Radiation Blog: Is There Reason to Fear Radiation from Japan?

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The picture is murky and expert opinions vary

Radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan continues to leak into the atmosphere and the ocean. Just how worried should we be? It depends on whom you ask.

Certainly the people living close to the crippled reactors are in the greatest danger. The Japanese government is permanently relocating people away from wider areas around the plant to reduce their long-term risk of contamination. One report even says that the government is considering moving the nation’s capitol away from Tokyo due to increasing radiation levels found there.

Increasingly, the Japanese people are distrusting the information being doled out by the government. One commissioner of Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission admitted that the government delayed labeling the nuclear disaster as a “Level 7” because it feared the news would create panic, driving foreigners away.

Lots of folks in the rest of the world don’t trust their governments either, it seems. But we always have our alarmists, and many of us are susceptible to such fear.

What about those of us in the rest of the world?

The Environmental Protection Agency is saying that only trace levels are being detected in the U.S. The University of California, Berkley’s Department of Nuclear Engineering is conducting tests around the San Francisco Bay area, and finding the presence of radionuclide such as Iodine-131 and Cesium-137 in things like green leafy vegetables (spinach, arugula, kale), strawberries, mushrooms, milk, water and air. Even in organic milk. This is not good news. The department also measured big spikes in rain-borne iodine-131 during torrential downpours in March. It peaked at 20.1 becquerels per liter (a measure of radioactivity). The federal maximum level of iodine-131 allowed in drinking water is 0.111 becquerels per liter.

Jeff Patterson, DO, professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and an expert on radiation exposure, says  “There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure [italics mine], whether from food, water or other sources. Period. Exposure to radionuclide … increases the incidence of cancer. For this reason, every effort must be taken to minimize the radionuclide content in food and water.”

A French organization called the Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity (CRIIRAD), which was formed after the Chernobyl incident, now says that radiation levels have reached such a level in that country that expectant mothers and young children should avoid drinking milk or rainwater, and certain vegetables and cheeses.

On the other hand, no less of an expert than Dr. David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Medical Center, says “… radiation-related risks are small immediately outside the 20-kilometer evacuation zone in Fukushima, very small in the rest of Japan, and minuscule in other countries, including the United States. He does say that radioactive cesium, with its half-life of 30 years, will be with us for many decades. Most of it will end up enormously diluted in the Pacific Ocean, but some of it will end up on dry land, in our food and water – and there it will stay, at very low levels, literally for generations.

About taking iodine pills, Brenner said they are protective, but are “a bit of a myth” because their use is based on the belief that the risk is from inhaling radioactive iodine. He said 98 percent of people’s exposure comes from milk and other dairy products.

“The way radioactive iodine gets into human beings is an indirect route,” he told the New York Times. “It falls to the ground, cows eat it and make milk with radioactive iodine, and you get it from drinking the milk. You get very little from inhaling it. The way to prevent it is just to stop people from drinking the milk.”

What about milk?

Hawaii has reported finding trace amounts (18 picocuries per liter) of radiation in milk, amounts well below the Food and Drug Administration’s warning threshold of 4,700 picocuries per liter. California and Washington have found radiation in milk at 5,000 times lower than the FDA’s danger threshold.

So, should you worry? It is demonstrable that stress and fear about things like radiation poisoning have as much if not more deleterious effects on our health than the low amount of radiation we’re likely to encounter in our lifetime. Our advice: chill out, but if taking action will help, see below for a list of natural foods that can help your body resist radionuclide.

Scientific American has created a nice visual explanation of radiation levels and what they mean for your health here.

Food bans

The Japanese themselves have halted exports of raw milk, infant formula, spinach, kakina (a Japanese green vegetable) and shiitake mushrooms from 16 cities.

Other countries have placed restrictions on certain Japanese imports, including Taiwan, South Korea and the United States (diary and produce products from the four Japanese prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma).

China has banned fish, vegetables and other food products from regions closest to the Fukushima nuclear plant. So have Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, India and Nigeria.

If you’re worried …

You can find a thorough list of anti-radiation natural foods and supplements that are reported to reduce your risk of becoming sick from radiation here. Chief among them are seaweed and miso soup.

James Townsend is editor in chief of WellWise.org, a nonprofit organization for the dissemination of science-based information about supplements, nutrients and strategies for health.   You can read more of James Townsend's health blogs here.

Read other WellWise health bloggers here.