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JohnQPublic
8th April 2011, 01:12 PM
Energy News

Strawberries, mushrooms with Cesium-137 found in Northern California; 5 of 6 items in food chain sampling test have radioactive particles (http://enenews.com/strawberries-mushrooms-with-cesium-137-found-in-northern-california-5-out-of-6-items-in-food-chain-sampling-test-have-radioactive-particles)

UCB Food Chain Sampling Results (http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/node/2525), University of California, Berkeley Department of Nuclear Engineering:

Six items were tested: spinach, strawberries, cilantro, topsoil, grass, and mushrooms. Measured in Becquerel per kilogram.

Wild Mushrooms, Collected April 2 in Alameda, CA:

I131 @ 8.4 Bq/kg
Cs134 @ .63 Bq/kg
Cs137 @ .47 Bq/kg
Strawberries, “Best By” Date of April 1, Location Unknown :

I131@ 2.5 Bq/kg
Cs134 @ .69 Bq/kg
Cs137 @ .67 Bq/kg
Grass, Collected April 3 in Alameda, CA:

I131 @ 9.8 Bq/kg
Cs134 @ 6.9 Bq/kg
Cs137 @ 6.9 Bq/kg
Spinach, “Best By” Date of April 8, Location Unknown:

I131 @ 2.8 Bq/kg
Topsoil, Collected April 6 in Alameda, CA:

I131 @ 12.5 Bq/kg
Cs134 @ .99 Bq/kg
Cs137 @ 1.5 Bq/kg
No radionuclides were found in Cilantro from an unknown location

Read the report here.

For infants the FDA set the level of concern at 55 Bq/kg of Iodine-131.

Guidance Levels for Radionuclides in Domestic and Imported Foods, Food and Drug Administration, July 2004:

Infant Food: Iodine-131 @ 55 Bq/kg

http://enenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/fdaI-131_Cs.jpg

Read the report here (http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodContaminantsAdulteration/ChemicalContaminants/Radionuclides/UCM078341).

Shami-Amourae
8th April 2011, 01:23 PM
Click images for full scale

http://www.angelsfortruth.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/radiation-dosage-chart-2011-04-7-18-34.png (http://www.angelsfortruth.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/radiation-dosage-chart-2011-04-7-18-34.png)

http://www.angelsfortruth.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/radiation-2011-04-7-18-34.png (http://www.angelsfortruth.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/radiation-2011-04-7-18-34.png)

JohnQPublic
8th April 2011, 03:32 PM
Here is a more relevant comparison (http://130.226.56.153/rispubl/reports_INIS/RISOR621.pdf)- Denmark, 1990-1991 (think 4-5 years after Chernobyl).

1/10th the levels in California now (for strawberries).

See the 2nd table, also- concentration of radionuclides in the food chain. Levels decreased a little in 1991 (see report).

FDA levels of concern (http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/FoodContaminantsAdulteration/ChemicalContaminants/Radionuclides/UCM078341):

Radionuclide Group LOCs (Bq/kg)
A. Infant Food
Iodine-131 55
Cesium-134 + Cesium-137 370 B. Other Food
Iodine-131 300
Cesium-134 + Cesium-137 370
Much higher than current in California.

JohnQPublic
11th April 2011, 03:02 PM
Japan Nuclear Radiation In Hawaii Milk A Total Of 2033% Above Federal Drinking Water Limits (http://theintelhub.com/2011/04/11/japan-nuclear-radiation-in-hawaii-milk-2033-above-federal-drinking-water-limits/)

(Zerohedge (http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fukushima-accident-assessment-officially-raised-maximum-level-7) is treating this as an "unconfirmed rumor")

"New EPA milk samples in Hawaii show radiation in milk at 800% above limits for C-134, 633% above limits for C-137 and 600% above EPA maximum for I-131 for a total of 2033%, or 20.33 times, above the federal drinking water limits.

New readings have also been posted for Phoenix AZ with milk being above the federal limit and Los Angeles with milk being slightly below the limit for Iodine.

Montpelier VT milk has tested positive for radioactive CS-137, above about 2/3rds the EPA maximum and Spokane WA milk testing less than half the limit for i-131."

MNeagle
11th April 2011, 04:28 PM
What are members here doing about their milk supply? Anything?

