Seaweed and food chain update (8/12)

Submitted by bandstra on Fri, 2011-08-12 18:23

8/12 (6:20pm): This week we were able to test three more samples of seaweed from Northern California. Once again, no isotopes from Japan were detected. In addition, the seaweed data table has been expanded to include the naturally-occurring isotope Beryllium-7, which is often found in samples that have been outside or in contact with rain. Other food chain data tables are being expanded to include this natural isotope as well to provide a point of comparison.

Over the next week we will be testing some tomatoes and carrots. Updates on those to come.

Mark [BRAWM Team Member]

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CARROTS & CESIUM as of 12-20-2012 (CALIFORNIA)

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2011-12-20 16:31.

Would one of the NUC team please address this query. What is the determination on Cesium in the carrots grown in California? I need to know this information so as to determine what is safe for ingestion for adults and children. The Federal government gives us NO information.
It was reported in June that in August the EPA would once again start testing water and milk for radiation, which they had stopped doing in first week in April along with pulling monitors from Pac NW.

Samples are from 3-4 months ago

Submitted by bandstra on Fri, 2011-08-12 22:27.

To be clear, I should have also pointed out that the "new" seaweed samples were harvested in early May and early June, so they are somewhat dated.

Mark [BRAWM Team Member]

Odd thanks for clarification

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2011-08-13 09:38.

Why test thing from months ago is this to get a baseline for future tests?not to hard to get knew samples as I am sure many here would send u fresh samples ! I am sure u have an explanation why u tested samples from months ago.

Cleaning out the lab

Submitted by bandstra on Sat, 2011-08-13 11:58.

Somebody gave us several dried samples of different species collected in the same location on the coast, some in early May and some in early June. We still had them in the lab but had not tested them, so I thought we should go through the rest.

Mark [BRAWM Team Member]

Does this mean that I can go

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2011-08-12 20:57.

Does this mean that I can go back from Patagonia?

Kudos for testing tomatoes and carrots!!!

Submitted by Bill (not verified) on Fri, 2011-08-12 20:16.

While I do wish it had been sooner it is certainly better now than never. Better late than never.

Thank you so much. I think tomatoes and carrots are good picks.

Also:

Question:

Any reason for tomatoes and carrots as opposed to other veggies and fruits like grapes, potatoes and peppers?

And MIGHT you do some other veggies too?

My concern is that every plant has unique biology and we just have no idea which plants are most likely to accumulate cesium.

But still - carrots and tomatoes! Good picks imho!

THANK YOU! Glad you heard all of us here urging you to do this. It shows character and responsiveness to the public.

Hi Bill, Glad you saw this

Submitted by bandstra on Fri, 2011-08-12 22:25.

Hi Bill,

Glad you saw this ;) It's been a busy week with school starting next week, so I haven't been able to respond to your earlier message about our tests.

The tomatoes and carrots are from the same farm that we got most of our strawberries and some other veggies from, so I thought it would make a good comparison to those other crops. Other reasons are that I thought they would diversify our tests the most given what else was available at the farm stand (mostly green veggies), and they seemed like they would be easy to work with (i.e., easiest to shove into our Marinelli beakers).

From my reading of the literature, it appears that milk, leafy vegetables, grains, and fruits are the main pathways for nuclear fallout into the food chain. This is not to say that it will not be in other vegetables, but there are at least two things to consider: if the food concentrates the fallout (e.g., by having large leaves, or through chemically concentrating the isotopes) and how much the food is in the average diet (e.g., dairy is a major part of the American diet). So that has led most people to study milk and green vegetables in particular, it appears.

I am especially interested to see if the carrots have any cesium in them, since the cesium will stay in the soil for a long time.

We might do some other veggies; I'll keep my eyes open.

Mark [BRAWM Team Member]

More good news though this study looked at high background rads

Submitted by Tdm (not verified) on Fri, 2011-08-12 20:23.

"In the majority of the crops the non-edible parts accumulate more radionuclides than the edible parts."

http://rpd.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/06/15/rpd.ncr235.abstract

Ty team brawm

Thanks Mark and BRAWM team!

Submitted by Jen (not verified) on Fri, 2011-08-12 18:53.

Thanks Mark and BRAWM team! I have small children and your continued testing is much appreciated.