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My mom is freaking me out - Japan fallout
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Anonymous
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So my mother is retired, lives in a nice cabin in the mtns, spends all day listening to NPR and online. She is telling me that the US press is suppressing "the truth" about fallout, that the USDA is telling doctors not to give their patients iodine because it would cause mass panic, that basically this is a big problem, going to get worse, and our government is covering it up so we don't all freak out, since there's nothing they can do. That the press in Europe is being much more forthcoming with info which is being buried here. She sent me this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be0ow2Jjs9E&feature=email And she is talking about taking iodized kelp, and she's worried about my kids and telling me, "don't buy produce from California". So please tell me my mother is nuts and there is nothing to really worry about..... please??? |
Anonymous
| Um, you're freaking everyone else out too. |
Anonymous
| Sorry. I think your mom is right. |
Anonymous
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OP, there's an organizatin in France called CRIIARD. I'm not familiar with them but from brief looking around they seem to be reputable, not some kind of anti-nuke group ith an agenda. BUt I admit I can't tell.
Anyhow, two weeks ago they issued this report (translated here) http://www.criirad.org/actualites/dossier2011/japon_bis/risks_in_France_v4.pdf advising people in France and all Eurpoe to avoid drinking rainwater (solely) and they advised pregnant women and other groups especially to limit or cut out certain high risk foods -- vegetables with large leaves, and dairy products (see report). They also said that reports from the US are 10x higher radiation in the food supply compared with in Europe. I have no way to tell whether they are giving this advice out of an extreme abundance of caution, or what. No way for me to judge at this time. |
Anonymous
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Here's the quote from the report (translated) -- it seems pretty commonsense to me -- an abundance of caution:
POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS There are two probable categories of food to consider: long leaf vegetables like salads, spinach, cabbage, chards, sorrel… (except when they are cultivated in a greenhouse) ; dairy milk and cream cheese (in particular goat and sheep), meat, except for herds still in stalls. Risks are indeed quite low but if we take into consideration the duration of the contamination, the diet habits and the vulnerability of some groups of the population, we are no longer within the trivial risk, it seems prudent to avoid certain behaviors: ensuring that foods at risk do not constitute the basis of the family alimentation on the forthcoming weeks. This is a good-sense precaution directed namely to youngsters, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. |
Anonymous
| PP again -- the group is not recommending the use of iodine tablets in Europe at this time. |
Anonymous
| I think many people don't realize how big the Pacific Ocean is. Although the severity of the accident has been rated as equivalent to Chernobyl, there was much more radiation released into the atmosphere from the Chernobyl accident. The furthest measurable radiation exposure from the Chernobyl accident was 700 miles away. Japan is 5,000 miles away from the U.S. |
Anonymous
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OP, you're worried over almost nothing. If you want to worry, worry about the pollutants already in the Potomac. Or BPA exposure from canned food. Or formaldehyde, or chlorine, or benzine, or any number of the indoor contaminants that you're exposed to at far more dangerous levels on a daily basis.
The level of radiation you'll be exposed to from Japan is very low -- it may raise the incidence of cancer by .0001% or something. Flying on an airplane or getting an x-ray from your dentist will expose you to way more radiation than eating produce from California. You're fine, and your mom needs to stop getting you worked up. |
Anonymous
| Despite their official-sounding name, CRIIARD is totally an anti-nuclear group with an agenda. They are scare-mongering. Please take this "report" with a grain of salt. |
Anonymous
| What is the latest news on the disaster, anyway? It has completely fallen out of the papers. |
Anonymous
Nah, I've seen "scare-mongering" before. I read the report -- it certainly isn't scaremongering. Over abundance of caution, perhaps. |
Anonymous
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I understand that the radiation is not that significant for adults. What about kids and pregnant ladies?
Also does anyone know if it's true that the USDA told US doctors not to give people iodine? Is there a good reason NOT to take iodine? Can it hurt you it you take too much? Or is it because they don't want a run on iodine and don't want people to worry? |
Anonymous
Well if you remember Chernobyl then you remember Europeans going shopping for food with geiger counters. The concern with Japan is the air currents across the oceans. California has issues from sand blowing from Asia with their air/weather. |
Anonymous
I don't know about your first question. To your second question: Why would the USDA be issuing guidance to MDs? If anyone issued guidance woudln't it be the CDC? And the FDA regulates iodine supplements. Here's what the CDC is saying right now: http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/japan/ki.asp After a radiological or nuclear event in the United States, local public health or emergency management officials will tell the public if there is a need to take KI or other protective actions. After an event in the US, you should follow the instructions given to you by these local authorities. At this time, CDC does not recommend that people in the United States take Potassium Iodide (KI) or iodine supplements in response to the nuclear power plant explosions in Japan. |
Anonymous
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Here's information from the FDA regarding our food supply and radiation.
http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm247403.htm Askk your mom if she's read it all, and where she got the information about the USDA giving guidance to doctors. |