2011年8月19日金曜日

U.S. logged a tiny radiation spike in March

Washington — A spike in radioactive sulfur from the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was detected in California in late March, but researchers say it posed no threat to health.

While the amount was higher than normal background levels, it remained small, said Mark Thiemens of the University of California, San Diego.

"The levels we recorded aren't a concern for human health. In fact, it took sensitive instruments, measuring radioactive decay for hours after lengthy collection of the particles, to precisely measure the amount of radiation," said Thiemens, lead author of a report on the findings published in Tuesday's edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Extremely low amounts of radioactive iodine later showed up in milk sampled in California, Colorado, Connecticut and Massachusetts over the following weeks.

Officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the levels were so minuscule they were not harmful to public health. The EPA scaled back its monitoring efforts to routine levels in May.

The new report focuses on sulfur measurements.


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