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Record radiation levels found in fish caught off Fukushima

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I where that fish is in the (non humanan) food chain.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Oops - I "wonder" where

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Just try and imagine when the cameras are NOT looking where these fish wind up. If you think all those fish are going to be tossed back in the ocean, Boy do I have news for you.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

The fish, caught 20 kilometers offshore from the plant on Aug 1, registered 25,800 becquerels of cesium per kilo, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said—258 times the level the government deems safe for consumption.

Seriously, no one can be surprised by this. Given that the plant is still leaking radioactive water and will likely for quite a while. Japan, once heralded, at least by itself, as a great guardian of the environment, has poisened itself, on both land and sea. All in the pursuit of "cheap energy".

12 ( +14 / -2 )

How surprising!!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

A pair of rock trout have shown the highest level of radioactive cesium detected in fish and shellfish caught in waters off Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, its operator said Tuesday

.

I'm sure that record will be broken in the coming weeks/months/years

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Note that the second from last sentence states that other catches have "shown only small amounts of radioactivity".

The attitude here is that small amounts is acceptable, so fishing can continue.

The Govt. and fishing agencies have it all wrong, and should, in now way, allow commercial fishing.

It's baffling how this country operates at times with such serious matters; amazing how people can turn a blind eye to it all.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

My comment above, I meant commercial fishing shouldn't be allowed off Fukushima.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

TEPCO said the trout might have fed in radioactive hotspots and that it would sample more of the fish, their feed and the seabed soil in the area in the coming weeks to determine the cause of the high radiation.

It came from your nuclear reactor.

16 ( +18 / -2 )

I want a picture. does it look like Blinky from the Simpsons?

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=blinky+three+eyed+fish+simpsons&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=843&tbm=isch&tbnid=kD-6SAYqxsnrlM:&imgrefurl=http://easilyamusedinstitute.blogspot.com/2008/08/blinky-meet-chompy.html&docid=my6DjASNbjBzHM&imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_HebHJGR5JjI/SKrh9boFAKI/AAAAAAAAAPM/aODZaMu-FYQ/s400/Blinky.jpg&w=400&h=300&ei=jCk0UMLvG4rs0gGZmYCoAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=800&vpy=26&dur=2719&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=150&ty=122&sig=110477134266046155215&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=193&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0,i:82

0 ( +0 / -0 )

One of my relatives just took a 1/3 GIGABECQUEREL iodine pill. That's 300,000,000 Bq, or well over 1 ton of this fish.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Im not surprise to know they will glow in the dark anytime soon!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

TEPCO said the trout might have fed in radioactive hotspots and that it would sample more of the fish, their feed and the seabed soil in the area in the coming weeks to determine the cause of the high radiation.

I see TEPCO is going into the 'fisheries research' business; sort of like the 'whale research' business. So expect two things: radioactive fish at the supermarket and the government raising 'acceptable' levels of radioactive cesium that will show no 'immediate' health danger to 25,800 Bq.

16 ( +17 / -1 )

"TEPCO said the trout might have fed in radioactive hotspots and that it would sample more of the fish, their feed and the seabed soil in the area in the coming weeks to determine the cause of the high radiation."

Wow, what a relief. I was worried when I saw the headline, but now we can all relax. Tepco is right on it!

5 ( +7 / -2 )

What about the levels of the fish in supermarkets (yesterday, today and tomorrow) that haven't been tested?

The is Japan. 2nd King (behind China) of corporate corruption, scandals and miss-labeling. That being said I am sure that all consumables in the supermarkets are safe to eat :)

Why is it safe? ___ fill in the sellers and distributors rhetoric...

8 ( +10 / -2 )

And, this is surprising because ? ? ?

The problem is, how can you trust any of the fishermen to be honest and how can you trust the fish mongers to test and label the fish?

