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195377
Sat, 07/16/2011 - 19:34
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https://oananews.org//node/195377
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Another 84 cows in Fukushima found to have been fed contaminated straw
TOKYO, July 17 Kyodo - Authorities in Fukushima Prefecture, where the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is located, said Saturday they have discovered that another 84 cows shipped from five beef cattle farms in the prefecture were fed with straw contaminated with high levels of radioactive cesium.
The latest finding showed that a total of 132 cows exposed or suspected of having been exposed to radioactive cesium were already shipped to at least 35 of Japan's 47 prefectures, according to a calculation by Kyodo News.
The 84 cows were shipped to eight prefectures -- Miyagi, Fukushima, Yamagata, Tochigi, Saitama, Tokyo, Osaka and Ehime -- and the nation's farm ministry and the Fukushima prefectural government have asked related municipalities to check where the meat was distributed.
The latest findings surfaced during a survey of cattle farms in the prefecture conducted by the Fukushima prefectural government since July 11, after a cattle farm in Minamisoma was found to have fed cows with straw containing radioactive cesium far above the government-set limit.
In addition to the 84 cows in question, the tally of 132 cows includes six cows from Minamisoma and 42 cows from Asakawa, Fukushima Prefecture.
According to the local government, the 84 cows were raised at five cattle farms in the cities of Koriyama, Kitakata and Soma, and were fed with straw that farmers cut from rice paddies after the nuclear crisis broke out at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the wake of the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Straw remaining at the cattle farm in Koriyama was found to be contaminated with a high level of radioactive cesium measuring 500,000 becquerels per kilogram, or 378 times the government-set limit. Urine samples from a cow at the farm were also found to contain 270 becquerels of radioactive cesium.
According to the Japanese farm ministry, cows normally eat around 1 to 2 kilograms of straw per day.
If a cow were to eat 1 kg of straw containing 500,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium every day, around 48,000 becquerels, equivalent to 96 times the limit for beef, would be accumulated in their muscles, based on the International Atomic Energy Agency's estimation that 0.096 percent of radioactive cesium in straw would be transferred.
The amount of radioactive cesium accumulated in cows could be lower than the estimated figure because some of it is likely to be expelled from the body.
Ikuro Anzai, honorary professor of radiation protection at Ritsumeikan University, said, ''This is not a number that would clearly cause abnormal effects on health even if the beef was eaten.'' He added, however, ''But it would be better to refrain from eating it until the reality of the situation becomes clear.''
A supermarket store in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture had already sold 5.7 kg of meat from the 84 cows in question in June, and it is believed to have been already consumed.
The farmers of the five farms said during investigations by the Fukushima prefectural authorities that they were not aware of the central government's instruction issued March 19 that feed kept outdoors should not be fed to farm animals amid the nuclear crisis.
An official of the Fukushima prefectural government's farm department said at a press conference that the local municipality failed to sufficiently convey the state's instruction to local beef farmers.
The 84 cows were shipped from March 28 to July 13, of which 53 cows initially went to Tokyo, 19 to Fukushima Prefecture, eight to Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture, two to Yamagata Prefecture and two to Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture.
The two cows that went to Yamagata were found to have been sold to a wholesaler in Osaka.
As for the 42 cows from Asakawa, officials of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said tests conducted by local governments on meat from six of the cows, which had not reached the market, showed that the level of radioactive cesium was below the government-set limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram for four of the cows.
Meat from the other two cows, retained by wholesalers in Tokyo and Yamagata prefectures, contained 650 and 694 becquerels per kg, respectively, the officials said.
The latest finding showed that a total of 132 cows exposed or suspected of having been exposed to radioactive cesium were already shipped to at least 35 of Japan's 47 prefectures, according to a calculation by Kyodo News.
The 84 cows were shipped to eight prefectures -- Miyagi, Fukushima, Yamagata, Tochigi, Saitama, Tokyo, Osaka and Ehime -- and the nation's farm ministry and the Fukushima prefectural government have asked related municipalities to check where the meat was distributed.
The latest findings surfaced during a survey of cattle farms in the prefecture conducted by the Fukushima prefectural government since July 11, after a cattle farm in Minamisoma was found to have fed cows with straw containing radioactive cesium far above the government-set limit.
In addition to the 84 cows in question, the tally of 132 cows includes six cows from Minamisoma and 42 cows from Asakawa, Fukushima Prefecture.
According to the local government, the 84 cows were raised at five cattle farms in the cities of Koriyama, Kitakata and Soma, and were fed with straw that farmers cut from rice paddies after the nuclear crisis broke out at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the wake of the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Straw remaining at the cattle farm in Koriyama was found to be contaminated with a high level of radioactive cesium measuring 500,000 becquerels per kilogram, or 378 times the government-set limit. Urine samples from a cow at the farm were also found to contain 270 becquerels of radioactive cesium.
According to the Japanese farm ministry, cows normally eat around 1 to 2 kilograms of straw per day.
If a cow were to eat 1 kg of straw containing 500,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium every day, around 48,000 becquerels, equivalent to 96 times the limit for beef, would be accumulated in their muscles, based on the International Atomic Energy Agency's estimation that 0.096 percent of radioactive cesium in straw would be transferred.
The amount of radioactive cesium accumulated in cows could be lower than the estimated figure because some of it is likely to be expelled from the body.
Ikuro Anzai, honorary professor of radiation protection at Ritsumeikan University, said, ''This is not a number that would clearly cause abnormal effects on health even if the beef was eaten.'' He added, however, ''But it would be better to refrain from eating it until the reality of the situation becomes clear.''
A supermarket store in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture had already sold 5.7 kg of meat from the 84 cows in question in June, and it is believed to have been already consumed.
The farmers of the five farms said during investigations by the Fukushima prefectural authorities that they were not aware of the central government's instruction issued March 19 that feed kept outdoors should not be fed to farm animals amid the nuclear crisis.
An official of the Fukushima prefectural government's farm department said at a press conference that the local municipality failed to sufficiently convey the state's instruction to local beef farmers.
The 84 cows were shipped from March 28 to July 13, of which 53 cows initially went to Tokyo, 19 to Fukushima Prefecture, eight to Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture, two to Yamagata Prefecture and two to Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture.
The two cows that went to Yamagata were found to have been sold to a wholesaler in Osaka.
As for the 42 cows from Asakawa, officials of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said tests conducted by local governments on meat from six of the cows, which had not reached the market, showed that the level of radioactive cesium was below the government-set limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram for four of the cows.
Meat from the other two cows, retained by wholesalers in Tokyo and Yamagata prefectures, contained 650 and 694 becquerels per kg, respectively, the officials said.
