Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
March 9, 2012, 6:26 PM JST.
March 11, One Year On: Radioactive Pollen?.
March is the peak of hay fever season in Japan. And this year it brings a new twist: radioactivity in pollen.
A year after meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant blew radioactive particles over much of northeastern Japan, some of that contamination is being re-dispersed by trees. The biggest culprit is thought to be sugi, or Japanese cedar, an evergreen that?s actually more closely related to the giant sequoia.
...
The bottom line, according to the government: This year?s radioactive pollen won?t be hazardous to health. Although the survey did find some extremely high levels ? especially from sugi in the town of Namie in Fukushima, inside the no-go zone ? the Forestry Agency concluded that by the time the pollen got through the noses of the populace, the level of exposure would be very low.
If all the pollen floating through this year?s hay-fever season was contaminated at the peak level found, a person?s accumulated exposure from that would still only be 0.000553 millisieverts ? about one-hundredth the level of a chest X-ray, the government found.
Just to be sure, a coalition of scientists called the Japan Geoscience Union is conducting its own measurements of pollen count and radiation levels, as the season progresses.
The government?s conclusion? ?If you?re concerned, wear a mask,? says Mr. Yamaguchi.
Full text:
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/03/09/march-11-one-year-on-radioactive-pollen/tab/print/
March 11, One Year On: Radioactive Pollen?.
March is the peak of hay fever season in Japan. And this year it brings a new twist: radioactivity in pollen.
A year after meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant blew radioactive particles over much of northeastern Japan, some of that contamination is being re-dispersed by trees. The biggest culprit is thought to be sugi, or Japanese cedar, an evergreen that?s actually more closely related to the giant sequoia.
...
The bottom line, according to the government: This year?s radioactive pollen won?t be hazardous to health. Although the survey did find some extremely high levels ? especially from sugi in the town of Namie in Fukushima, inside the no-go zone ? the Forestry Agency concluded that by the time the pollen got through the noses of the populace, the level of exposure would be very low.
If all the pollen floating through this year?s hay-fever season was contaminated at the peak level found, a person?s accumulated exposure from that would still only be 0.000553 millisieverts ? about one-hundredth the level of a chest X-ray, the government found.
Just to be sure, a coalition of scientists called the Japan Geoscience Union is conducting its own measurements of pollen count and radiation levels, as the season progresses.
The government?s conclusion? ?If you?re concerned, wear a mask,? says Mr. Yamaguchi.
Full text:
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/03/09/march-11-one-year-on-radioactive-pollen/tab/print/