Background radiation in Fukuoka

[Lorenzo]

Hello everybody,

my name is Lorenzo, I am 26 and I am from Italy.

I am planning to go to study Japanese language in Fukuoka or one of the cities of Kyushu for a few months.

I am a little bit concerned about radioactive isotopes in the air. 

I downloaded japan radiation data values before the 3-11 accident, here: http://www.sendung.de/japan-radiation-open-data/

I have seen that in the Kyushu area, radiation values used to be between 26 and 54 nGy/h, which would be between 0,026 and 0,054 uSv/h (I checked Saga and Nagasaki values).

Right now, I am seeing a lot of values around 0,08-0,14 uSv/h in the North Kyushu area.

Before March 2011 radiaton values were around 0,04 uSv/h and now they are at least 0,08 uSv/h...is this difference because of Caesium and Strontium in the air?

While at the supermarket I can buy imported food from other countries, there is nothing I can do with air.

I am not willing to breathe any Caesium-134/137 or Strontium-90, and I want to have healthy kids one day.

Hoping to get some detailed answers!

In the meantime, thank you very much!

Lorenzo.

[Kalin KOZHUHAROV (Safecast)]

Hello Lorenzo.

On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 7:02 AM, Lorenzo <lorenzo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello everybody,
> my name is Lorenzo, I am 26 and I am from Italy.
>

Have you checked the background level for the place you live?
Normal background level in most of Europe is usually a lot higher
(0.1-0.3 uSv/h).

> I am planning to go to study Japanese language in Fukuoka or one of the
> cities of Kyushu for a few months.
> I am a little bit concerned about radioactive isotopes in the air.

Down in Kyushu, I don't expect any unusual "radioisotopes in the air"
except the normal (natural) ones.

> I downloaded japan radiation data values before the 3-11 accident, here:
> http://www.sendung.de/japan-radiation-open-data/
> I have seen that in the Kyushu area, radiation values used to be between 26
> and 54 nGy/h, which would be between 0,026 and 0,054 uSv/h (I checked Saga
> and Nagasaki values).
> Right now, I am seeing a lot of values around 0,08-0,14 uSv/h in the North
> Kyushu area.
> Before March 2011 radiaton values were around 0,04 uSv/h and now they are at
> least 0,08 uSv/h...

Which data are you referring to?
If you want the official data, go to
http://www.bousai.ne.jp/dl/dl_en.php and select a monitoring station
and period (get at least 3-4 months) and plot it to see how much it
changes in time.

> is this difference because of Caesium and Strontium in the air?

No.

> While at the supermarket I can buy imported food from other countries, there
> is nothing I can do with air.

> I am not willing to breathe any Caesium-134/137 or Strontium-90, and I want
> to have healthy kids one day.

Trust me, now you will not be breathing those unless you go very close
to Fukushima and make a lot of effort to bring the dust up to your
mouth.

> Hoping to get some detailed answers!

Read our blog and search this group.

Cheers,
Kalin.

[Lorenzo]

Hello Kalin,

first of all, thank you for your help!

The link you gave me is really more user-friendly compared to the one I had, although I think they share the same values (I've already checked some data).

Background level where I live is pretty high because of Radon.

But Radon, if I am not wrong, has an half-life of about only 4 days.

Instead, Caesium-137 has half life of 30 years and 70 days of biological half-life, while Strontium 90 has a half-life of 28 years, but it can stay in the human body for up to 49 years (I read it on wikipedia).

I am concerned about unusual radioisotopes in the air because of the Kitakyushu incinerator, which is 50 km from Fukuoka, where I would like to go.

If I am not mistaken, they are burning low radioactive debris, but if radioactivity in some debris is high, they just mix it up with normal waste.

Also, looking online (fukushima diary), it looks like from May 2012 (start of incineration in Kitakyushu) there have been some unusual spikes in radioactivity in North Kyushu.

Since I want it to be an enjoyable stay of a few months, to learn Japanese language and culture, I just want some peace of mind while staying, and some news I read tell me the opposite.

What do you think of these doubts of mine?

Thank you very much!

Lorenzo.

[David Bear]

Hello there, Lorezno, You wrote: "Background level where I live is pretty high because of Radon.

But Radon, if I am not wrong, has an half-life of about only 4 days."

My comment: If the half-life of radon is 4 days, and it is constantly around, then there must be some sort of source for it, neh? So, you might ask yourself, just what is the source? Whatever you determine, you have already decided that it is not bad enough to not live there, neh?  So, is the radon to which you are continually being exposed worse than the Cs-137 you might encounter in Japan?  Also, do you think that somehow the Cs-137 coming from the incinerators is worse than the 24/7 radon exposure?  Just asking. Also, you wrote: "I just want some peace of mind while staying, and some news I read tell me the opposite." My comment: Peace of mind comes from understanding that wherever you go, there is always some sort of risk from something.  The global atmosphere is not exactly pristine.  So, if you decide to hang out in Japan for a while, then do so with the understanding that the reason you are going is to learn the language and culture (although admittedly it might take more than a few months to really get a handle on it). - Bear --- On Fri, 1/25/13, Lorenzo <lorenzo...@gmail.com> wrote:

http://www.bousai.ne.jp/dl/dl_ en.php and select a monitoring station

and period (get at least 3-4 months) and plot it to see how much it changes in time. > is this difference because of Caesium and Strontium in the air? No. > While at the supermarket I can buy imported food from other countries, there > is nothing I can do with air. > I am not willing to breathe any Caesium-134/137 or Strontium-90, and I want > to have healthy kids one day. Trust me, now you will not be breathing those unless you go very close to Fukushima and make a lot of effort to bring the dust up to your mouth. > Hoping to get some detailed answers! Read our blog and search this group. Cheers, Kalin.