Should we be stocking up on additional powered milk & using only that?

How long will this radiation last?

Thx.

lapis
11th April 2011, 05:36 PM
What are members here doing about their milk supply?

I'm thinking about quitting it...and I LOVE milk and cream. :(....

Cobalt
11th April 2011, 05:46 PM
What are members here doing about their milk supply? Anything?

Should we be stocking up on additional powered milk & using only that?

How long will this radiation last?

Thx.


From what I have found is the Iodine will be gone about 63 days after it is released, the problem is they keep releasing more every day.

The Cesium is the problem being that it has a half life of 30 years it will take centuries for it to be gone.

I am picking up 2 bags of dried milk tomorrow because the way they report milk contamination levels here 2 weeks after you have already drank the milk. :redfc

I don't care much for dried milk but I hate the idea of turning on the tube to find that the milk I drank a couple weeks ago was a bad idea.

MNeagle
11th April 2011, 05:51 PM
Then the kicker is it will get into the entire food chain. Milk ~ cheese ~ eggs ~ meats ~ grains ~ fruits ~ veggies ~ ground water supplies, et al. :o

lapis
11th April 2011, 06:01 PM
I don't care much for dried milk but I hate the idea of turning on the tube to find that the milk I drank a couple weeks ago was a bad idea.

I'm extremely loath to drink powdered milk. Although it's made with nonfat milk, there's still traces of fat in it, and the cholesterol gets oxidized during the high-heat processing (same with powdered eggs).

This is the other reason why people shouldn't drink 2% or non-fat liquid milk; the manufacturers add powdered milk to it to give it the "body" it lacks from the lack of fat.

MNeagle
11th April 2011, 07:08 PM
Here's the French warning on their foods:

French Nuclear Group Warns that Children and Pregnant Mothers Should Protect Themselves from Radiation


As Euractiv notes:

The risks associated with iodine-131 contamination in Europe are no longer "negligible," according to CRIIRAD, a French research body on radioactivity. The NGO is advising pregnant women and infants against "risky behaviour," such as consuming fresh milk or vegetables with large leaves.



***



The document, published on 7 April, advises against consuming rainwater and says vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant or breastfeeding women should avoid consuming vegetables with large leaves, fresh milk and creamy cheese.



The risks related to prolonged contamination among vulnerable groups of the population can no longer be considered "negligible" and it is now necessary to avoid "risky behaviour," CRIIRAD claimed.



However, the institute underlines that there is absolutely no need to lock oneself indoors or take iodine tablets.

CRIIRAD says its information note is not limited to the situation in France and is applicable to other European countries, as the level of air contamination is currently the same in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, for instance.



***



The institute stresses that there is no risk whatsoever, even for children, of standing in the rain without protection. But consumption of rainwater as a primary source of drinking water should be avoided, particularly among children, it said.



As for tap water, underground catchments or large rivers should not present any problem. But the institute suggests that the situation of water from reservoirs that collect rainwater from one or more watersheds, such as hillside lakes, should be examined more closely.

As for watering one's garden with collected rainwater, CRIIRAD advises watering only the earth and not the leaves of vegetables, as absorption is faster and more significant on leaf surfaces than through roots.



***



Spinach, salads, cabbage and other vegetables with large surface areas are among those food products that are particularly sensitive to iodine-131 contamination, if they are cultivated outside and exposed to rainwater. Washing vegetables does not help, as iodine-131 is quickly metabolised by the plants, CRIIRAD notes.



Fresh milk and creamy cheeses, as well as meat from cattle that have been outside eating grass, are categorised as foods that may have been indirectly contaminated and must also be monitored. Contamination of milk and cheese from goats and sheep may be of a greater magnitude than that of produce from cows.

CRIIRAD appears to count credible scientists among its ranks, including director Bruno Chareyron - who holds an engineering degree in Energy and Nuclear Technology and postgraduate degrees in Nuclear Engineering and Particle Physics.

The Euractiv article notes that radiation levels are much higher in the U.S. than in France:

Data for the west coast of the United States, which received the Fukushima radioactive fallout 6-10 days before France, reveals that levels of radioactive iodine-131 concentration are 8-10 times higher there, the institute says.

