Milk update (8/25/11)
8/25 (5:10pm): Our new test setup has been calibrated, and our first sample has been completed. The new setup allowed us to measure a milk sample with a Best By date of 8/22 to our lowest levels yet, and we detected both Cs-134 and Cs-137 just above our limits.
In addition, a milk sample with a Best By date of 8/11 was added to our results. This sample had been measured with the old setup but had not yet been reported. Cs-134 was detected but Cs-137 was not detected.
Mark [BRAWM Team Member]
Is this story wrong
Radioactive cesium in San Francisco Bay Area milk close to exceeding EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level
August 29th, 2011 at 02:39 PM
http://enenews.com/cesium-in-san-francisco-bay-area-milk-close-to-exceed...
Radioactive Cesium is "Approaching" EPA's MCL
@Anonymous:
A "bit" exaggerated...it is more like "approaching" the EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level...which is a SAFETY STANDARD as opposed to the FDA's Derived Intervention Levels (DILs) which are "one time exposure limits." DIL's are much higher. DIL's are the limits where the FDA is allowed to step in and prohibit the sale of food, etc. DIL's are set-up to protect the producers...not the consumers!
So...
Milk with best buy date of August 22, 2011:
• Cesium-134 .047 Becquerels per liter (1.27 picocuries per liter)
• Cesium-137 .052 Bq/liter (1.41 pCi/l)
A TOTAL of 2.78 pCi/l of radioactive cesium was detected.
EPA's MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) = 3.0 pCi/liter (approximately a quart or a little over 4 cups)
The total amount of Cesium (134 & 137) is 2.78 pCi/liter...which is approaching the 3.0 pCi/liter mark.
“EPA lumps these gamma and beta emitters together under one collective MCL [Maximum Contaminant Level], so if you’re seeing cesium-137 in your milk or water, the MCL is 3.0 picocuries per liter; if you’re seeing iodine-131, the MCL is 3.0; if you’re seeing cesium-137 and iodine-131, the MCL is still 3.0.” -Forbes.com
Here is a URL for a Becquerels-to-Picocuries Conversion:
http://www.unitconversion.org/radiation-activity/becquerels-to-picocurie...
This is a handy conversion chart that is easy to use...just type in the becquerels and the picocuries automatically appear!
Gardening Gal- I have seen
Gardening Gal-
I have seen the 3.0pCi/liter only in the Forbes article. Can you provide a link to an actual gov website for this number?
What I did find was this -
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/health/contaminants/radiation/pdfs/cesium.pdf
"EPA, has established a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 4 millirem per year for beta particle and photon radioactivity from man-made radionuclides in drinking water. Cesium-137 would be covered under this MCL. The average concentration of cesium-137 which is assumed to yield 4 millirem per year is 200 picocuries per liter (pCi/l). If other radionuclides which emit beta particles and photon radioactivity are present in addition to cesium-137, the sum of the annual dose from all the radionuclides shall not exceed 4 millirem/year."
According to this doc, MCL is 200pCi/l for all beta. BRAWM's most recent sample showed combined cesium activity of approx 0.1bq/l, which as about 2.7pci/L, a long ways below the MCL. Also, bear in mind that the MCL is written around a year's worth of exposure, which is to say that one would have to drink a year's worth of WATER at this level to hit the MCL. Most folks drink more water than milk I would say.
Again, if you can point to an official doc with the 3.0 pCi/l I would be very interested to read it.
BTW, thank you for contributions here of late.
A Reference...from An Official Source...the CDC
BC:
Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA
Agency For Toxic Substances & Disease Registry
Environmental Health and Medicine Education
Radiation Exposure from Iodine 131
Standards and Regulations
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=23&po=12#tocbookmark0
Although this site refers to Iodine 131, it references the
EPA "4 mrem/yr equivalent to 3 pCi/L (0.1 Bq/L) continuous exposure."
Missing Information...