-- -- ** This is a public discussion mailing list, opinions expressed on this list belong to the individual only, and are not to be taken as official statements from Safecast. http://groups.google.com/group/safecast-japan     http://safecast.org

[Lorenzo]

Hello David,

thank you for your answer.

My reasoning is:

- if you inhale radon, exposure is kind of limited in your body beacuse its half-life is 4 days; I don't know about its biological life, but since it's only 4 days, it doesn't really matter.

- if you inhale the same amount of caesium or strontium, they will stay longer in your body (70 days for caesium and 18 years for strontium), and they also have a longer half-life (about 30 years for both); in such case, there would be kind of a "bottleneck effect", meaning that your body accumulates radiation without being able to get rid of it.

So, at condition of parity between 0,12 uSv/h of mostly radon and 0,12 uSv/h of mostly caesium and strontium, I would think it is much better for health the first case.

Is my reasoning wrong?

Please everybody share your thoughts with me.

Thank you,

Lorenzo.

[Antonio Portela]

Lorenzo,

Going back to the radiation levels you mentioned in your first message, were you comparing official data with the safecast data?

I checked the SPEEDY network and I am seeing current levels around 0.03~0.05 uSv/h for Kyushu. You have occasional peaks up to 0.06~0.08 uSv/h, but you can see those before March 11 also, so most likely are caused by rain, which increases the concentration of natural isotopes (radon, etc.) for a few hours.

Also, you mentioned "low radioactive debris" being burnt in Kita-Kyushu, but what they are burning is debris generated by the tsunami in Miyagi Prefecture (supposedly to help with the reconstruction there.)

Some cesium could be present in the tsunami debris, but hundreds of incinerators in Kanto and Tohoku have been burning contaminated garbage and sewage sludge for almost two years now and, so far, no one has detected increased contamination in air or soil around them.

Considering the levels of soil contamination detected in the coastal areas of both Miyagi and Iwate, with the exception of the southern part of the coast in Miyagi I guess, I think the incineration of tsunami debris shouldn't be a problem.

Of course, this is just my non-expert opinion after checking the numbers we have. I have read that the kind of filters those facilities currently have to prevent the release of other chemicals (dioxins, for example), would make it very difficult for the cesium to reach the environment, but you would need to find someone with some background in that field to confirm.

In any case, being worried about what you breathe can be very stressful so you might want to postpone your visit if possible.

Antonio

2013/1/27 Lorenzo <lorenzo...@gmail.com>

[Pieter Franken]

The measurements done by Safecast and Speedi will differ. Safecast uses a different detector than speedy and at low back-ground levels there will be some differences. Safecast measures radiation at 1 meter in urban environments, while speedi sensors maybe kept  at a higher height or away from urban environments (we know that some of the sensors where mounted at 20-30m above ground). Unfortunately there's no information available on exactly what sensor SPEEDI uses, if all sensors are identical and how these are mounted and where. So when comparing these two, you need to bare this in mind. (the same applies to the radiation drones that have popped up all over Fukushima - see Safecast blog for more details)

Having said that, we know that there has been no fallout in Kyushu as far as we have measured. Though we have not measured around the incinerators in Kyushu, we have done lots of measurements around incinerators in Chiba, where significant amounts of contaminated material have been burned (from Chiba it self mostly) None of our measurements have shown any increase in contamination around these locations that we could measure (we also did measure the sludge storage coming from the incinerator and confirmed it was radioactive for sure - so the filters in use must be effective)

Tsunami debris is often confused for contaminated debris. I have personally measured in many of the tsunami destroyed areas, just to find that even in areas that did got fall out, the radiation levels are lowest in areas that got under water during the disaster. In most tsunami areas there's simply no fallout (see our map) So burning of tsunami debris is unlikely to contain contaminated materials. For the areas that are near to the plant, the clean up has never been done as its evacuated, and unlikely any of that is being burned. This also extends to the fear that tsunami debris washing ashore in the US is contaminated - as of know I have not seen any reports that the debris was actually contaminated and would love to have someone measure this and publish the results.

A short half live has no relation to it being good or bad. In fact a short half live means the nuclides are highly radiative, hence the short half live. During this short period lots of damage can be done to the body (e.g. Iodine is only 8 days half live but can cause serious health affects in the short time it's active) The nuclide being an alpha, beta or gamma emitter also makes a big difference. There's much literature on this available if you're interested.

I got myself measured on a whole body counter a couple of months ago and besides a good dose of K40 (bananas and other foods), no cesium peak was detected, despite living in Tokyo and many trips through Fukushima. 

This is what we measured and observed, hope it helps.

Pieter

[Lilly Munster]

Has anyone found actual numbers or testing being done related to the debris burning. I found some that were only looking at inside the incinerators and noted in some cases an increase of cesium 137 on the inside of the incinerator. That was reported by Ex SKF back when the debris burning started but I really have not seen much since outside of the protests. The local radiation stations may not be the most accurate determining factor to use to show the incineration is or is not releasing contamination into the local air. What I had seen early on was that nobody at that point was doing anything to attempt to see if this was releasing anything or not. 
Nancy

On Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 7:04 PM, Antonio Portela <a.po...@gmail.com> wrote:

Some cesium could be present in the tsunami debris, but hundreds of incinerators in Kanto and Tohoku have been burning contaminated garbage and sewage sludge for almost two years now and, so far, no one has detected increased contamination in air or soil around them.

--
Nancy Foust
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