lapis
13th April 2011, 10:47 PM
I mentioned on another thread (http://gold-silver.us/forum/japan-earthquake-tsunami-and-nuclear-disaster/flashback-old-1997-article-called-worse-than-we-knew-or-let-them-drink-milk/msg212930/#msg212930) that some people in my local area want to get together and buy a geiger counter to measure radiation in food from all the supermarkets, and post the results so everyone can know.
Then this story comes along. Is it true? Or is it just an attempt to discourage people like us from finding out for ourselves how much radiation is out there? We were thinking of getting the Inspector brand (whenever it becomes available, that is!).
From Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-12/geiger-counters-to-find-radiation-in-meals-may-be-meaningless-.html):
Geiger counters are probably ineffective for consumers in detecting hazardous levels of radiation in food and water at home, scientists, professors and device makers said.
Large samples should be tested in laboratory-like settings to obtain results, said Joseph Rotunda, who heads the radiation measurement division at toolmaker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Determining whether food, water or milk is safe also requires expert knowledge and more sophisticated equipment than the typical devices sold online, said Atsushi Katayama, a member of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.
“Just pointing a measuring device at your food before dinner is pretty much meaningless,” said Katayama, who has a doctorate in analytical chemistry from Hokkaido University. “Tap water and fish, for example, require special handling, isolation and concentration to get meaningful readings.”
Geiger counters offered as far away as Germany have sold out after the natural disaster that crippled Japan last month led to the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said yesterday its Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, which has withstood hundreds of aftershocks since the March 11 magnitude-9 earthquake, may spew more radiation than the 1986 incident before the crisis is contained.
A sample for emergency testing should be at least 5 kilograms (11 pounds) or 5 liters (1.3 gallons), according to instructions from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The manual advises against using Geiger-Muller devices, known as Geiger counters, for measurements in food and drink because of their low sensitivity to gamma radiation.
Plasma Mass Spectrometers
The ministry recommends using tools known as scintillation counters to detect Iodine-131 in milk and vegetables, while devices called “inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers” should be used to trace uranium. Detecting the radioactive material strontium requires nitric acid and dehydrated samples that are turned to ash over a 24-hour period in temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius (752 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the manual.
“Various types of radiation require different kinds of equipment,” said Katayama. “It’s safe to rely on government data” because the findings are closely watched by the international community, he said.
Supermarkets and convenience stores across Tokyo struggled to fill shelves with supplies in the initial weeks of the crisis after the detection of elevated iodine levels in water and food triggered bulk buying even as the government said the health risks are minimal. Companies including Morgan Stanley began shipping water to their Tokyo offices from Hong Kong.
Unsafe Water
Since March 23, water radiation readings in Tokyo have fallen below levels considered unsafe, even for infants, according to the city’s Bureau of Waterworks. In the past month, the capital’s government ordered plants to step up filtering efforts and handed out about 240,000 bottles of water.
Seafood can require up to two years of monitoring because radioactive materials can take longer to reach larger fish such as Japanese sea bass, Katayama said. Even with the proper equipment and environment, making sense of the readings involves calculating the dosage per measure over time, he said.
“Just to know what the radiation levels are in your home, it’s relatively straightforward, but when you get to measuring it in food, milk and soil it gets much more complicated,” according to Rotunda. “That I don’t recommend at all.”
Soaring Radiation Readings
The March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami disabled cooling systems at the Fukushima plant. The build-up of pressure caused hydrogen explosions that damaged at least three reactors, leaking radiation. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said at senate hearing yesterday that the nuclear station has yet to stabilize.
Readings in Tokyo soared more than 20-fold and reached 0.809 microsieverts an hour on March 15, compared with 0.0338 microsieverts before the earthquake, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health. The highest level was still below 1/100th of the radiation dose from a single chest X- ray.
German Geiger counter suppliers including Conrad Electronic SE and Graetz Strahlungsmesstechnik GmbH sold out of the devices in the week following the earthquake. Conrad is selling Geiger counters for 299 euros ($432) to 499 euros while the devices cost as much as 3,000 euros at Graetz.
People looking to measure air pollution in their homes and neighborhoods should expect to spend about $400 for a Geiger counter, said Wade Allison, a physics professor at Oxford University and author of “Radiation and Reason.”
Needing Reassurance
“People need genuine reassurance,” said Allison. “They should note that no harmful effects including cancer have been confirmed for doses below 100 milliSieverts.”
Buyers should chose an instrument that comes with clear instructions for interpreting results and is sensitive enough to measure background radiation, or about 0.01 microSieverts, Allison and Katayama said. Geiger counters with a digital display and ability to save a log of the results are easier to use and preferable to devices featuring analog screens with moving needles, they said.
Before taking measurements, users should shield the instrument in plastic to prevent contamination and determine background radiation levels, said Motoko Koyama, a spokeswoman at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Poor ventilation, concrete walls in underground locations and proximity to granite and mobile phones can distort readings, Koyama and Katayama said. Measurements are best taken at a distance of 1 centimeter (0.4 inch), moving the device about 2 to 3 centimeters per second, Koyama said.
