16 March 2011

Japan radioactivity could enter food chain

Radioactive materials spewed into the air by Japan's earthquake-crippled nuclear plant may contaminate food and water resources, putting children and foetuses at risk of cancer.



Experts said any exposure to radioactive materials has the potential to cause various kinds of cancers, with higher levels of radiation seen as more dangerous.


Long-term radiation risk

"The explosions could expose the population to longer-term radiation, which can raise the risk of cancer. These are thyroid cancer, bone cancer and leukaemia. Children and foetuses are especially vulnerable," said Lam Ching-wan, chemical pathologist at the University of Hong Kong.


Click here for the 'Timeline of Japan's nuclear crisis'




No-one is monitoring the sea's radiation levels

"No one is measuring the levels of radiation in the sea," Lee said.


The World Health Organisation said Japan was taking the correct measures to protect its population from radioactivity, including evacuations and stocking up on potassium iodide, an antidote to radiation.

Radiation is dangerous because it can cause changes or mutations in DNA, which may then go on to cause cancer. While the human body can repair DNA changes or damage, a person is only safe if the repair process happens faster than the time it takes for the damaged or mutated DNA material to replicate.

Cows and cow produce risky

Most experts agree that growing children and foetuses are most at risk because their cells divide at a faster rate than adults.

They also consume more cow milk than adults, putting them at further risk, said a Japanese scientist who treated victims of the atom bomb explosion in Hiroshima.

"Cows are like vacuum cleaners, picking up radioactive iodine that lands over a wide area of pasture, and then those particles very easily are concentrated and pass into the milk," said the expert, who declined to be identified.

"This was what happened in Chernobyl, and unfortunately, information about the risk had not been supplied to parents." - (Reuters Health, March 2011)

Read more:

17 quick facts about potassium iodide
How much radiation is dangerous?


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