Download PDF: Health2006.pdf
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| | | published Thursday, April 01, 2004 | 7 Views :: 0 Comments | |
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