ID :
170180
Wed, 03/23/2011 - 09:22
Auther :

Radiation Scare Spreads to Fukushima Vegetables

Tokyo, March 23 (Jiji Press)--Radiation levels way above government safety limits were detected in 11 kinds of vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage grown in Fukushima Prefecture, home to an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant, the health ministry said early Wednesday.
According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, 82,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium-134 was detected in one kilogram of "kukitachina" leafy green vegetable grown in Motomiya, Fukushima Prefecture. The figure is 164 times the 500-becquerel limit prescribed under the Food Sanitation Act.
Meanwhile, radioactive iodine in excess of the safety limit was found in raw milk produced in two municipalities of Ibaraki Prefecture, which borders on Fukushima Prefecture. Higher-than-allowed radioactive substances were also detected in parsley grown in two other cities of Ibaraki.
In response to these findings, the Japanese government instructed the governor of Fukushima to urge the residents of the prefecture not to consume for some time the 11 kinds of Fukushima-produced vegetables for which high radiation levels have been found in sample tests and ask the producers not to ship them.
The government also instructed the governor of Ibaraki to order a suspension of the shipment of raw milk and parsley produced in the prefecture.
These instructions were issued on the basis of the nuclear emergency special measures law, as a crisis remains unresolved at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, which was ravaged by the March 11 massive quake and tsunami.
The health ministry said radiation exposure from eating 100 grams of the kukitachina in question every day for 10 days will be almost equivalent to a half of one-year radiation exposure from natural sources.

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