Trace amounts of radioactive iodine, which have been linked to the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors in Japan, have been found throughout much of the western United States and as far away as Massachusetts during the past week.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has reported that low level radioiodine-131 was found in a rainwater sample in Massachusetts this past week and is very similar to samples that were collected in several western states, including California and Washington. Public officials have said that the low levels of radiation pose no threat to drinking supplies in the United States and that similar air samples have shown no detectable radiation.
According to a statement issued by the EPA, these low levels of radioiodine-131 would likely become undetectable in a "relative short time."
Radioiodine-131 is an important radioisotope of iodine. It has a half-life of about eight days and is used mostly for medical and pharmaceutical treatments. When it is present in high levels in the environment from radioactive fallout, it can be absorbed through contaminated food and can also accumulate in the thyroid, which in turn can cause thyroid cancer and other problems.
Click on the "Subscribe" button above and enter your e-mail address to receive a free alert to your inbox when a new article is published by the National Environmental News Examiner. Follow us and become our fan on Facebook and Twitter.
Comments