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Correction to my above comment, the standard medical dose for thyroid radiotherapy is more than 10 tons of this fish.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Oh I am just shocked at this - shocked that the public was informed. Ban all fishing in the area and be done with it. My family is disgusted by the storries I've told them about Japan and the blind eye they are turning to food from the area.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Time to bring my geiger counter to the supermarket again

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Remember this is what they deem to say, multiply by at LEAST 10 and it's probably closer to the truth. The focus is on returning to normal not public safety.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

17 months latter and now this is released from TEPCO, excuse me for having a modicum of doubt! Was there a sound track to the release of this? Was there a clear and unedited release? Is it all a beat up? Controlled buy tree huggers that don't understand the benefits of radiation? Aside from the "discovery" it fails to mention, what happened to the fish? Or those fish that were above the accepted level but not record breakers? Guess in another 18 months a glimmer of truth might emerge about the cancer causing food chain...or maybe it's a plot from external sources....

5 ( +6 / -1 )

japan_cynic:

" Correction to my above comment, the standard medical dose for thyroid radiotherapy is more than 10 tons of this fish. "

LOL, kind of puts all this hyperventilation in perspective, doesn´t it.

-9 ( +0 / -9 )

What is "rock fish"? Wiki has several species listed. Shizuoka Gourmet talks about "black rock fish" / Kurosoi/クロソイ. Anyone know the nihongo for the rock fish caught off Fukushima???

This is an appalling story, in need of much more information, judging from the insightful JT questions.

I'll be firing up my weekly disaster report back to my family, and this one is going to start it off.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

The comparisons to thyroid radiotherapy are somewhat misleading. Let's look at the facts.

First, that is iodine 131, not cesium. The body concentrates almost all of the iodine in the thyroid tissues, where it kills them. That's why this treatment is almost a magic bullet and the survival rate for thyroid cancer is around 97%. And it is almost all excreted within 2-3 weeks. However, radioactive cesium would disperse to different parts of the body, such as the muscles, and it would have different health effects and would not be excreted as quickly.

Second, the half-life of I-131 is 8 days. Cesium 134 and 137 are 2 and 30 years, respectively. So any cesium that stays around is going to continue causing damage even after the iodine would not.

Third, believe it or not, the extremely lethal dose (to thyroid and cancer cells) of iodine is what helps you avoid cancer after taking it. Lower doses leave you with a much higher cancer rate. With the massive, lethal dose, there are few damaged cells to survive and risk new cancers. Go ahead and Google it, this is a medical fact. The cesium is going to be worse for your body, just for this reason.

And fourth, don't think the thyroid radiotherapy is a safe picnic. My sister-in-law had this, and was told not to come near family members for 21 days, limit holding kids to 10 minutes per day, don't stand near pregnant people, and other quarantine-type restrictions, because she herself was radioactive. She could even make objects radioactive by holding them, so was told to stay out of the house. This was, of course, in addition to terrible nausea and other bad health effects, and total destruction of her thyroid gland by the radiation...now she has to take thyroid replacement therapy for the rest of her life.

So while the amount of radiation in these fish may not knock the socks off some people, it is misleading to compare it to thyroid radiotherapy. That is a typical apples-to-oranges tactic of radiation apologists.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

No Zichi, it was not "life or death" but a rather commonplace treatment for a malfunctioning thyroid. The experts seem to think that this dose - about 10,000 larger than a kg of this fish, remember, which is itself several hundred times above the level of food that is actually eaten - might marginally raise some cancer risks, but this is not at all certain.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

Back on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

most people have radiotherapy for cancer.

So? many people also have it for other reasons, which are far from "life or death" as you originally claimed. The point is, even rather large doses of radiation are not actually very dangerous. The safety thresholds set for food and background exposure are many orders of magnitude below the level at which it would be anything to get worked up about. Even anti-nuclear activists can't justify predicting a figure of more than 200 deaths worldwide - not even a drop in the bucket, compared to other risks. About that many died building the Kurobe hydro-electric dam and deaths due to coal power are in the million per year range.

As threats to public health go, it's probably about on the level of mochi-eating, if that.

-6 ( +2 / -8 )

According to NHK radio news this lunch time, the contamination was 380 times the legal limit?

It was also caught 20 km off the site and well within the no fishing area. Not sure why anyone is surprised by this story to be honest?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Yea, and the honest fish stays in the 20km zone, so we don't have to worry about the fish from the 50km zone.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Ah an expert. So good to have one on board, perhaps you could then enlighten us with your knowledge of the migratory patterns of the Fukushima Rock Trout...

