Can you put the soil sample dimensions into your results please?
I really appreciate all the team's work!
It's getting hard to find things on the forum. Is it possible to list the surface area and depth dimensions of the topsoil samples somewhere with the results, either under sample mass or on the data link?
It would be nice to have it available to compare with TMI, Chernobyl, and Japan data at different times and places.
Earthquakeprepper
I too am wondering about the
I too am wondering about the depth of the soil samples. I have seen on some other sites that removing the top few inches of soil could remove most of the radioative isotopes. Any truth to that?
I read a week or so ago on
I read a week or so ago on kyodo news that they were removing the topsoil of several schools in fukishima prefectures to reduce exposure risks.....so must be some truth to it.
Earthquakeprepper: Sorry,
Earthquakeprepper: Sorry, this isn't a reply to your post but I figured you might be checking this thread and wanted to ask you a question. In another thread, you mentioned you were going to treat the soil in your vegetable garden to decrease radioactive uptake. How exactly does one do this? Also, do you know of any online vegetable gardening forums where people are discussing this issue? Thanks!
radiation in the soil
I asked this question in a post I created on this sight, called Cesium Hazards for Farmers.
There is no way to eliminate the radiation in the soil. You might reduce its uptake into the plants
by building a greenhouse enclosure though in the summer it would get too hot for most crops and then
you are venting it with radiated air. You could build a frame over your beds and cover them when it
rains thus reducing the fallout onto the soil though it accumulates as runnoff next to the beds.
I read that one could apply potassium to the soil that binds the cesium. How effective I don;t know.
Another aspect is called remediation which is removal of the radiation through growing pig weed each
year and removing the plants at end of season and putting them into a benotonite clay pit. This only
removes 3% a year. Cesium has a long half life with more and more coming each day.
As a small farmer I do not have any workable answers. What I mentioned might help but in the end
we are going to have to live with this for the rest of our lives and come what may to our health.
In the end we must grow food and eat and do all we can to help our bodies detoxify and live unfortunately
with a dark knowledge that we just might get ill from the low level radiation. If the cores fully melt and
explode then the fall out could be DEADLY. Just trying to be a realist and not an alarmist. A week ago
a top ag. expert at UCDavis told me not to worry as the radiation levels so far are too low to be of concern.
After reading about the levels in the foot hills of the Sierra I tend not to believe him today. What are
California farmers going to do--not plant? Go buy a gieger counter and test your produce each time you
go out and buy it. If it is low then eat it, if high then leave it. Wonder if the stores would allow you in to do
this. In May I will be getting a device so I can be assured that the produce I grow for people have a low
count, otherwise how in good conscience can I feed people really contaminated stuff? Another quick idea,
go out and get brocolli,& alfafa,sunflowr seed, and mung beans etc and sprout them with clean water and eat them.
Thanks for the reply.
Thanks for the reply. Someone else mentioned potassium for Cs137 and calcium for Sr90 as well. A gieger counter is a good idea, too, albeit a pricey one. I'm very curious what kind of readings you'll get. I read about the Sierra Nevada soil tests as well and got very upset because I just moved to a place with a wonderful outdoor garden right in the Sierra foothills in Calaveras County! I'm not sure exactly where those tests were done. I assume it was on the east side of the Sierras since it was the University of Nevada, but I'm sure that hardly matters. Do you happen to know if it's difficult to get your soil tested for radioisotopes? I ran across one source but I believe it's quite expensive. I wonder if a university would be willing to do it for research purposes.
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