Radiation from Japan Around the World; Who Should Be Concerned?

When the devastating earthquake hit Japan on March 11, 2011, few people could imagine there would still be an ongoing threat from damaged nuclear reactors almost three weeks later. As workers in Japan struggle to bring all reactors at Fukushima under control, there is no shortage of worldwide concern about radiation.

How the radiation may affect people is most directly impacted by where they live. It's safe to assume the closer people live to a nuclear crisis site, the higher the likelihood of dangerous radiation exposure.

The second strongest area of concern centers around what a person eats. Exploding levels of cancer in the thyroid gland in Ukraine are partly traceable back to milk and cheese ingested after the Chernobyl disaster.

The immediate area around Fukushima will be contaminated for a very long time. It will be decades before all of the ramifications are known to areas within the danger zone made public by Japanese officials. What should people outside of that area be worried about?

Radiation From Japan Detected in Oregon

The Pacific Northwest region of the United States has a temperate rain forest along the coast and stretching inland along the mountains of the Coast Range and Cascades that represent one of the first land areas in line for winds coming across the Pacific from Japan. Monitoring stations along the coast and even inland have picked up minute amounts of radioactive material from Fukushima.

Looking particularly at Oregon, the Willamette Valley is an agricultural cornucopia. As farmers look to the clouds delivering spring rain, they are concerned, and so are consumers. Organic farms pride themselves on delivering fresh locally grown produce.

To help ease their concerns, Oregon public health officials have taken an active role in monitoring and reporting of radiation levels. People worried about exposure can link directly to monitoring station reports. Officials continue to emphasize just how low the exposure so far has been. The information is critical to determining what is nothing to worry about and what is.

The Oregon site offers some perspective which should ease minds in Oregon somewhat. The measured levels of radioactive isotopes like iodine 131 and cesium 137 are so low that a person would have to be exposed every day for 100 years to equal one chest x-ray.

Radiation Levels near Normal in Vladivostok, Russian Far East

Russian officials monitoring potential radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear crisis say levels measured are close to normal. RIA Novotsi reports near sellouts of iodine pills and radiation dosimeters, much like what happened in California when it was learned they would get some of the first fallout.

When compared to Oregon being more than 5,000 miles away from Fukushima, Vladivostok is only about 570. Russians are acutely aware of government misinformation about radiation exposure with the memory of Chernobyl still in their minds. A shift in wind to the east could send radioactive release to the area with only a day or two of warning.

That's one reason the Russian government and local municipalities as well seem to be striving to keep citizens of the Russian Far East informed. Vladivostok has installed monitoring and keeps citizens informed online and through media.

Like reports elsewhere, officials use comparisons. Radiation exposure in Vladivostok is below what a person would receive while flying from there to Moscow is one example reported.

What is important for people everywhere to understand is that barring a major meltdown, radiation exposure will not be a problem outside of the affected area of Japan. But they will have challenges for years, and will need international assistance to help them recover.

Sources: publichealth.oregon.gov, RIA Novotsi, Russia Today