Radioactive cesium detected in tea leaves grown in Tokyo

Holy crap

Radioactive cesium was detected in processed tea that was made from leaves that elementary school children picked in Tokyo as part of their school curriculum, it has been learned.

The Itabashi Ward Office announced on June 30 that 2,700 becquerels of radioactive cesium -- in excess of the government's provisional limit -- was detected in processed tea that used leaves picked at a plantation in the ward by some 300 students of local elementary schools.

The processed tea is set to be disposed of, while none of the children have suffered any health problems. The tea plantation is dedicated to providing visitors with opportunities to pick leaves and does not ship its harvest to the market.

According to the ward office, the tea-picking class took place on May 9, and fourth- and fifth-grade students from three public elementary schools in the ward participated in the event. When the approximately 20 kilograms of processed tea -- made of some 80 kilograms of first-harvest leaves that the students had picked -- was screened, 1,300 becquerels of cesium 134 per kilogram and 1,400 becquerels of cesium 137 per kilogram were detected.

Following the revelation, ward officials picked second-harvest tea leaves at the plantation on June 22 and detected 350 becquerels of cesium from raw tea leaves.

The ward office will conduct screenings of locally-grown agricultural products but will not regulate the shipment of tea leaves as there is no other tea plantation in the ward.

It is the first time that radioactive cesium has been detected in tea leaves grown in Tokyo. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's survey had previously detected no radioactive substances exceeding the government limit in agricultural products grown in the capital.

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(Mainichi Japan) July 1, 2011