Professors: Fukushima has emerged as global threat — Major health concerns along west coast — Bioaccumulation expected to keep rising for decades — Gov’t failing to inform public of looming long-term radioactive hazard… Instead, official gives tips on how to disguise radiation levels from public (PHOTO)
ENENews.com
October 8th, 2014
ociety of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) 35th Annual Meeting — The Fukushima Legacy, Nov. 13, 2014: In the face of lack of knowledge and data from regional governments regarding potential risks of Fukushima-associated radiation in the Pacific Northwest [there’s a] need to conduct lines of research and monitoring aimed to understand baseline data and bioaccumulation potential of radionuclides and radiation risks… Fukushima… emerged as a global threat for the conservation of the Pacific Ocean, human health, and marine biodiversity… Despite the looming threat of radiation [there’s a] lack of radiation monitoring [in] Canada and United States. This is unfortunate, as the potential radioactive contamination of seafoods through bioaccumulation of radioisotopes in marine and coastal food webs are issues of major concern for the public health of coastal communities. Particularly vulnerable are First Nations that rely strongly on… seafoods and fish… The effects of radioactive contamination are likely to affect other top predators, including fish-eating marine mammals inhabiting offshore and coastal habitats of the region… concerns and questions remain about the long-term exposure and bioaccumulation of radioactivity in marine food webs…
SETAC — Prof. J. Alava and F.A. Gobas, Simon Fraser Univ., Nov. 13, 2014: [T]o track the long term fate and bioaccumulation of 137Cs in marine organisms… we assessed the bioaccumulation potential of 137Cs in a North West Pacific food-web… [Specifically, the] marine mammalian food web… outcomes showed that 137Cs can be expected to bioaccumulate gradually… [The] magnification factor for 137Cs [was] from 5.0 at 365 days of simulation to 30 at 10,950 days. From 1 year to 30 years of simulation, the 137Cs activities predicted in the male killer whale were 6.0 to 182 times 137Cs activities in its major prey [Chinook salmon]… This modeling work showed that in addition to the ocean dilution of 137Cs, a magnification of this radionuclide takes place in the marine food web over time.
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