Does anyone know how much radiation has contaminated the Pacific?

I prefer not to eat much chicken beef or pork from the grocery store. I rely a lot on seafood. I catch my own fish from the Great Lakes but I also buy a lot of fish. I buy a lot of Alaskan salmon crab and other Pacific fish.

I've quit eating anything from the Pacific and I try not to eat anything from the Atlantic gulf either.

If there were anything wrong with Pacific seafood I'm doubting the government would tell us. There are billions and billions of dollars at stake. Just like BP commercials showing us people eating seafood out of the gulf.

I'm just curious as to how much radiation was dumped into the sea? Anyone know at all?

reply to post by wantsome


Most of the leaked radioactive matter entering the pacific is only irradiated water. Irradiated water will have a half life of a few hours to a few weeks.

Thankfully, we don't have much to worry about there.

We won't know how much of the fuel material has made it out into the ocean and probably won't know until the reactor chambers are empty.

Once an audit can be done on the remaining fuel, we can begin to calculate how much has breached the foundations of the reactors and which way it is heading.

You could always walk in with a gieger counter (just be sure to film that, I would love to see peoples reactions to something random like that).

I rarely eat fish, when I do its tuna from a can, so I wouldn't be too helpful.

reply to post by wantsome


I don't know if anyone would be able to give a reasonably accurate estimate on the amount radiation that has been leaked into the Pacific.

But there are a few threads around that deal with just that:

Concentration of Radioactive Material in Pacific Ocean Up A 1000 times Since Fukushima

China Finds 100,000 SQ Miles of Radiation In Pacific Ocean 300 Times Higher Than Normal

The Raw Truth about Fukushima, what the Media Doesn't want You to Know!!

Not to mention the references in the mega thread, if you can find them.

I've stopped eating tuna as I can't find any from the Atlantic...

not sure my self but a year in the food chain. im sure the " slug " is still coming down that shotgun barrel.

im not in the line to go claim my radioactive slightly water logged used fishing boat.

lets check the traveled path of the " junk pile " and a years worth of pacific ocean current data.

then we are in business.

My non scientific opinion is that there is lots of hot stuff in the Pacific, Case in point all of the float-ism that is at the USA/Canadian coast right now.

This stuff has to be heavily laden with wastes.
Just yesterday they discovered a Japanese fishing trawler off of the coast of BC Canada.
Link
www.cnn.com...

I am not saying this ship is hot but what is coming in the same currents either below or above the surface..
This reminds me of when the Gulf oil thing started, after the third day we went out and bought 14 frozen shrimp rings and sadly we ate them all and will not buy any more here....

To the OP don't take any chances if in doubt break out the peanut butter and jam.

Good thread and I will follow it for a more informative post than mine here.
S&F

Like what someone else said I should get a gieger counter and walk into my local fish market. I'm sure they'd love that especially if it picked anything up.

I eat my fair share of peanutbutter and jelly sandwhiches but I love my fish and chips.

reply to post by wantsome

Well we live on the junction of the Saint Clair river and lake Huron, and we do a lot of local fish here especially the Pickerel or as the US calls it Walleye.
Link below
www.purdyfisheries.com...

So we share your concerns and your love of fish.
I am hurting now for a plate of smoke Pickerel :-)
And a tall boy of Molson Canadian to wash it down.
Regards, Iwinder

reply to post by wantsome


I believe contamination is alot worse than authorities are letting on; I too love my seafood/fish but only buying from the deep cold Southern Seas of the Pacific. Blue and Yellow fin tuna is a big no no so don't touch it.

reply to post by Iwinder
Yeah I have a freezer full of walleye and pike right now. Ever since the salmon have dried up in Lake Huron I've had to buy it. I don't like having to drive to Lake Michigan to fish for them. With the price of gas It's cheaper to buy the stuff. Yeah I know where Purdy is I've fished right across from them at Pine Grove park in Port Huron. I do a lot of fishing on the St Clair River whippin and jigging.

Hire a Geiger counter and test your food yourself! To answer your question: It does not matter how many radiation units have entered. Only the form the radioactivity took matters (i.e. solid or liquid). Solids (like Cesium) are a worry because (being particles) they can travel long distances, can get eaten by fish, and so potentially you.
Liquids & gases are no (marine) issue because (apart from becoming incomprehensibly dilute) water absorbs radiation better than even concrete. That’s why at (e.g. nuclear power stations) you can stand with a Geiger right outside the fuel rods, submerged by a few meters of water and detect no radiation. Yet if it wasn’t for that water, the radiation coming from those rods would easily kill you. That’s how extreme water's radiation absorbing properties are. So worrying about liquids (or gases) harming sea food is paranoia.
Since almost all, Fukushima radiation, sea leaks has been water, there is no issue, providing the water didn’t contain that many particles.