BC:
Much has been 'scrubbed" from the EPA website. On 8-30-2011, I attempted to follow the Forbes links...they dead-ended. So, I searched the EPA website and turned up the following document. On page 15, under Drinking Water Criterial Document for Beta & Gamma Emitting Radionuclides, at the bottom of the page, a starred note was on the document that discussed "equivalent" doses, etc. It stated that this document was not going to go into particulars because these "equivalent" doses has been discussed in detail in many documents previously...including a 1989 ANPRM (Advanced Notice Proposed Rule Making) Handbook.
If you follow the link below, you will notice that "note" is now missing from the document!
I looked for the ANPRM and wasn't able to locate it on the EPA website...
EPA National Drinking Water Standards...1991 Proposed Regulations - Federal Register
Link
One more thought on the milk
One more thought on the milk - milk has a pretty high level of naturally occuring radioactive K40. The level is close to 50 bq/l. Looking at BRAWM's most recent test with a combined cesium activity of ~0.1 bq/l, the level of radiation one is exposed to by the potassium in the milk is 500 times as great as from the cesium.
Link to the Forbes.com Quote Posted Above
Here is the link to the Forbes article...it was posted 4 months ago...but still applicable.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2011/04/10/epa-new-radiation-hig...
Milk = Dairy Products
Lest we forget...MILK = DAIRY PRODUCTS! The milk is being tested, but more than milk is at stake. Milk is used to make ice cream, butter, sour cream, cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, half & half, heavy cream, canned milk, powdered milk, etc. These are all milk "products" that we consume...daily. Milk is also added to many "prepared" foods - i.e. cake mixes, breads, soups, etc.
Don't let your guard down
Thank you Gardening Gal - important reminder.
People, don't get complacent. There are substitutes for milk and milk products. Remember, if the milk you happen to consume IS contaminated, it is especially concentrated.
Good time to remind everyone to check the invaluable "Safe Foods List" thread on this forum.
Hello Mark, Thank you very
Hello Mark,
Thank you very much for the update. Are you surprised to see this level
or were you expecting to see lower by now? What do these results indicate?
In other words can you tell if this this leftover Fukushima cesium or new cesium?
THANK YOU!
One more time, I want to thank all of you for "hanging in there."
Really, where would we be without the info from the BRAWM team? Well, we'd be totally in the dark! That's where we'd be!
THANK YOU AGAIN!
Just a note of thanks as always and hope for more veggies soon
MUCH appreciation!
You're welcome
As always, you are very welcome.
Mark [BRAWM Team Member]
Cesium origin?
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the latest milk results. :)
You may have discussed this elsewhere, but are your tests able to confirm whether any cesium in the milk is from fallout from Fukushima, or if it might be due to pre-existing cesium in the environment from above-ground nuclear bomb testing during the Cold War, or other radiological releases?
In other words, are you able to see any kind of decay "footprint" in your tests so you can determine if it is indeed due to Fukushima fallout?
Please advise.
Thanks!
Cesium isotope ratio
Hi Seattle Mom,
The reason is very simple why the cesium we're detecting has come from Fukushima. First, Cs-134 has a 2 year half-life (versus Cs-137's 30 year half-life), so essentially none of the Cs-134 would remain here from Chernobyl or anything else. Second, in everyone's measurements of the Fukushima fallout there has been a nearly 1:1 ratio between the activity of Cs-134 and Cs-137, and this is what one would expect from a recently operating reactor.
For example, In the recent milk measurement, we saw a Cs-134 activity of 0.047±0.010 and a Cs-137 activity of 0.052±0.013, which are approximately 1:1.
The cesium isotope ratio is a direct signature that what we're seeing is from Fukushima.
Mark [BRAWM Team Member]
Thanks, Mark! :)
Your help is much appreciated.
Why?
Why do you want BRAWN to research this?
Keeping my Cesium straight...
Now that a wildfire is threatening the Idaho National Lab, which is conveniently located just next door to Washington State, my home, I would like to keep my Cesium and other radioisotope fallout depositions in our beautiful Evergreen State organized, thank you very much...
