Elevated levels of iodine found in Tokyo water supply

[cstaylor]

The Tokyo metropolitan government warned Wednesday that infants should not drink tap water as radioactive iodine exceeding the limit for them were detected in water at a purification plant.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/radioactive-iodine-exceeding-limit-for-infants-found-in-tokyo-tap-water#comments

[Taro Toporific]

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/radioactive-iodine-exceeding-limit-for-infants-found-in-tokyo-tap-water#comments

Looking around the Internet, it is hard to figure out whether it is possible to filter out radioactive iodine using a household water filter.

(Yes, I know distillation would work---at a very high electricity cost using pricy equipment. I don't think reverse-osmotic devices would work any better at removing radioactive iodine than the ceramic filters of higher-end home filters for tap water.)

[omae mona]

I am all for government transparency, and I would not want them to stop telling us the truth about various radiation levels.

However, officials should be banned from making any announcements containing the words "iodine" or "radiation" without an accompanying explanation of the actual health risks.

I do not have the data on this one nor the time to do calculations. But I am nearly certain it will be like all the other "contamination" reports so far. We will probably find out that if an infant somehow drinks 87,000 glasses of this contaminated water during the several weeks before the iodine decays into oblivion, then his lifetime cancer risk will increase by 0.001%. And the sewer system will be flooded with baby urine.

[cstaylor]

And the sewer system will be flooded with radioactive baby urine.

FTFY.

[CrankyBastard]

The headline from the link.

Radioactive iodine exceeding limit for infants found in Tokyo tap water

How many infants were found in the tap water?
How did they get there?
These are the questions that we should be asking.

[cstaylor]

[quote="CrankyBastard"]The headline from the link.

Radioactive iodine exceeding limit for infants found in Tokyo tap water

How many infants were found in the tap water?
How did they get there?
These are the questions that we should be asking.
]

[Coligny]

And the sewer system will be flooded with baby urine.

hummm... babies tend to pee in diapurs... who goes to the burnabul trash...

[cstaylor]

According to the metropolitan government, 210 becquerels of radioactive iodine were detected per 1 kilogram of water against the limit of 100 becquerels at a water purification plant on Tuesday in the Kanamachi district of Katsushika Ward.

In a survey of its three purification plants, the metropolitan government also detected 32 becquerels of the substance at a plant in Hamura in western Tokyo, but the substance was not detected at a plant in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture.

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/80435.html

The question: is this water that is being returned from homes, or before it is sent to them?

[Cyka UchuuJin]

[quote="CrankyBastard"]The headline from the link.

Radioactive iodine exceeding limit for infants found in Tokyo tap water

How many infants were found in the tap water?
How did they get there?
These are the questions that we should be asking.
]

Best post of the week!

and Taro...OMG I <3 that avatar!

[Taro Toporific]

... officials should be banned from making any announcements containing the words "iodine" or "radiation" without an accompanying explanation of the actual health risks...

Noooo. Officials should be flogged for stupidity.

From I remember from my work-study days in a radiation biology lab, is that growing children absorb iodine into their thyroid glands much more than in adults. The half life of the iodine isotopes is about 8.02 days and healthy adult thyroid glands can only absorb a tiny amounts of new iodine, radioactive or not.

Therefore, an "well-nourished" adult like me will not absorb much radioactive Iodine-131. "Officials" are saying that radioactive iodine of in the tap water will dissipate quickly but I just checked and found out that the half-life of Iodine-129 is 15.7 million years.

From now on, I am only drinking pure, imported wine.

[cstaylor]

"Officials" are saying that radioactive iodine of in the tap water will dissipate quickly but I just checked and found out that the half-life of Iodine-129 is 15.7 million years.

As far as I know, I-129 isn't dangerous because its half-life is so long.

But we agree on the wine part.

[Doctor Stop]

How many infants were found in the tap water?
How did they get there?

It appears that somebody's been throwing babies out with the bathwater again.

[sublight]

Therefore, an "well-nourished" adult like me will not absorb much radioactive Iodine-131. "Officials" are saying that radioactive iodine of in the tap water will dissipate quickly but I just checked and found out that the half-life of Iodine-129 is 15.7 million years.

The half-life for Iodine-131 is just over 8 days. Also, it's a beta-emitter, so it converts to Xenon-131, which is stable.

Basically, it's the shorter half-life that makes I-131 more hazardous than I-129.

[AML]

Sooo where can we get geiger counters? Coz were gonna need them for the foreseeable future....

[cstaylor]

Sooo where can we get geiger counters? Coz were gonna need them for the foreseeable future....

My Blackcat is in the mail, but some of the more portable types might be better.

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/GeigerCounters.html

[Pearse]

I have had the TV much of the day and I think I heard someone on the news say that parents should be careful what kind of mineral water they use to make formula with. Does anybody know anything about that? Are there any minerals or things in bottled water that aren't good for babies? Not near as bad as radioactive particles, I'm sure, but I know the parent of a newborn baby and he's a bit concerned.

