nuclear-news

Radioactive cesium in the ocean fish food chain

Some cesium was found in 16 of these 22 species in November, the last
full month for which data was available.

Cesium was especially prevalent in certain of the species:

– 73 per cent of mackerel tested

– 91 per cent of the halibut

– 92 per cent of the sardines

– 93 per cent of the tuna and eel

– 94 per cent of the cod and anchovies

– 100 per cent of the carp, sea-weed, shark and monkfish

After Fukushima, fish tales, By Alex Roslin, The Montreal Gazette January 14, 2012 “…………evidence has emerged that the impacts of the disaster on the Pacific Ocean are worse than expected.

Since a tsunami and earthquake destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant last March, radioactive cesium has consistently been found in 60 to 80 per cent of Japanese fishing catches each month tested by Japan’s Fisheries Agency.

In November, 65 per cent of the catches tested positive for cesium (a
radioactive material created by nuclear reactors), according to a
Gazette analysis of data on the fisheries agency’s website. Cesium is
a long-lived radionuclide that persists in the environment and
increases the risk of cancer, according to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, which says the most common form of
radioactive cesium has a half-life of 30 years…..

Japanese data shows elevated levels of contamination in several
seafood species that Japan has exported to Canada in recent years.

In November, 18 per cent of cod exceeded a new radiation ceiling for
food to be implemented in Japan in April – along with 21 per cent of
eel, 22 per cent of sole and 33 per cent of seaweed.

Overall, one in five of the 1,100 catches tested in November exceeded
the new ceiling of 100 becquerels per kilogram. (Canada’s ceiling for
radiation in food is much higher: 1,000 becquerels per kilo.)

“I would probably be hesitant to eat a lot of those fish,” said
Nicholas Fisher, a marine sciences professor at the State University
of New York at Stony Brook.

Fisher is researching how radiation from Fukushima is affecting the
Pacific fishery. “There has been virtually zero monitoring and
research on this,” he said, calling on other governments to do more
radiation tests on the ocean’s marine life.

“Is it something we need to be terrified of ? No. Is it something we
need to monitor? Yes, particularly in coastal waters where
concentrations are high.”

Contamination of fish in the Pacific Ocean could have wide-ranging
consequences for millions.

The Pacific is home to the world’s largest fishery, which is in turn
the main source of protein for about one billion people in Asia alone.
In October, a U.S. study – coauthored by oceanographer Ken Buesseler,
a senior scientist at the non-profit Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., – reported Fukushima caused
history’s biggest-ever release of radiation into the ocean – 10 to 100
times more than the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.

“It’s completely untrue to say this level of radiation is safe or
harmless,” said Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition
for Nuclear Responsibility.

Edwards, who is also a math professor at Vanier College, said
Fukushima has highlighted how lackadaisical Canadian authorities are
about radiation risks – the result, he says, of the influence of
Canada’s powerful nuclear industry.

“The reassurances have been completely irresponsible. To say there are
no health concerns flies in the face of all scientific evidence,” said
Edwards, who has advised the federal auditor-general’s office and
Ontario government on nuclear-power issues.

Other Fukushima impacts have been unexpected, too. The first debris
swept into the sea by the tsunami reportedly started to wash ashore on
the west coast in mid-December, a year earlier than scientists and
authorities predicted…..
Canadians have already eaten some of the types of fish most likely to
be contaminated with cesium, based on the Japanese fisheries data.

Japan exported $76 million of food products to Canada in 2010,
including $13 million of fish and crustaceans. No figures were
available for 2011.

The Gazette analyzed the Japanese fisheries data for 22 seafood
species that Japan has exported to Canada in recent years.

Some cesium was found in 16 of these 22 species in November, the last
full month for which data was available.

Cesium was especially prevalent in certain of the species:

– 73 per cent of mackerel tested

– 91 per cent of the halibut

– 92 per cent of the sardines

– 93 per cent of the tuna and eel

– 94 per cent of the cod and anchovies

– 100 per cent of the carp, sea-weed, shark and monkfish

Some of the fish were caught in Japanese coastal waters. Other catches
were made hundreds of kilometres away in the open ocean.
There, the fish can also be caught by fishers from dozens of other
nations that ply the waters of the Pacific.

Yet, Japan is the only country that appears to be systematically
testing fish for radiation and publicly reporting the results…..
fish and crustaceans caught in the vicinity of Fukushima in late March
had 10,000 times more than socalled safe levels of radiation. The
study, published last May in the journal Environmental Science &
Technology, also said macroalgae had 19,000 times the safe level.

Those levels were measured before the Japanese utility that runs the
crippled nuclear plant dumped 11,000 tonnes of radioactive water into
the Pacific in April and additional leaks that have released hundreds
of tonnes more.

But since that early study, little research has been published on the topic.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/After+Fukushima+fish+tales/5995345/story.html

January 19, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, oceans