Doesn't everyone in Washington State (or elsewhere) wish to know where their radiation is coming from? (said only partly tongue-in-cheek)... ;-P
I guess an easier way to tell is just to watch the way the wind blows on any given day, to see if it is coming from Fukushima or from Idaho or Hanford, or...? (Ooops...can't forget about past nuclear releases still in the atmosphere though...)
P.S. Wishing all of our Eastern Seaboard friends safe passage throughout Hurricane Irene's visit...
Have a good weekend everyone.
historical data
You might try contacting the health physicist employed by the state in Washington. I had much the same curiosity and found a helpful health physicist employed by the state in California. While he did no recite a specific report he did say that pre Fukushima fallout cesium should be undetectable here.
The Health Physicist's job...
Thanks for your suggestion, but after what my research about the Health Physicist has shown (see previous forum posting on the subject), they have absolutely NOTHING to do with "health;" rather, their jobs exist strictly to help the nuclear folks sell their "radiation is safe" mantra. As such, they would be the LAST persons I would contact for an unbiased accounting of what we now facing and will continue to face from the ongoing nightmare of Fukushima.
For a more truthful accounting of the serious health dangers of 3 ongoing meltdowns, watch Professor Kodama, a radiation specialist at the University of Tokyo, give his assessment here: http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=DlfgOvzxYc or Google his name...
Do some research on your own. You are in for a serious reality check, unfortunately. :-( But thanks for trying to be helpful. :-)
constructive engagement
Yes the 'health physicist' is a product of the nuke world and as such has been eating its own cat food for far too long. I mention contacting your government paid professional for two reasons:
Questions on the subject of historical data are less likely to be obscured by subjective, er a, stuff, especially when the source is a technical professional who is charged with having a clear, concise and detailed knowledge of the historical facts in question.
If we do not engage our government, one person at a time, whats the point in having this collective arrangement we call government. A faceless and implacable government is the tool of military industrial complex.
Don't get me wrong though as I am all for the alternatives to our current craptocracy which has spawned the current situation.
Thank you for Dr. Kodama video on Youtube
Thank you for letting us know about the videos on youtube of Dr. Kodama giving four very important solutions/requests to the Japanese government to help the children and explaining the effects of radiation.
Helping the children of Fukushima
You are welcome. As you can see, Dr. Kodama speaks from his heart, with the truth, and a passionate sense of urgency and alarm at the inaction and seeming ignorance or worse, purposeful negligence on the part of his government.
The reason for his sense of urgency? As a radiation health specialist, he understands that studies show it is the children whose growing bodies are most affected by radiation exposure. The 400,000+ cases of thyroid cancer in children of Chernobyl (amazingly, one Chernobyl health statistic that the WHO was NOT in fact able to deny) is a sad testament to this. Most of this exposure, it was noted, was in fact due to the children drinking contaminated MILK and other contaminated food.
And now, as the truth of the actual much higher deadly amounts of radiation which have been released (so far) is finally being admitted by TEPCO, it is heart-wrenching to know that the poor innocent children of Fukushima, many of whom are being forced to remain there with their families and are not being evacuated, may have radiation exposure rates that will exceed the poor young victims of Chernobyl.
It is unconscionable that any government, or any individual, would be able to simply look the other way and pretend these children won't be affected by their exposure to such deadly levels of radiation.
It is time for each of us to examine our conscience and decide: Will we be part of these lies and cover up? Or will we take a stand and DO something to help these children?
There is a petition being circulated online if you care to help these children and their families in their efforts to be evacuated.
Watch this video first: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip4aMIXHd5s
Then sign this petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/evacuate_fukushima/
"The 400,000+ cases of
"The 400,000+ cases of thyroid cancer in children of Chernobyl (amazingly, one Chernobyl health statistic that the WHO was NOT in fact able to deny)"
400,000 cases of thyroid cancer? Where did you get that number?