“With so many Internet sites offering up-to-date radiation readings, does it really make sense to spend all that money?” Katayama said. “You can buy a 100,000 yen ($1,190) device, but I doubt you will get the price’s worth without expert knowledge.”
Then this story comes along. Is it true? Or is it just an attempt to discourage people like us from finding out for ourselves how much radiation is out there? We were thinking of getting the Inspector brand (whenever it becomes available, that is!).
From Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-12/geiger-counters-to-find-radiation-in-meals-may-be-meaningless-.html):
Geiger counters are probably ineffective for consumers in detecting hazardous levels of radiation in food and water at home, scientists, professors and device makers said.
Large samples should be tested in laboratory-like settings to obtain results, said Joseph Rotunda, who heads the radiation measurement division at toolmaker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Determining whether food, water or milk is safe also requires expert knowledge and more sophisticated equipment than the typical devices sold online, said Atsushi Katayama, a member of the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.
“Just pointing a measuring device at your food before dinner is pretty much meaningless,” said Katayama, who has a doctorate in analytical chemistry from Hokkaido University. “Tap water and fish, for example, require special handling, isolation and concentration to get meaningful readings.”
Geiger counters offered as far away as Germany have sold out after the natural disaster that crippled Japan last month led to the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said yesterday its Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, which has withstood hundreds of aftershocks since the March 11 magnitude-9 earthquake, may spew more radiation than the 1986 incident before the crisis is contained.
A sample for emergency testing should be at least 5 kilograms (11 pounds) or 5 liters (1.3 gallons), according to instructions from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The manual advises against using Geiger-Muller devices, known as Geiger counters, for measurements in food and drink because of their low sensitivity to gamma radiation.
Plasma Mass Spectrometers
The ministry recommends using tools known as scintillation counters to detect Iodine-131 in milk and vegetables, while devices called “inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers” should be used to trace uranium. Detecting the radioactive material strontium requires nitric acid and dehydrated samples that are turned to ash over a 24-hour period in temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius (752 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the manual.
“Various types of radiation require different kinds of equipment,” said Katayama. “It’s safe to rely on government data” because the findings are closely watched by the international community, he said.
Supermarkets and convenience stores across Tokyo struggled to fill shelves with supplies in the initial weeks of the crisis after the detection of elevated iodine levels in water and food triggered bulk buying even as the government said the health risks are minimal. Companies including Morgan Stanley began shipping water to their Tokyo offices from Hong Kong.
Unsafe Water
Since March 23, water radiation readings in Tokyo have fallen below levels considered unsafe, even for infants, according to the city’s Bureau of Waterworks. In the past month, the capital’s government ordered plants to step up filtering efforts and handed out about 240,000 bottles of water.
Seafood can require up to two years of monitoring because radioactive materials can take longer to reach larger fish such as Japanese sea bass, Katayama said. Even with the proper equipment and environment, making sense of the readings involves calculating the dosage per measure over time, he said.
“Just to know what the radiation levels are in your home, it’s relatively straightforward, but when you get to measuring it in food, milk and soil it gets much more complicated,” according to Rotunda. “That I don’t recommend at all.”
Soaring Radiation Readings
The March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami disabled cooling systems at the Fukushima plant. The build-up of pressure caused hydrogen explosions that damaged at least three reactors, leaking radiation. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said at senate hearing yesterday that the nuclear station has yet to stabilize.
Readings in Tokyo soared more than 20-fold and reached 0.809 microsieverts an hour on March 15, compared with 0.0338 microsieverts before the earthquake, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health. The highest level was still below 1/100th of the radiation dose from a single chest X- ray.
German Geiger counter suppliers including Conrad Electronic SE and Graetz Strahlungsmesstechnik GmbH sold out of the devices in the week following the earthquake. Conrad is selling Geiger counters for 299 euros ($432) to 499 euros while the devices cost as much as 3,000 euros at Graetz.
People looking to measure air pollution in their homes and neighborhoods should expect to spend about $400 for a Geiger counter, said Wade Allison, a physics professor at Oxford University and author of “Radiation and Reason.”
Needing Reassurance
“People need genuine reassurance,” said Allison. “They should note that no harmful effects including cancer have been confirmed for doses below 100 milliSieverts.”
Buyers should chose an instrument that comes with clear instructions for interpreting results and is sensitive enough to measure background radiation, or about 0.01 microSieverts, Allison and Katayama said. Geiger counters with a digital display and ability to save a log of the results are easier to use and preferable to devices featuring analog screens with moving needles, they said.
Before taking measurements, users should shield the instrument in plastic to prevent contamination and determine background radiation levels, said Motoko Koyama, a spokeswoman at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Poor ventilation, concrete walls in underground locations and proximity to granite and mobile phones can distort readings, Koyama and Katayama said. Measurements are best taken at a distance of 1 centimeter (0.4 inch), moving the device about 2 to 3 centimeters per second, Koyama said.
“With so many Internet sites offering up-to-date radiation readings, does it really make sense to spend all that money?” Katayama said. “You can buy a 100,000 yen ($1,190) device, but I doubt you will get the price’s worth without expert knowledge.”