***

Radioactive iodine-131 values measured by the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) in recent days show the following, varying levels of contamination: 0,08 Bq/kg in salad, spinach and leeks in Aix-en-Provence, 0,17 Bq per litre in milk in Lourdes and 2,1 Bq per litre in goats milk in Clansayes.

(The French use a comma instead of a period as a decimal point).

0.17 becquerels per liter equals 4.59 picocuries per liter. But cesium levels of 19 picocuries per liter of radioactive cesium plus 18 picocuries per liter of radioactive iodine have been found in milk from Hilo, Hawaii (this is the official EPA data):

http://opendata.socrata.com/w/pkfj-5jsd/y34g-bnf3?cur=xV_3ZKdA2K_&from=HVEzX0yl-Hh

And see this, this and this.

It is not surprising that radiation levels are higher in the U.S. than in Europe. As Canada's Simon Fraser University notes:

The jet stream is carrying the radiation from Japan to North America. Most of the radioactivity disperses in the atmosphere and falls over the Pacific Ocean on its way over, but some of it has now reached the west coast, falling down with rain, and mixing with seawater. It’s also accumulating in seaweed.
As I noted on March 12th:

The jet stream passes right over Japan. The jet stream was noticed in the 1920's by a Japanese meteorologist near Mount Fuji ... If radioactivity got blown by surface winds up into the jet stream, it could spread widely.
So should American children and pregnant mothers also protect themselves from exposure to radiation by avoiding drinking rainwater and eating certain foods?

I don't know. Each person must make their own decisions.

For further tips on how to protect yourself, see this and this.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a health professional, and this should not be taken as medical advice. Nothing contained herein is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. You should consult your doctor before making any decisions about whether or not to take any of the foods, herbs, supplements or substances mentioned herein.

zero hedge link (http://www.zerohedge.com/article/french-nuclear-group-warns-children-and-pregnant-mothers-should-protect-themselves-radiation?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedg e+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+fo r+everyone+drops+to+zero%29)

**full chart at link

Mouse
11th April 2011, 11:13 PM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Holy vacuum cleaners, Batman, this is really sucking hard!

There is no escape. The Frenchies are basically telling you - DON'T EAT

Hello.

DON'T EAT the vegetables grown outdoors.
DON'T Drink the water that falls from the sky (which is eventually all fresh water)
DON'T Drink the milk

It's safe if you have a tapwater source or an underground cistern? Are you kidding me? I dumped 500 gallons of rainwater yesterday because it was going to rain and I figured the water was bad. It rained last night and I got 500 more gallons of radioactive crap in my garden water. I got spinaches and stuff sitting out there growing. What the hell are we supposed to eat? I got chickens running around drinking water and eating bugs.

This is serious DOOOOOOOOOOM

It don't get no more serious than WORMWOOD

Neuro
12th April 2011, 02:26 AM
I know that in some areas of Sweden Cs levels in reindeer and moose meat were above a 1000 bq/kg, following Chernobyl meltdown, however no statistical increase in cancer rates of those areas, vs far lower contaminated Swedish areas. Probably more hazardous to drink powdered milk.

Antonio
12th April 2011, 02:56 AM
Mouse, get a GOOD geiger and so please do everyone else. People, don`t be Jews and fork over some $$ ;).
We in Russia ate radiactive food, mostly dairy which was the main source of protein, I drank gallons of milk and ate chunks of cheese the size of a car battery every day there. Later we knew it was full of radiation. We as all Europeans gather mushrooms every fall, those were known to suck every bit of cesium and strontium out of the soil but our addiction to mushrooms is incurable.
Every train station in Leningrad had cops checking with geigers every basket of mushrooms brought into the city from the forests.
I never saw any mushrooms declared unsafe but they had to be. What was probably happening was the cops had to keep their mouths shut and wave everyone thru after briefly checking them in order to avoid panic. My guess is they set up the geigers to keep from registering the true levels.

You can`t trust anyone holding a geiger except yourself. There is no need to panic yet but there is no way you can let the bastards control the vital info either. The only way to go is get a good geiger and know for sure.

SLV^GLD
12th April 2011, 12:06 PM
Iodine 131 has a half life of about 8 days which means 2 weeks of radioactivity.