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Zichi,

I can take all of that on board except for the fact that you can fish 5km from the plant. You can't get within 20km on land, I can't imagine that you could closer on a boat. But we don't know the migratory patterns of these fish but given that they are substantially higher than anything else recorded it's reasonable to assume that they spend a lot of time in that area. Secondly, any fish in that area will be contaminated, whether it be in the huge amounts such as this or the much smaller and substantially below levels of concern like the tuna. There are some who believe that we shouldn't eat any contaminated food. But they live in a bubble and their food and water is also organically grown in the same bubble.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

i will never, never, never eat anything from anywhere near the disaster area.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The article says it's 50 km.

And yes fish move, but do coastal fish stay around the coast in one area or do they migrate 100's of kilometres? I'm guessing that each species is different.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

rickyvee.

How would you know as game and fish/seafood travel long distances.

Never mind that some areas overseas got a higher standard background radiation level than the affected area and produce. Some areas in England are stilled banned from selling their produce after chernnobyl but yet the farmers survive. How come?

The way I see it NO mass-produced food is 100% safe as they want the cash and thus use questionable methods.

Just the world we got with the Industrial revolution, etc.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Let's face it - the stuff is being sold here as if nothing happened. All this measuring and security theatre is just to make international observers happy, but the Japanese, like so often before in history, have long decided that it can't be helped, that they have to stick together to preserve the "wa", and even if they all get cancer it is better than to question authorities.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

TEPCO didn't tell the truth. Haven't from decades ago. Falsifying reports, tests and appraisals. They've lied again and again, no surprise here, only perhaps that people are and still do defend them and are hellbent of ebing blind to the fact that a lifetime of intake of isotopes such as Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 will give you cancer. We don't eat Japan.Inc. It's the only choice to KNOW.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Come on... waiting for Edano to talk about how none of it is harmful... waiting... waiting.... wait, if that guy can't even say it, you know there's a problem. Get ready for these fish to be labeled as coming from somewhere else, or just from 'The Pacific Ocean'.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The tuna fish caught off the West Cast of America which was contaminated.

Oh for goodness sake. Hyperbole much?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Yummmy !!!

Has anybody checked the ocean currents where did all the dumped/flushed out radioactive water/seawater/and coolant go to ?????

THE OCEAN CURRENTS PUSHED THE WATER OUT TO WHERE ?

If you see dirt cheap fish in your local markets. WATCH OUT

Mostly all this fish will go to the Public Schools in Japan.

Everything is contaminated !!!!!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Zichi, Farmboy,

the original research shows that the maximum Caesium isotope level in the Pacific Tuna studied was 6.3 Bq per kg, four thousand times less than the maximum in this news story, and sixteen times less than the new government limit. Here's the link: http://www.pnas.org/content/109/24/9483

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Farmboy, as to the study - I assume as the researchers are interested in tracking migrating fish that they know something about ocean circulation. Also - where else would the fish get the Caesium isotopes?

As for the rock trout, what larger fish would be eating them, and in what numbers? Also, do you actually believe that radioactively contaminated fish actually glow?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I see TEPCO is going into the 'fisheries research' business; sort of like the 'whale research' business. So expect two things: radioactive fish at the supermarket and the government raising 'acceptable' levels of radioactive cesium that will show no 'immediate' health danger to 25,800 Bq.

If it was meant to be a joke it was not funny. If you got something against whale research then take your anger towards IWC. Or UK, Australia who agreed that Japan could do whale research in the first place only to disagree with their own agreement which they signed.

As for TECPO and fish. Again, if this was meant to be a joke, I find to be rather shallow. Be more specific.

I am not sure what TEPCO got to say about fish but if you really want to know about fish I suggest you go to Government web pages. I found the Chiba Prefecture one to be pretty good. They have random inspections of vegetables, fish, grain. Though you cannot check every single one but I give them credit for doing lots of checks and uploading it on the internet. Be interested in 3rd parties inspections too.

http://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kouhou/saigai/h23touhoku-houshasen.html

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

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