Cesium measured from American pistachio nuts imported to Japan

Cesium measured from American green nuts Posted by Mochizuki on August 17th, 2012 · A Japanese supermarket chain, Maruetsu measured cesium from pistachio imported from US. [Link] (cf. Japan exports Fukushima peach and has Imperial family consume it) 98% of American pistachio is produced in California. [Link] The measurement was on 8/11/2012, it was 9.54 Bq/Kg. (Cs-137) Also, 5.59 Bq/Kg of Cs-137 was measured from Japanese trout. It was from Shiga in western Japan.(540km from Fukushima plant) 6.62 Bq/Kg of Cs-137 was measured from beef in Shimane. Shimane is in western Japan as well. (750 km from Fukushima plant) This is as much as beef in Chiba (6.43 Bq/Kg, Cs-137), where is in eastern Japan. Chiba is only 220km from Fukushima plant, is known to be a hotspot.

I found this update from Fukushima Diary source : fukushima-diary.com...
It was a little un-nerving to see that radiation food monitoring in Japan found cesium in pistachios from America, though I don't know what is considered a "normal safe level" for our food before 3-11 (though I know experts say there is NO safe level of artificial radiation contamination). I also don't know from this report when the pistachios were grown (before 3-11, right after 3-11 when the radiation levels were highest, or recently).

Does anybody know if there are university research labs still checking food from California and other states in relation to the Fukushima meltdowns?

Originally posted by RoyalBlue

Cesium measured from American green nuts Posted by Mochizuki on August 17th, 2012 · A Japanese supermarket chain, Maruetsu measured cesium from pistachio imported from US. [Link] (cf. Japan exports Fukushima peach and has Imperial family consume it) 98% of American pistachio is produced in California. [Link] The measurement was on 8/11/2012, it was 9.54 Bq/Kg. (Cs-137) Also, 5.59 Bq/Kg of Cs-137 was measured from Japanese trout. It was from Shiga in western Japan.(540km from Fukushima plant) 6.62 Bq/Kg of Cs-137 was measured from beef in Shimane. Shimane is in western Japan as well. (750 km from Fukushima plant) This is as much as beef in Chiba (6.43 Bq/Kg, Cs-137), where is in eastern Japan. Chiba is only 220km from Fukushima plant, is known to be a hotspot.

I found this update from Fukushima Diary source : fukushima-diary.com...
It was a little un-nerving to see that radiation food monitoring in Japan found cesium in pistachios from America, though I don't know what is considered a "normal safe level" for our food before 3-11 (though I know experts say there is NO safe level of artificial radiation contamination). I also don't know from this report when the pistachios were grown (before 3-11, right after 3-11 when the radiation levels were highest, or recently).

Does anybody know if there are university research labs still checking food from California and other states in relation to the Fukushima meltdowns?

edit on 17-8-2012 by RoyalBlue because: (no reason given)

Well I see two possible explanations..

1. They measured for radiation IN Japan which is radioactive to begin with.. could they have been contaminated in transit?

2. If not contaminated in transit.. California IS on the west coast so the radiation is still probably from Japan to begin with.


If #1 is true then we don't have much to worry about domestically.. we should be testing immediately however..

If #2 is true, we have cause for concern because the radiation from Japan is endangering some of our own food supply.

Either way.. testing is needed, quick.

I did find these links that might be interesting on the topic of Radiation in CA

California slammed by fukushima radiation
www.zerohedge.com...

Radiation found in California Bluefin Tuna
www.sfgate.com...

Radiation from japan found in kelp along the california coast
abcnews.go.com...

A FAQ about radiation in California by the CA public health department
www.cdph.ca.gov...

Q. How much radiation was found?
A. The amount of radiation identified in the tests was ten thousand times below amounts that would pose human health concerns.

Originally posted by miniatus
I did find these links that might be interesting on the topic of Radiation in CA

Thanks for those. Here are a few more from the UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering department:

UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Air Monitoring Station

UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Air Monitoring Station

Berkeley Radiological Air and Water Monitoring Team

Food Chain Testing
Food Chain Sampling Results (grass, spinach, etc.)

Milk Sampling
Milk Sampling Results
Raw Milk Sampling Results

Water Sampling
Rain Water Results
Strawberry Creek Run Off Results
Tap Water Sampling Results
Snowmelt Sampling Results
Seawater Sampling Results
Description of Water Collection Experimental Setup

Air Sampling
Air Sampling Results
Description of Air System A Experimental Setup
Description of Air System B Experimental Setup
Air Filter Alpha Spectroscopy Results (limits for Uranium, Plutonium, and Americium)

The Food chain testing link leads here:

Food Chain Testing

We have been collecting produce that is as local as possible to test for the radioactive isotopes. We might expect different kinds of plants to take up different quantities of cesium and iodine, so we are trying to measure as many different plants and fruits as we are able to. So far, we have measured:

Grass
Wild mushrooms
Spinach
Strawberries
Cilantro
Kale
Arugula
Carrots
Cherry Tomatoes
Topsoil from the Bay Area
Seaweed from the Northern California coast
Hay from Nevada
Topsoil from San Diego
Topsoil and dried manure from Sacramento
Topsoil from Sonoma County
Topsoil from Oakland
Sand from Palo Alto

Most of that testing was short-lived after Fukushima. However, milk testing is still ongoing and that milk link leads here:

UCB Milk Testing Results

You can see how the spike in radioactivity in California milk after the accident has declined over time. In fact CS-137 wasn't detected at all in the last sample (see 1st link):

7/13/2012 (5:40pm): We have posted two milk samples with best-by dates of 6/11 and 7/9 on our milk sample page. In both samples, no Cs-134 or Cs-137 were detected.

They have a MDA or "minimum detectable activity" so I guess they are saying it's below that, rather than zero, but the MDA is pretty low.