The Fukushima Medical University and others just initiated what will be a 30-year study of the 2 million residents of Fukushima Prefecture. It may show an increase in cancer cases over time, and it may not. The radiation levels were low enough that it could be hard to distinguish between normal levels of cancer and elevated levels, according to the Huffington Post.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government is saying Fukushima only released about one-sixth the radiation of Chernobyl. The government has set a “maximum allowed level for internal radiation exposure from food” (Huffington Post) and is barring foods with certain levels from going to market (local mushrooms grown near the plant are often barred).
But what if they’re wrong? They were wrong about the levels of cesium-137 in the water near the plant, which a recent study suggested “were in fact twice what the government has estimated” (Huffington Post).
Cesium-137, along with iodine-131 (linked to thyroid cancer) and 29 other contaminants, leaked out of the Fukushima plant and into the nearby ground and sea.
The Environmental Protection Agency says of cesium-137 that “exposure to waste materials, from contaminated sites, or from nuclear accidents can result in cancer risks much higher than typical environmental exposures.” (That’s for low levels. High levels cause burns and death.)
So far, there are no reports of illness or cancer among the Fukushima Prefecture residents. So far, obviously. (And that’s assuming no one is hiding anything.)
The Japanese government is dictating what levels are safe and what aren’t. But it’s a controversy, with some experts saying the “acceptable” levels are too high.
The reality is, Japanese officials are overwhelmed with trying to salvage an economy in crisis. And they’ve already shown they’re capable of hiding information—during the crisis, they downplayed how bad it was, not admitting it was a full-blown meltdown until weeks after the fact.
So when they were deciding what levels are acceptable in the Fukushima mushrooms, how do you think that went down? Here’s what I think: on one side of the table were the scientists and doctors, on the other side the accountants.
I mean, mushrooms are expensive. They create income, add to the gross domestic product. I could easily be wrong, but it makes you wonder, in any case.
