Japan: Cesium Above Limit Detected from Tea of 5 More Shizuoka Factories

Jiji Press ^ | 06/14/11

[TigerLikesRooster]

Cesium Above Limit Detected from Tea of 5 More Shizuoka Factories

Shizuoka, June 14 (Jiji Press)--Shizuoka Prefecture said Tuesday that radioactive cesium levels exceeded the safety limit in tea leaves processed at five more factories in the central Japan prefecture.

The tea products had 581 to 654 becquerels per kilogram of the radioactive material, against Japan's legal limit of 500 becquerels. The prefecture checked tea products made from the first flush tea leaves at 20 factories in the Warashina district.

This brings the total number of affected factories in the district to six including one announced Thursday.

The prefecture instructed the five factories to halt shipments and recall products on the market.

But Shizuoka Governor Heita Kawakatsu said at a news conference that when the prefecture brewed tea with the products measuring cesium levels of 614 and 602 becquerels, the tea showed readings of 5.8 and 7.3 becquerels, respectively.

(2011/06/14-21:35)

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[WoofDog123]

I cannot even imagine the long-term implications of this disaster for Japan. Cesnium (and stronium) as I understand it stay around for a long, long time.

[Vigilanteman]

It seems to me that it would make more sense to trace the origins of the offending tea leaves and not buy from affected areas rather than going after an entire industry.

[bvw]

Fast growing top crops that absorb the cesium and strontium could be use before the fallout gets deeper into the soil. Also chemical treatments can be used. In Belarus they are trying grains for fuel ethanol production.

Fallout zone fuku levels are in line with those found after a nuclear bomb test

Soil samples in areas outside the 20-kilometer (12 miles) exclusion zone around the Fukushima plant measured more than 1.48 million becquerels a square meter, the standard used for evacuating residents after the Chernobyl accident, Tomio Kawata, a fellow at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, said in a research report published May 24 and given to the government.

Radiation from the plant has spread over 600 square kilometers (230 square miles), according to the report. The extent of contamination shows the government must move fast to avoid the same future for the area around Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant as Chernobyl, scientists said. Technology has improved since the 1980s, meaning soil can be decontaminated with chemicals or by planting crops to absorb radioactive materials, allowing residents to return.

[CharlesWayneCT]

But Shizuoka Governor Heita Kawakatsu said at a news conference that when the prefecture brewed tea with the products measuring cesium levels of 614 and 602 becquerels, the tea showed readings of 5.8 and 7.3 becquerels, respectively.

I guess the rest of the radioactivity remained within the used tea leaves, and didn't leach out into the tea.

One would also hope that their legal limit is conservative, in which case being slightly over the limit probably isn't a real health risk.

But it is clear Japan is on top of this, and is testing and taking those tests seriously.

[ransomnote]

Wonder how they did their test? Did they take a kilo of tea leaves and brew all of it and then report the total becquerels for gallons of tea? A kilogram would make alot of tea. Did they select a serving of tea leaves and brew it into a cup and the amount of tea in cup is used to report becquerels?

[ransomnote]

Yes, just a few days ago, a highly radioactive shipment of mushrooms was stopped at the UK border. The shipment was originally believed to be contaminated from Fukushima but was later determined to be a result of Chernobyl. 25 or 26 years later - still rendering food hazardous and showing up in imports. The comments in the linked article below indicated that people believe that potatoes and other foods from contaminated areas continue to flow out of the region.

“Radioactive mushrooms contaminated in Chernobyl disaster seized at British port”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2002415/Radioactive-mushrooms-contaminated-Chernobyl-disaster-seized-British-port.html