Amador County – California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week both said that tests of air and milk show trace amounts of radioactivity that would cause no risk to humans.

The EPA announced March 30 that “in response to the ongoing situation in Japan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken steps to increase the level of nationwide monitoring of milk, precipitation, drinking water, and other potential exposure routes.”

On March 25, a milk sample from Spokane, Washington showed iodine-131 in a trace amount that was “more than 5,000 times lower than the Derived Intervention Level set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” The EPA said: “These types of findings are to be expected in the coming days and are far below levels of public health concern, including for infants and children.”

The release said “Iodine-131 has a very short half-life of approximately eight days, and the level detected in milk and milk products is therefore expected to drop relatively quickly.”

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

The California Department of Public Health last week announced that “according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Japan’s nuclear emergency presents no danger to California.”

California Public Health said “tests from eight environmental monitoring stations in California have found trace levels of radiation that do not present a risk to human health,” and the “amount of radiation identified in the tests was 10,000 times below amounts that would pose human health concerns.”

Public Health said “California routinely screens milk for radioactivity on a quarterly basis,” and “since the Japan nuclear emergency, the California Public Health has increased milk monitoring to once a week in San Luis Obispo County.”

The “results are in-line with” EPA tests of milk in Washington. Public Health said “based on what we now know about Japan’s nuclear accident, radioactive iodine should decrease in the coming weeks. It is estimated that levels will be virtually undetectable soon and dissipate completely in the coming months. The amounts detected are so small they pose no public health risk.”

California Public Health said it only tests milk in one location because “air testing is the best predictor of any public health risk and so far, all testing stations have been reporting only trace amounts of radioactivity that do not pose a threat to human health.” Combined, the EPA and the state have 20 air monitoring stations around California.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.