[cstaylor]

I have had the TV much of the day and I think I heard someone on the news say that parents should be careful what kind of mineral water they use to make formula with. Does anybody know anything about that? Are there any minerals or things in bottled water that aren't good for babies? Not near as bad as radioactive particles, I'm sure, but I know the parent of a newborn baby and he's a bit concerned.

IIRC, you want distilled water.

[ttjereth]

My Blackcat is in the mail, but some of the more portable types might be better.

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/GeigerCounters.html

Note: Due to the situation in Japan, geiger counters are in extremely short supply.
We currently are receiving a very small number of GM-45 units daily. We are only able to ship these units to customers in the USA, and there is a limit of one unit per customer. If you are interested in ordering, please contact us at info (at) blackcatsystems (dot) com for instructions. You will receive an email from us when we have a GM-45 available to sell to you, you will otherwise not receive an email from us due to the high email volume. We currently do not have any GM-10 units in stock. Once we have inventory and fill existing orders, we will start to accept new orders.
We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.

[Coligny]

My Blackcat is in the mail, but some of the more portable types might be better.

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/GeigerCounters.html

more portable than a USB version...

depend on the size of your PC...

united nuclear don't sell outside the us

[Typhoon]

From now on, I am only drinking pure, imported wine.

CISCO is also in the wine business?

Would you like some Chateau Cisco with your router?

[Caustic Saint]

My Blackcat is in the mail, but some of the more portable types might be better.

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/GM/GeigerCounters.html

Interesting. I like how they charge $50 for a crappy RS-232 to USB adapter.

[cstaylor]

They're using the Apple sales model.

[maraboutslim]

If you guys really want one a geiger counter that can't be shipped to japan right now, i can forward to you from California. You could pay the expenses to me by paypal or something like that.

As for the safety of the water, even though I work in the water industry, I have no freaking idea. I know we have a maximum contaminant level measured in pico curies but don't know what the actual health risks are. If I was in Tokyo, I'm sure I'd just drink the water as usual. Can't elevate my cancer risk anymore than the 25 years of Dunhills I smoked.

[Coligny]

CISCO is also in the wine business?

Would you like some Chateau Cisco with your router?

Only if your glass got the last ios upgrade and was sold at least by a gold partner...

(former cisco var drone... hated that company, their bugs, their e-o-l product that never once received an ios version without crippling bugs...)

[Coligny]

If you guys really want one a geiger counter that can't be shipped to japan right now, i can forward to you from California. You could pay the expenses to me by paypal or something like that.

As for the safety of the water, even though I work in the water industry, I have no freaking idea. I know we have a maximum contaminant level measured in pico curies but don't know what the actual health risks are. If I was in Tokyo, I'm sure I'd just drink the water as usual. Can't elevate my cancer risk anymore than the 25 years of Dunhills I smoked.

This one was cool before being sold out...

http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_78&products_id=484

Still would prefer a networked one (rj45 or wifi) to monitor on the roof and ground level...

[IkemenTommy]

It's panic time all over again in Japanica.

This time around I see that the bottled PET water stocks at the grocery store and conbinis are literally drying up fast because fearful Japanica citizens are buying those 2L bottles up like crazy.

What is ironic is that the source of many of the domestic water (100 yen or so ones) is just tap water ran through fancy filtration systems. Maybe the radiation particles are filtered out but who knows. So in other words, you will want to buy the imported Evian or Crystal Geyser if you are really retarded and want to join the shopping rampage with the rest.

Me.. I just steal all the water at work. Been doing that for years anyway so nothing new

[ttjereth]

It's panic time all over again in Japanica.

This time around I see that the bottled PET water stocks at the grocery store and conbinis are literally drying up fast because fearful Japanica citizens are buying those 2L bottles up like crazy.

What is ironic is that the source of many of the domestic water (100 yen or so ones) is just tap water ran through fancy filtration systems. Maybe the radiation particles are filtered out but who knows. So in other words, you will want to buy the imported Evian or Crystal Geyser if you are really retarded and want to join the shopping rampage with the rest.

Me.. I just steal all the water at work. Been doing that for years anyway so nothing new

So much for that trip I was thinking of taking to costco...

[cstaylor]

So in other words, you will want to buy the imported Evian or Crystal Geyser if you are really retarded and want to join the shopping rampage with the rest.:

If an active charcoal filter or reverse osmosis system was used for filtration, it will filter out the contamination.

However, what about contamination on the bottles themselves?

[IkemenTommy]

So much for that trip I was thinking of taking to costco...

Here is my solution: Jack the price of water to 1000 yen per 500ml bottle and drink wine. That'll stop this fuckin nonsense.

[cstaylor]

So much for that trip I was thinking of taking to costco...

Someone on 2ch should name'm and shame'm.