ID :
170341
Wed, 03/23/2011 - 18:03
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https://oananews.org//node/170341
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Japan finds radioactive contamination in more vegetables, water
TOKYO, March 23 Kyodo - Japanese authorities discovered more leafy vegetables and water contaminated by radioactive substances on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after a quake-hit nuclear plant went on alert.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned consumers across the country against eating a wide range of leafy vegetables harvested in Fukushima Prefecture, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and spinach.
It is the first time that Kan has warned against consumption of some farm products in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power station, which has been crippled by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
In addition to the vegetables, the Tokyo metropolitan government said Wednesday that water at a purification plant for the capital area has been found to contain radioactive iodine more than two times above the limit considered safe for drinking by infants.
The water treatment plant where the radioactive iodine was detected covers Tokyo's 23 wards and five cities -- Musashino, Mitaka, Machida, Tama and Inagi.
Water bottles quickly disappeared from shop shelves in the Tokyo area following the announcement.
Under such circumstances, the metropolitan government decided to distribute a total of 240,000 bottles of water, each containing 550 milliliters, to families with infants. Officials said three bottles will be given per infant.
Japan's top government spokesman Yukio Edano said at a news conference that the two advisories are precautions and that radiation levels in both the vegetables and water in Tokyo pose no immediate risk to human health.
Edano sought to allay unnecessary fears, saying Japan has a ''strict safety standard'' compared with other nations.
He also called on people in Tokyo to avoid panic buying of water.
According to the metropolitan government, 210 becquerels of radioactive iodine were detected per 1 kilogram of water against the limit of 100 becquerels in a survey Tuesday at the purification plant in the Kanamachi district of Katsushika Ward.
But the amount detected at the plant is lower than the 300-becquerel limit for people other than infants.
''The standards are set by considering damage to human health from intake over a long period of time. It is all right to drink the water if there is no substitute drinking water,'' a metropolitan government official said.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is located about 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.
In a survey of Kanamachi and two other purification plants on Tuesday, the metropolitan government also detected 32 becquerels of the substance at a plant in Hamura in western Tokyo, but the substance was not detected at a plant in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture.
With regard to the vegetables, Kan instructed Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato to ask people not to eat them. The order will remain in place ''for the time being,'' government officials said.
The government asked six prefectures located near Fukushima -- Miyagi, Yamagata, Saitama, Chiba, Niigata and Nagano -- to enhance their inspections of vegetables. The scope of their inspections was expanded to produce such as lettuce, green onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, Chinese chives, asparagus, field peas and green soybeans.
The order to Fukushima Prefecture is based on findings by the health ministry that said it detected radioactive materials in 11 Fukushima-produced vegetables surpassing legal limits set under the food sanitation law.
In addition to spinach, broccoli and cabbage, the 11 vegetables also include turnips, ''komatsuna,'' ''shinobufuyuna,'' ''santona,'' ''chijirena,'' ''kosaitai,'' ''kukitachina'' and ''aburana'' rapeseed.
Kan's government said turnips produced in the prefecture can be eaten but cannot be shipped, the officials said.
The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or JA Zen-Noh, which distributes many of the prefecture's vegetables, has not shipped any of the produce since Monday, the ministry said.
In the latest sign that the impact of radiation leaks is slowly spreading beyond Fukushima, Kan also asked to suspend shipments of raw milk and parsley produced in his prefecture.
If a person eats 100 grams of the vegetable with the largest detected amount of radioactive materials for about 10 days, it would be equal to ingesting half the amount of radiation a person typically receives from the natural environment in a year, the ministry said.
The ministry detected 82,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium, 164 times the limit under the food sanitation law, in ''kukitachina'' leaves from Motomiya on Monday, along with 15,000 becquerels of radioactive iodine, which is more than seven times the limit, it said.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned consumers across the country against eating a wide range of leafy vegetables harvested in Fukushima Prefecture, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and spinach.
It is the first time that Kan has warned against consumption of some farm products in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power station, which has been crippled by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
In addition to the vegetables, the Tokyo metropolitan government said Wednesday that water at a purification plant for the capital area has been found to contain radioactive iodine more than two times above the limit considered safe for drinking by infants.
The water treatment plant where the radioactive iodine was detected covers Tokyo's 23 wards and five cities -- Musashino, Mitaka, Machida, Tama and Inagi.
Water bottles quickly disappeared from shop shelves in the Tokyo area following the announcement.
Under such circumstances, the metropolitan government decided to distribute a total of 240,000 bottles of water, each containing 550 milliliters, to families with infants. Officials said three bottles will be given per infant.
Japan's top government spokesman Yukio Edano said at a news conference that the two advisories are precautions and that radiation levels in both the vegetables and water in Tokyo pose no immediate risk to human health.
Edano sought to allay unnecessary fears, saying Japan has a ''strict safety standard'' compared with other nations.
He also called on people in Tokyo to avoid panic buying of water.
According to the metropolitan government, 210 becquerels of radioactive iodine were detected per 1 kilogram of water against the limit of 100 becquerels in a survey Tuesday at the purification plant in the Kanamachi district of Katsushika Ward.
But the amount detected at the plant is lower than the 300-becquerel limit for people other than infants.
''The standards are set by considering damage to human health from intake over a long period of time. It is all right to drink the water if there is no substitute drinking water,'' a metropolitan government official said.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is located about 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.
In a survey of Kanamachi and two other purification plants on Tuesday, the metropolitan government also detected 32 becquerels of the substance at a plant in Hamura in western Tokyo, but the substance was not detected at a plant in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture.
With regard to the vegetables, Kan instructed Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato to ask people not to eat them. The order will remain in place ''for the time being,'' government officials said.
The government asked six prefectures located near Fukushima -- Miyagi, Yamagata, Saitama, Chiba, Niigata and Nagano -- to enhance their inspections of vegetables. The scope of their inspections was expanded to produce such as lettuce, green onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, Chinese chives, asparagus, field peas and green soybeans.
The order to Fukushima Prefecture is based on findings by the health ministry that said it detected radioactive materials in 11 Fukushima-produced vegetables surpassing legal limits set under the food sanitation law.
In addition to spinach, broccoli and cabbage, the 11 vegetables also include turnips, ''komatsuna,'' ''shinobufuyuna,'' ''santona,'' ''chijirena,'' ''kosaitai,'' ''kukitachina'' and ''aburana'' rapeseed.
Kan's government said turnips produced in the prefecture can be eaten but cannot be shipped, the officials said.
The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or JA Zen-Noh, which distributes many of the prefecture's vegetables, has not shipped any of the produce since Monday, the ministry said.
In the latest sign that the impact of radiation leaks is slowly spreading beyond Fukushima, Kan also asked to suspend shipments of raw milk and parsley produced in his prefecture.
If a person eats 100 grams of the vegetable with the largest detected amount of radioactive materials for about 10 days, it would be equal to ingesting half the amount of radiation a person typically receives from the natural environment in a year, the ministry said.
The ministry detected 82,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium, 164 times the limit under the food sanitation law, in ''kukitachina'' leaves from Motomiya on Monday, along with 15,000 becquerels of radioactive iodine, which is more than seven times the limit, it said.
