Milk update (5/12)
5/12 (7:08pm): A milk sample with a Best By date of 5/16 was added to our Milk results. We have our second non-detection of I-131 in milk, and the levels of Cs-134 and Cs-137 continue to decline.
Mark [BRAWM Team Member]
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5/12 (7:08pm): A milk sample with a Best By date of 5/16 was added to our Milk results. We have our second non-detection of I-131 in milk, and the levels of Cs-134 and Cs-137 continue to decline.
Mark [BRAWM Team Member]
Thank you
BRAWM team, thank you very much for your work and your explanations - they have prompted me to learn a bit about nuclear power, and it is fascinating.
Here's an video I thought might be fun to share.
The results are STILL HIGHER than a month ago!
Not to be a wet blanket, but the results are still very troubling. The latest cesium 137 results are only down slightly, and the results from cesium 134, which has a much shorter half life, is down further - which is to be expected.
Radioidine with a half life of 8 days (total radioactive life of about 80 days) is expected to be very low, but the cesium is now my primary concern (along with the potential for strontium 90).
I point this out to say that it is way too early to limit or reduce testing and that the long-life cesium 137 is still too high to be content that things are all safe and good.
What these results mean is that the cows are STILL ingesting radioactive feed, I assume grass, and that it is being passed on to our children and is likely to stay, to some extent, in our bodies due to the relatively long biological half life of the radionuclide.
What we do NOT see is additional grass, soil and produce (strawberries, spinach, mushroom, lettuce, etc)samples which are results we NEED to know the contamination levels of.
PLEASE cont9inue to take and assess such samples and keep up the great work.
But I am concerned that the trend of levelling off and diminishing slightly in cesium 137 will cause BRAWM and the folks who post here to let down our guard and relax the need for repeated and ongoing and aditional tests and samples.
I do wonder what the pressures are to cut back or scale back the number of samples and tests you are doing, BRAWM and desperately hope you get more results for the grass the cows are eating, the soil our crops are grown in, and the spring crops themselves.
If you look at the cesium 137 levels from a month ago they are less than what you are finding today. That is troubling to me.
Also, with the news today from NHK about extremely high levels of radiocesium in tea leaves SOUTH of Tokyo, and the fact that Japan now FINALLY admits that Reactor 1 is in full meltdown which is leaking radiation out of the damaged reactor vessel I HOPE that we do not relax the urgency of the need for testing and new ongoing samples.
If BRAWM slows or stops its testing, we will be almost totally or totally in the dark about the levels of contamination. To me, as a parent, this is a very worrisome possibility.
In any case THANK you for all you have done and PLEASE keep on doing it!
Bill?
"If you look at the cesium 137 levels from a month ago they are less than what you are finding today. That is troubling to me."
Why does that trouble u I find that to go with dilution first growth of grass has more cesium than next ect plus the surface contaminants have washed off or been eaten right ?
It's a curve
With all that's STILL going on in Japan, any reasonable person can understand your concerns. And I too would like continued testing to insure that contamination from the ongoing events in Japan are not reaching us.
However, if you look at the complete history of the BRAWM milk reports, you'll see that it's a curve. It went up and then it came down. We cannot look at one point in the history without putting it in context. The month ago C-137 result you are referring to is before the peak. Cs-137 measurements went as follows:
.09
.15
.19
.43
.44
.55
.52
.34
.29
It currently shows a clear ramp up and then down. Which you would expect. We'd all love for it to be totally gone at this point. But, it will take time. I'm sure the BRAWM team will continue monitoring as it's the research data they are looking for.
Cs-134 shows pretty much the same curve. It's the trend we are looking at. And the trend is encouraging.
Team stated
They will test till it's mda correct me if I am wrong brawm
The milk is STILL higher than a month ago and almost 60% peak
and Some cesium elements are UP in the air samples.
I just do not feel that we can relax the vigilance on the potential risks and the extent of the contamination and again I do not understand why BRAWM said all levels in air were down when they were not. The data does not lie.
Yes, but it can just as
Yes, but it can just as readily ramp up again, higher and more damaging than before. Fukushima is getting worse, unfortunately, not better, so it is hard to fathom a continuation of the encouraging trend noted. I have the wife on vacation in Morocco.
Again, I understand your concern
I got it. Continued monitoring is needed and prudent. I just wanted to wrap a little context around the month ago number being half what it is today :-)
As for Fukushima getting worse, I don't think we know if it's getting worse or if the *news* is just getting worse. A lot of the news we are getting now is about the condition of the reactors. Which the TEPCO gang is still trying to figure out. The actual condition of the reactors may not have changed much since the beginning of the crisis. If that's the case, the news we are getting now may not represent any additional threat to us. Now, if we actually get news about a significant change in reactor status (like re-criticality and/or explosion), we can all start running around screaming and waving our hands in the air....
Again, I'm just as concerned as you are about this. But, I like to base my concerns on actual information I can wrap my mind around.
The Japanese FINALLY admit a full meltdown
the possibility if further explosions remains...
The core is leaking
and the milk levels are higher than just over a mont ago while BRAWM says all samples in the air are going down when there was actually an uptick in one of the radionuclides!
The risks remain high, and I still have not seen an acknowledgement or explanation by BRAWM to reassure me that the bioaccumulation is not ongoing. IF there are continued level and ongoing contamination by radionuclides, then bioaccumulation will likely INCREASE as we get more and more exposure.
Dropping air levels are a good thing. But they are NOT all dropping or dropping very quickly AND they are likely accumulating in soil and produce and in US and our children.
I just hope to get some acceptable analysis or response from BRAWM on these issues and MORE samples and tests before I can truly feel that the worst is really over (despite the hard truth that there is still the possibility for additional major releases into the air which will flow here to the U.S. along with the water and sea contamination which will eventually end up here)
Is that really too much to ask or be concerned about?
Helen Caldicott links to BRAWM site at Facebook
That was thoughtful of her:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Helen-Caldicott/102772801940
At least there's some data to look at
I'm very glad to see that. It exposes her audience to actual
scientific data to balance the discussion. And as long as the
data isn't spun into something it's not, it increases her
credibility.
Hooray!!!
Hooray!!!
Hello Berkeley UCBNE team
Hello Berkeley UCBNE team -
Thank you very much for what you are doing!!
This country suffers from a lack of scientific thinking, top to bottom and all points in between. In a scary situation such as this I do take comfort in knowing that at least someone is taking a measurement. Yes, arguments and important ones at that remain, but at least we have a quantity on what is currently in the air/soil/water/food.
Again, thank you and please continue your good work. Looks like few others are doing any science at all.