Japan Radiation Found in Milk Sample; U.S. Steps Up Monitoring

Radiation “far below” levels that pose a risk to humans was found in milk from Spokane, Washington, the first sign Japan’s nuclear accident is affecting U.S. food, the Obama administration said.

The U.S. is stepping up monitoring of radiation in milk, rain and drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration said yesterday in a statement.









Radioactive iodine-131 was found in a March 25 milk sample from Spokane that is more than 5,000 times lower than risk levels set by the FDA, according to the agencies. The agencies said the amount was “far below levels of public health concern,” including for infants and children.

“Radiation is all around us in our daily lives, and these findings are a minuscule amount compared to what people experience every day,” Patricia Hansen, an FDA senior scientist, said in the statement.

The U.S. is tracking radiation from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power station, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that knocked out power needed to keep nuclear fuel rods cool and undamaged.

The amount of iodine-131 in the milk was 0.8 picocurie per liter, according to the agencies. A picocurie is one-trillionth of a curie, a measurement of a radiological dose. Similar findings are likely in the coming days, the agencies said.

Ira Helfand, a director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said the amount found in the milk is “very, very low” and wouldn’t require anyone drinking it to take potassium iodine pills, an antidote to prevent thyroid damage in the event of dangerous exposure.

‘Very, Very Low’

While any exposure “raises the risk of getting cancer,” the levels reported in Spokane pose “very, very, very low health consequences” Helfand said in a telephone interview from Springfield, Massachusetts.

“I’m much more worried about the situation for people in Japan,” he said.

Japanese government officials asked farmers to keep cows and cattle in barns as radioactive contamination of milk spread from Fukushima prefecture, north of Tokyo. Japan restricted raw- milk shipments from Fukushima and neighboring Ibaraki prefecture after tainted products were found in random testing.

As many as 99 products, including milk and vegetables such as spinach, were found contaminated in Tokyo and five regions to its north and east as of March 26, according to a statement on the Japanese health ministry’s website.

Iodine Half-Life

In the U.S., elevated levels of radioactive material in rainwater were reported in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, according to the EPA. Radiation levels have been “very low,” pose no health concern and were to be expected, according to the agency’s website.

The EPA said it’s reviewing the data from both states. The levels are above normal background amounts reported for the areas, according to the agency.

Iodine-131 has a half-life of eight days, and the level found in milk and dairy products is “expected to drop relatively quickly,” the agencies said.

Hansen said the radiation in Spokane is tiny compared with levels a person receives watching television or taking a round trip cross-country flight.