Cesium 137 has a half life of about 30 years and produces harmful radiation for about 60 years.

gunDriller
12th April 2011, 12:59 PM
What are members here doing about their milk supply?

I'm thinking about quitting it...and I LOVE milk and cream. :(....


well, i am thinking about milk from indoor fed animals.

as far as what grows indoors, without considerable light ... wheat sprouts, mushrooms.

what to feed the plants and the rats for fertilizer ... what my mother calls "not dinner table conversation".

it's beginning to look like survival will be related to people's ability to improvise indoor growing systems that are radiation free.

that plus a year stock of food seem like a real good idea.


although i felt that this was a 7 about 3 weeks ago, the declaration by Japan does give me more feeling of urgency.

Cobalt
12th April 2011, 03:12 PM
Iodine 131 has a half life of about 8 days which means 2 weeks of radioactivity.

Cesium 137 has a half life of about 30 years and produces harmful radiation for about 60 years.


That isn't how it works, a half life time frame means it loses 50% at that time listed, so every 8 days it loses 50% of what it had at the beginning of the those 8 days.

Take Iodine 131 which has a half life of 8 days

@the 8 day mark it is at 50%

So after the 2nd 8 day (16 days) that 50% would be reduced to 25%

@24 days it would be 12.5%

@32 days it would be 6.25 %

So it would take over 2 months for it to go away

keehah
14th April 2011, 12:35 PM
Food Chain Breach: Radioactive Sludge Used for Fertilizer on Farms


http://www.stuarthsmith.com/food-chain-breach-radioactive-sludge-used-for-fertilizer-on-farms


Food Chain Breach: Radioactive Rocks Used for Fertilizer on Farms

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer

The use of phosphate fertilizers has also increased from 9 million tonnes per year in 1960 to 40 million tonnes per year in 2000. A maize crop yielding 6-9 tonnes of grain per hectare requires 31–50 kg of phosphate fertilizer to be applied, soybean requires 20–25 kg per hectare.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate_fertilizer

Some phosphate rock deposits are notable for their inclusion of significant quantities of radioactive uranium isotopes. This syndrome is noteworthy because radioactivity can be released into surface waters[8] in the process of application of the resultant phosphate fertilizer

http://www.acsa.net/HealthAlert/radioactive_tobacco.html

The radioactive elements in phosphate fertilizers also make their way into our food and drink. Many food products, especially nuts, fruits, and leafy plants like tobacco absorb radioactive elements from the soil, and concentrate them within themselves.17

The fluorosilicic acid used to make the "fluoridated water" most of us get from our taps is made from various fluorine gases captured in pollution scrubbers during the manufacture of phosphate fertilizers. This fluoride solution put into our water for "strong teeth" also contains radioactive elements from the phosphate extraction.18

Although eating and drinking radioactive products is not beneficial, the most harmful and direct way to consume these elements is through smoking them.19

The unnecessary radiation delivered from soil-damaging, synthetic chemical fertilizers can easily be reduced through the use of alternative phosphate sources including organic fertilizers.20 In one test, an organic fertilizer appeared to emit less alpha radiation than a chemical fertilizer.21 More tests are needed to confirm this vital bit of harm-reduction information.

Organic fertilizers such as organic vegetable compost, animal manure, wood ash and seaweed have proven to be sustainable and non-harmful to microbes, worms, farmers and eaters or smokers. Chemical phosphates may seem like a bargain compared to natural phosphorous, until you factor in the health and environmental costs.
Funny how it takes a pro-pot article to point this out. Me thinks this is important regardless if one smokes or not, we all eat and drink!

Tobacco plant being the worst as it is wide and leafy, like a spinach leaf, but unlike spinach is coated with sticky tars. And of course unlike spinach, the tobacco leaf is smoked.

The big tobacco companies all use chemical phosphate fertilizer, which is high in radioactive metals, year after year on the same soil. These metals build up in the soil, attach themselves to the resinous tobacco leaf and ride tobacco trichomes in tobacco smoke, gathering in small "hot spots" in the small-air passageways of the lungs.2 Tobacco is especially effective at absorbing radioactive elements from phosphate fertilizers, and also from naturally occurring radiation in the soil, air, and water.