Apart from that: Only a machine like a Geiger Counter will reassure you, as obviously any other data (might) be part of some international conspiracy, to keep Japanese fish sales high.

reply to post by wantsome


discovermagazine.com...\

I just read this article, wanted to pass it on if you're eating a lot of fish

Spending half the day reviewing search results for videos by Dr. Helen Caldicott, Leuren Moret and Arnie Gunderson will clue you in.
Geiger counters are nowhere near sophisticated enough to give you readings of this kind.
We love seafood but stopped consuming it after the catastrophic poisoning of the gulf.
If you really believe the authorities, I hope you're satisfied with the results later.
I hope there are kinder ways to die, but the radiation is all-pervasive at this point.
All else is fantasy.

You cant test Fish with a Geiger-Counter or he must be so polluted
that he is glowing already , you need a Spectrograph

There are at least 3 long-running and well known Estimations
of the Release of Radioactive-particles in to the Ocean,
you can find them via Internet.

Fish is relative safe, Mercury is a bigger Problem than Radiation!

Here is a summary of the testing program drawn from various media reports
and interviews with Hokkaido government officials,
who also supplied some supporting charts:

SCOPE OF ONGOING TESTING PROGRAM AND RESULTS --

Over 85 different types of fish have been tested since March 24th (up to May 17th)
-- Testing has been conducted by 8 separate organizations including fisheries research institutes, semi-government organizations, citizen’s groups and a university.

-- 287 tests have been conducted so far in Tokyo (3 tests), Kanagawa (19 tests),
Chiba (46 tests), Ibaraki (152 tests), Miyagi (6 tests),
Fukushima (39 tests), Hokkaido (3), other (14).

-- One type of fish “Konago” (sand lance) has tested negatively since April 4th
in several areas including Ibaraki and Fukushima.
-- Since May 6th, the testing program has been conducted within a 300km radius from the Fukushima plant.
-- At least 14 tests have also been conducted in Hokkaido with no negative results.
-- The testing program includes weekly testing for common migratory fish ("Kaiyugyou"　回遊魚)
such as Saba (Pacific Mackeral), Iwashi (Sardines), Katsuo (Bonito), Tara (Cod) and Salmon.
(original data in Japanese available on request)

The wide scope of the testing -- both in terms of types of fish and the different organizations conducting the testing -- and finally the results, should put most people's minds at ease a little. But the case of the Konago is a concern. It is fished commercially and while a ban remains on fishing, fishermen will suffer.

It is also food for larger migratory fish, such as Saba (Pacific Mackeral). However no traces have been found in the Saba (Pacific Mackeral) in tests to date and levels of Caesium and Iodine have declined significantly in subsequent tests of Konago.

One concern in the media is that the fishermen (or Fishing Cooperatives) in each Prefecture -- not a higher authority -- select which fish to test.

Yet fishermen are precisely the people who suffer most from rumor and fear so you would think they were not the most reliable people to make the decision. However the fact that 85 different types of fish have been selected for testing shows that fishermen are committed to the testing program. The reality is that if the fisherman can't prove that his catch is safe, its not even going to make it to market.

www.ezoseafoods.com...

Water releases

On 21 April, TEPCO estimated that 520 tons of radioactive water leaked into the sea before leaks in a pit in unit 2 were plugged, releasing 4,700 TBq of total water release (calculated by simple sum, which is inconsistent with the IAEA methodology for mixed nuclide releases[62]) (20,000 times facility's annual limit).[62][81] TEPCO's detailed estimates were 2,800 TBq of I-131, 940 TBq of Cs-134, 940 TBq of Cs-137.[62]

Another 300,000 tons of relatively less radioactive water had already been reported to have leaked or purposefully pumped into the sea to free room for storage of highly radioactively contaminated water.[82] TEPCO had attempted to contain contaminated water in the harbor near the plant by installing "curtains" to prevent outflow, but now believes this effort was unsuccessful.[82]

According to a report published in October 2011 by the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, between 21 March and mid-July around 2.7 × 1016 Bq of caesium-137 (about 8.4 kg) entered the ocean, about 82 percent having flowed into the sea before 8 April.[83]

This emission of radioactivity into the sea represents the most important individual emission of artificial radioactivity into the sea ever observed. However, the Fukushima coast has one of the world's strongest currents and these transported the contaminated waters far into the Pacific Ocean, thus causing a high dispersion of the radioactive elements.

