Washington – Very low levels of radiation turned up in a sample of milk from Washington state, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday, but federal officials assured consumers not to worry.
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The FDA said such findings were to be expected in the coming days because of the nuclear crisis in Japan, and that the levels were expected to drop relatively quickly.
Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power complex began leaking radiation after it was damaged by a devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this month.
Results from a March 25 milk sample taken from Spokane, Wash., showed levels of radioactive Iodine-131 that were still 5,000 times below levels of concern set by the FDA, including levels set for infants and children.
“Radiation is all around us in our daily lives, and these findings are a miniscule amount compared to what people experience every day,” said Patricia Hansen, senior scientist.at the FDA. “A person would be exposed to low levels of radiation on a round-trip cross-country flight, watching television, and even from construction materials.”
EPA said it was increasing the level of nationwide monitoring of milk, precipitation and drinking water.
Spokane, a city of 208,000 residents, is located more than 300 miles east of the Pacific coast. Kim Papich, spokeswoman for the Spokane Regional Health District, said the agency was aware of the EPA report and preparing to issue a statement to residents.
“This is not a major health concern,” Papich said.
The United States had already halted imports of dairy products and produce from the affected area of Japan. Other foods imported from Japan, including seafood, were still being sold to the public but screened first for radiation.
Japanese foods make up less than 4 percent of all U.S. imports. The FDA has said it expected no risk to the U.S. food supply from radiation.
Of course, I did not have to read the article, or even the whole first sentence, to know that the end of the first sentence would be that there’s nothing to worry about and the end of the article would be that there is nothing to worry about.
If there is more leakage coming over, and the numbers grow, they will stop saying that the levels are below concern, and make comparisons to X-rays and CAT scans, saying things like “This is no more than having 4 X-rays,” and later, “This is just like having one CAT scan.”
Later still, “Although the levels exceed what is commonly deemed a safe level, studies have show that even among those Japanese exposed to Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs,. the chances of significant harmful effects from these levels is still less than the average American’s chances of getting killed in a traffic accident in a given year.”
The barrel of milk pictured looks Japanese.
I wish the media would stop hyping these miniscule levels of radiation being found in the U.S. in rainwater, milk etc. since it is harmless, but that won’t stop the cries of gevalt from the usual suspect who fear everything and trust no one.
So let me try to understand this. The radio-active milk is emptied unto the pasture. This will be absorbed by the ground and affect the grass which will eventually be food for cows …..Am I missing something ??