Sunday, April 24, 2011
Radiation Expert: "Sr-90 and Uranium and Particulates Will Be Building Up in the USA and Europe ... For Now I Think It Prudent To Stop Drinking Milk"
Preface: I take very seriously any warning about consuming a product which is important for the local economy. But when a respected radiation expert issues this type of warning, I have to pass it on.
I wrote to radiation expert Dr. Chris Busby to ask him if he thought people living outside of Japan should take any actions to try to reduce their radiation exposure:
Epidemiologist Dr. Wing thinks people outside of Japan shouldn't do anything to attempt to reduce radiation exposure: Leading Epidemiologist: Instead of Trying to Avoid Japanese Radiation, Put Your Energy Into Demanding a Saner Energy Policy
But the French anti-nuclear NGO CRIIAD says that pregnant women and infants should take steps to reduce exposure: French Nuclear Group Warns that Children and Pregnant Mothers Should Protect Themselves from Radiation
I've also researched the scientific literature, and found that antioxidants can help a little: Can Vitamins or Herbs Help Protect Us from Radiation?
What's your advice for people outside of Japan?
Professor Busby replied:
I attach my "don't panic" paper. However, since then I have re-thought this advice as the thing is still fissioning and releasing 10 to the fourteen becquerels a day. This will mean that Sr-90 [strontium 90] and Uranium and particulates will be building up in the USA and Europe. I will assess this later but for now I think it prudent to stop drinking milk. I also attach the particulates note.
Busby - Fukuparticles2
Busby - Dont Panic
Disclaimer: I am not a health professional or radiation expert.
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Just reviewed an article dated March 13, 2011 where a U.S. official states that no fallout will be reaching the the 48 states because of the distance.
ReplyDeleteSee it this way. In the corner of your favorite tav or coffee shop stands a gentleman who juggles 4-3oz. bottles of topgrade nitroglycerin for 8 hours a shift. Your coffee is 35 cents cheaper because of this.
After 8 hours, a new juggler takes over. How long does it take before a juggler drops a bottle?
We need to carefully and thoughtfully disable these fission thermonuclear plants and judge why they built the largest one in the world where they did. Can you say, "They quite obviously are insane"? I knew you could.
Jct: Just to the north of all that radioactive fallout hitting the US west coast, we Canucks are tough. We've had rainout all week and you don’t see us worrying about the radioactive fallout. We solved the problem by turning off our fallout detectors and letting our kids go out and play in the radioactivity and drink all the milk they want. Canucks are tough enough to take a little radiation. Our kids too!
ReplyDeleteHi George,
ReplyDeleteI really need your number. Send me an anonymous tip to get my number and call me.
Some questions...
1) Has he any input on the plutonium and strontium?
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/04/21/radioactive-fukushima-plutonium-strontium-bombarding-west-coast-march-18th-19279/
2) Does he realize his advise based on 10 to the fourteen becquerels a day is a lie - TEPCO admits the real number is 154 which should also read TERA becquerels- as in trillion becquerels. Tepco blamed the old number on a calculation error.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20110424dy04.htm
As far as the levels of plutonium detected I wrote this response to query...
ReplyDeleteHi.
Because the units are in picocuries means nothing. If the levels reached the CURIE level (1000 picocuries) this would horribly bad.
The EPA drinking water limit for iodine is 3 pico curies/liter. For plutonium and a summary of other levels, a nice table is in this document - http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/SGS-Safeguards-06211-Radiation-Contamination-Found-in-Imported-Food-from-Japan-EN-11.pdf. You can convert the becquerels in the document to picocurines here: http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/units-converter/radiation-activity/calculator/becquerel-%5BBq%5D-to-curie-%5BCi%5D/
That being said the FDA Derived Intervention Level (DIL) for plutonium in FOOD is 54 Picocuries and is 27 Picocuriesfor infant food/water/milk. These DIL's are also by no means a "safety levels" either but rather levels so high they will cause serious widespread health problems... for explanation see http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/04/11/japan-nuclear-radiation-hawaii-milk-2033-percent-federal-drinking-water-limits-16130/ The EPA's Maximum Contamination Level (MCL) for plutonium which is 15 pci/liter in the drinking water.
As far as plutonium being natural since the big bang... that is very misleading if not untrue. This element primarily exists is from man made nuclear fission from nuclear bomb tests and what we see as part of "natural background radiatoin" isn't "natural" at all nor are they the levels that have existed since the BIG BANG. Plutonium in the atmoshphere is primarily from atomic bomb detonations. From there the majority of the remainder is from nuke plants and nuke weapon manufacturing. http://www.epa.gov/superfund/health/contaminants/radiation/pdfs/plutonium.pdf
As far as the levels of plutonium, FROM WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS SHOWING THE PUBLIC IN THE RESULTS I HAVE POSTED in the post you referece, yes the plutonium levels are much lower than the DIL's and the EPA's MCLs.
However, the point of the post is that the EPA has known that this Plutonium and Strontium from Fukushima was hitting the US and a) Did not reveal it to the public and b) removed the data from the socrata graphs being published to the public.
Furthermore the STRONTIUM levels detected are much more concerning than the plutonium levels.
Finally the advanced search also revealed additional cesium results in milk/rain/rair some of which are above the EPA limits, on top of the hidden strontium and plutonium results, that the EPA did not include in the results released to the public.
Hope this helps and I need to put together a post about what the results mean expanding on the bullet points above.
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ReplyDeleteand followed up on that response with this.
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Another note, the information on plutonium below is based off the Government standards based on an epidemiological cost benefit analysis, however, that should not be mistaken to say the very small levels of plutonium are safe either.
See this: http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/Clics2009A/commsumm.nsf/91320994cb8e0b6e8725681d005cb995/70e77015d063cf4f872575450071d929/$FILE/090121AttachA.pdf
It is an attachment from a published university professor in his testimony before congress saying any level of plutonium no matter how small is dangerous with links to peer reviewed research backing up his testimony. A single plutonium particle mutates cells and causes severe cell damage.
A single microgram of plutonium is a potentially lethal dose and once inside the body an alpha particle damages 10,000 cells in its range. The skin can handle such damage well, the lungs can't.
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So I would really like an experts input on this.
Try this on for a picogram of common sense:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/3nwnrwu
"as this thing is still fissioning..."
ReplyDelete"there are 1000 picocuries in one curie"
I think the good doctor should stick to proctology because he obviously does not know a nuclear reaction from his posterior.
Fission stopped when the reactors scrammed on March 11.
A "pico" of anything is NOT 1/1000 (look it up yourself).
While mr. engineer is right regarding the pico-whatever (10^-12), mr. nuclear manager has no clue - fission stops just when all the fissionable particles are consumed. A SCRAM merely hems the cascade reaction, trying to bring it somewhat under control.
ReplyDeleteSuch stupidity and credulity almost did blow up TMI - even after Chernobyl, a lot of western "experts" still bragged about how an "american reactor" is "inherently safe" when cooling water is gone.
TMI already proved it false, Fukushima just provided the icing.
Is there a way to test the radiation in milk?
ReplyDeleteWe get our milk from Braums to avoid all the steroids in other milk. But now...radiation?
Got a pregnant wife and daughter, both drink milk.