The results of measurements of both the seawater and the coastal sediments lead to suppose that the consequences of the accident, for what concerns radioactivity, will be minor for marine life as of autumn 2011 (weak concentration of radioactivity in the water and limited accumulation in sediments).

On the other hand, significant pollution of sea water along the coast near the nuclear plan might persist, because of the continuing arrival of radioactive material transported towards the sea by surface water running over contaminated soil. Further, some coastal areas might have less favorable dilution or sedimentation characteristics than those observed so far.

Finally, the possible presence of other persistent radioactive substances, such as strontium-90 or plutonium, has not been sufficiently studied. Recent measurements show persistent contamination of some marine species (mostly fish) caught along the coast of Fukushima district. Organisms that filter water and fish at the top of the food chain are, over time, the most sensitive to caesium pollution. It is thus justified to maintain surveillance of marine life that is fished in the coastal waters off Fukushima.

en.wikipedia.org...

Originally posted by wantsome
reply to post by Iwinder

 

Yeah I have a freezer full of walleye and pike right now. Ever since the salmon have dried up in Lake Huron I've had to buy it. I don't like having to drive to Lake Michigan to fish for them. With the price of gas It's cheaper to buy the stuff. Yeah I know where Purdy is I've fished right across from them at Pine Grove park in Port Huron. I do a lot of fishing on the St Clair River whippin and jigging.

edit on 24-3-2012 by wantsome because: (no reason given)

No salmon in Lake Huron? I remember the line of fishermen in Port Austin when the salmon was running and wondered how any fish could actually get through that gauntlet. Anyway I was wondering just yesterday what ocean fish was safe any more. Between Fukushima and the Gulf, I think I just have to go fishing around here a lot more.

Originally posted by MichiganSwampBuck

Originally posted by wantsome
reply to post by Iwinder

 

Yeah I have a freezer full of walleye and pike right now. Ever since the salmon have dried up in Lake Huron I've had to buy it. I don't like having to drive to Lake Michigan to fish for them. With the price of gas It's cheaper to buy the stuff. Yeah I know where Purdy is I've fished right across from them at Pine Grove park in Port Huron. I do a lot of fishing on the St Clair River whippin and jigging.

edit on 24-3-2012 by wantsome because: (no reason given)

No salmon in Lake Huron? I remember the line of fishermen in Port Austin when the salmon was running and wondered how any fish could actually get through that gauntlet. Anyway I was wondering just yesterday what ocean fish was safe any more. Between Fukushima and the Gulf, I think I just have to go fishing around here a lot more.

Yeah parts of Lake Huron are sterile. Salmon in Lake Huron are almost extint. The Quagga and Zebra mussles have sucked all of nutriance out of the lake leaving nothing for the bait fish to eat. It's also effected the walleye population in Lake St Clair. Theres still walleye but not the numbers there once were. Saginaw bay is still going strong but the rest of the lake is suffering.

I haven't been fishing in the thumb in ages, thanks for that fishing update.

I used to go smelt dipping and walleye fishing up and down the St Clair River around the time the zebra mussels appeared. Within a few years of the zebras appearance, the smelt declined and then disappeared, something that seemed impossible at the time.

I thought the zebras were cleaning up Lake St Clair, which they were, but apparently they changed the lakes' environment to the point of no return.

At any rate, I'd eat zebra mussels before I'd trust eating Pacific or Gulf sea food. I'd take my chances with PCB and what ever else they dumped in the lakes over radiation, crude oil and correx. Pick your poison I suppose. Aren't human bodies considered toxic waste anyway?

reply to post by Liberal1984

Since almost all, Fukushima radiation, sea leaks has been water, there is no issue, providing the water didn’t contain that many particles.

This post on page 963 of the megathread may be of interest, especially in light of the following paper:

Uranyl peroxide enhanced nuclear fuel corrosion in seawater

The Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident brought together compromised irradiated fuel and large amounts of seawater in a high radiation field. Based on newly acquired thermochemical data for a series of uranyl peroxide compounds containing charge-balancing alkali cations, here we show that nanoscale cage clusters containing as many as 60 uranyl ions, bonded through peroxide and hydroxide bridges, are likely to form in solution or as precipitates under such conditions. These species will enhance the corrosion of the damaged fuel and, being thermodynamically stable and kinetically persistent in the absence of peroxide, they can potentially transport uranium over long distances.

don't worry,I'm pretty sure the Japanese and food companies have taken measures.
The only reason you should worry about is if you see a giant green lizard..on the news
(Godzilla)