What I would really like know at this point is what levels qualify as “levels of concern”?

Agency	Media	Standard
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	Drinking water*	4 mrem/yr equivalent to 3 pCi/L (0.1 Bq/L) continuous exposure
	Air**	2.1X10-13 Ci/m3
Food and Drug Administration	Food in commerce (derived intervention level)***	170 Becquerels per kilogram (4,600 pCi/kg)
NRC, DOE, OSHA, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP), and International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)	Annual occupational exposure limits†	50 mSv (5 rem) for whole body dose 500 mSv (50 rem) for thyroid dose

Source: CDC: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/iodine/standards_regulations.html

To be clear, the radiation limit for radiation in food is 170 Becquerels per kilogram. Here is screen shot of the FDA limits for radiation published on the CDC website with the food radiation limits highlighted.

The New York Times reported that radiation levels in fish being caught in Japan are up to 4,080 becquerels of radioactive iodine 131 per kilogram.

Japan Sets Radiation Standards For Fish

…

The small fish caught Friday — before the intentional dumping began — had 4,080 becquerels of iodine 131 per kilogram. The new standards allow up to 2,000 becquerels of iodine 131 per kilogram, the standard used for vegetables in Japan, but it was unclear how the government would enforce the new rules.

The fish also contained cesium 137, which decays much more slowly than iodine 131, at a level of 526 becquerels per kilogram.

“Clearly the fish are consuming highly radioactive food,” said Paul G. Falkowski, a professor of marine, earth and planetary sciences at Rutgers University. But Professor Falkowski emphasized that even those levels were not likely to present health hazards in Japan or elsewhere, since fishing is restricted in Japan and these levels of radiation are not likely to travel far.

Still, experts on radiation in seafood said it was nearly impossible to get a full sense of the scope of the environmental and health risks until the Japanese released information on radiation levels in more species of fish and seaweed and in a greater number of locations. Measurements in the seawater are often not a good indication of how much radiation may be entering the food chain, scientists say.

Fish and seaweed can concentrate radioactive elements as they grow, leading to levels that are higher, sometimes far higher, than in the surrounding water. Seaweed can concentrate iodine 131 10,000-fold over the surrounding water; fish concentrate cesium 137 modestly.

…

Source: The NY Times

4,080 becquerels per kg is clearly 2400% higher than the federal food limits for radiation in food  of 170 becquerels per kg.

FDA Says Japanese Fish With Radiation 2400% Higher Than Federal Food Limits Pose No Health Risks

The Feds say that fish with radiation levels 2400% above federal food limits is safe to eat.

U.S. Seeks to Reassure on Contaminated Food

U.S. public-health officials sought Tuesday to reassure consumers about the safety of food in the U.S., including seafood, amid news that fish contaminated with unusually high levels of radioactive materials had been caught in waters 50 miles from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

No contaminated fish have turned up in the U.S., or in U.S. waters, according to experts from the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They expressed confidence that even a single fish sufficiently contaminated to pose a risk to human health would be detected by the U.S. monitoring system.

They also dismissed concerns that eating fish contaminated at the levels seen so far in Japan would pose such a risk.

Thomas Frieden, head of the CDC in Atlanta, said he expected continued detection of low levels of radioactive elements in the water, air and food in the U.S. in coming days, but that readings at those levels “do not indicate any level of public health concern.”

…

Source:Wall Street Journal

Back in the real world…

 

Update

This comes via email from a reader.

Hi Alexander,

I was reading up on the Japanese water radiation levels and the discovery of irradiated fish and I came across your blog post on the federal radiation levels. I found your post extremely interesting and it’s quite surprising to learn that fish containing radiation 2400% above the federal limit do not constitute as a health risk. I complete agree with your sentiment and find myself curious as to what exactly qualifies as “levels of concern”.

I thought you might also find this video from newsy.com to be interesting:

http://www.newsy.com/videos/japan-s-highly-radioactive-waters-scare-fishermen/

The clip uses multiple sources to provide a comprehensive analysis on the story. Please feel free to embed the clip into your original post if you think your readers would find it useful.

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Thanks for the post

Here is the video mentioned.

(Image Source: National Geographic)

BY PAUL ROLFE

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

You’re watching multisource environment news analysis from Newsy

Radioactive water continues to spill from the damaged Fukushima reactors, and the fishing industry is now on full alert. On Tuesday, Japanese officials adopted their first-ever rules regarding safe radiation levels in fish — but the Wall Street Journal reports levels are already higher than that — much higher.

“The government says it’s not dangerous to human health. However, at the same time, they found fish 50 miles away from the nuclear plant with an unusual amount of radioactivity and that’s scaring some people… especially the fishing industry that’s all worried now that people are not going to buy, want to buy the fish even if the fish is caught miles — hundreds of miles away from the reactors.”

The LA Times reports water radiation levels are 7.5 million times the legal limit and the radiation in fish is at least twice the newly set legal limit. Fox News says the real risk is with the big fish.

“The government is saying, well it looks like small fish will actually be absorbing this, but the problem is when the bigger fish come along and start eating them, and those are the kind of fish that end up further, much further down along the coast line towards Tokyo, that ends up getting into the food chain. People could become sick as a result of that, but they’re saying that could be some weeks perhaps months down the line. But it is very much a real risk.”

NPR spoke to Dr. Masashi Kusakabe, an expert on ocean radiation. He says big fish will never stick around the Fukushima area long enough to be contaminated — the biggest threat to fishing markets is actually fear.

Dr. Kusakabe: “Most people now think, Oh its very dangerous to eat fish in Japan or fish around its coast. But I think it’s very safe. So now is your chance to eat fish because its cheap.”
Reporter: “Are you still eating fish?”
Dr. Kusakabe: “Oh of course, why not?”

Meanwhile, Tepco — the power company that owns the reactors — is offering about $240,000 to each of the ten surrounding towns voluntarily. Officials from the city of Namie tell the LA Times they are refusing because they have other pressing matters.

“The coastal areas of Namie were hit hard by the earthquake and the tsunami but because of the radiation and the evacuation order we haven’t had a chance to conduct a search for the 200 people who are missing… Why would we use our resources to hand out less than 1,000 yen ($12) to every resident?”

Many countries are weary of food from Japan and have restricted or stopped Japanese imports. The EU has recommended radiation testing of all Japanese food imports.

Source: Newsy