Tokyo Bathed in Low Level Radiation
March 16th, 2011In other news, Airlines, Travelers Avoid Tokyo, Fearing Radiation.
Via: Reuters:
Dozens of workers battling to control radiation at Japan’s stricken reactors face a far greater risk of developing cancer than normal, but Tokyo residents are within the safe range for exposure, U.S. nuclear experts said.
Radiation levels in Tokyo, one of the world’s most populous cities, rose 10 times above average Tuesday evening, spreading fear among many of the 33 million residents in the metropolitan area.
The best advice experts could give them was to stay indoors, close the windows and avoid breathing bad air — steps very similar to those for handling a smog alert or avoiding influenza.
While these steps may sound inconsequential, experts said the danger in Tokyo, while worrisome, is slight – at least for now.
“Everything I’ve seen so far suggests there have been nominal amounts of material released. Therefore, the risks are generally low to the population,” Jerrold Bushberg, who directs programs in health physics at the University of California at Davis, said in a telephone interview.
“There may be more significant risks for emergency workers on site. They are dealing with the occupational exposure, but not for the population at large.”
Fresh explosions Tuesday at the Fukushima plant, 180 miles north of Tokyo, released low levels of radiation, escalating a crisis triggered by last week’s massive earthquake and tsunami. With cooling systems knocked out, the fear is more blasts within the reactors at the complex could eventually cause a major radiation leak.
The levels measured around Tokyo at one point were 40 times above normal but have receded to 10 times. That amounts to roughly the same dose as a chest or abdominal CT scan.
“My instinct tells me it is probably not a health concern for the long term,” said Dr. John Chute, a cancer biology expert at Duke University School of Medical Center. But because radiation is so poorly understood, Chute said taking steps to prevent exposure just makes sense.
“If it were me, I’d stay indoors.”
The Japanese, due to their diet high in seaweed (good source of iodine), may ultimately do better than those a thousand or so miles away who may be facing the fallout. Here’s what Dr. David Brownstein (a Board-certified family physician and holistic medical practitioner in Michigan) wrote in his blog:
“What dose of iodine will prevent damage from exposure to radioactive iodine? My mentor, Dr. Guy Abraham’s research answered this question. His research indicated that milligram doses (note: this is 1,000 times a microgram dose) are necessary to prevent radioactive iodine from damaging the thyroid gland. How much? Around 13mg/day prevents approximately 96% of radioactive iodine from binding to the thyroid gland. That is the approximate dosage of iodine ingested daily by the Japanese. This is over 100x the average daily dose ingested by Americans.
Please keep in mind it is not just the thyroid gland that is at risk with exposure to radioactive iodine. The breasts, ovaries, uterus, prostate, skin, and other organs all bind and require iodine for optimal functioning. In fact, every cell in our body requires iodine for optimal functioning. Therefore, if we are iodine deficient, exposure to radioactive iodine can potentially result in damage to all the cells of the body. My experience has shown over 95% of patients are deficient in iodine.”
http://drdavidbrownstein.blogspot.com/
Now that the retail sources of potassium iodide in the US seem to be sold out, perhaps there will be a run on kelp and other sea vegetables …
But here’s a good article on what supplements to take to protect yourself in general from ionizing radiation:
http://www.lef.org/LEFCMS/aspx/PrintVersionMagic.aspx?CmsID=117464