Question regarding ionz. rad and air quality

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2011-10-21 02:31

I live in a hot spot about 130 km southwest of Fukushima. Radiation levels according to the city government at 1m above ground average about 0.3µSv/h, while some areas nearby where I work read at 1.5µSv/hr or greater.

I have recently noticed that the air has a distinctly strong smell similar to after a heavy rain and thunderstorm passes through or coming from an air purifier that generates negative ions.

Is there any possibility that the fallout in the area is having some accumulative ionizing effect on the air that would be causing this change in quality?

Thank you!

‹ Bq Fukushima Japan still spewing radiation worldwide update 10/9/11 ›

Radioactive fallout releases

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2011-10-21 16:45.

Radioactive fallout releases *positive* ions as it decays. Their effects should be very much opposite to negative ions - for example, there is some research that suggests that exposure to positive ions lowers psychological affect (mood). But I don't think either "smell."

Maybe what you are smelling in both cases is ozone. Ozone is often released from a negative ion generator. Fallout apparently can do the same, and can smell when the source is large enough:

"In the February - March 1999 of Threshold (the ESD Association's Newsletter) my good friend Neils Jonassen answered a question by Ben Baumgartner on "had Neils ever smelled ozone from a radioactive source?" Neils nailed the answer for small sources. This is an expansion on Neils' answer. The main answer to the question is a qualified yes. Yes, radioactive sources can produce ozone. However it takes a large source to build up enough ozone to smell."

http://www.esdjournal.com/techpapr/ozone/ozone.htm

Thank you for your reply.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 2011-10-22 07:24.

Thank you for your reply. Then it is ozone that I am smelling.

From the quote, it sounds like unless there is some other cause for the ozone in the air here, there must be a sizable amount of radioactive fallout present in the area.

Aside: It is interesting to

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2011-10-21 16:48.

Aside: It is interesting to consider if the plume was at least in part responsible for the largest-ever ozone hole over Northern Canada this year. I imagine this would be an incredibly difficult topic to find funding to study.