Sky-high radiation level detected in Tokyo air-conditioner filter
Christopher Busby, a PhD in chemical physics, may be the most alarming Cassandra on the health effects of the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdowns.
The former member of the Britain's Committee Examining Risks of Internal Emitters is best known for raising concerns about low-level radiation.
Since the tsunami and power-plant explosion in Japan in March 2011, he's zeroed in on radiation levels in car filters, which capture contaminated dust particles.
Busby, who has ties to the Green party, has claimed that there could be an additional 400,000 cases of cancer among those living within 200 kilometres of the disaster. The beret-wearing scientist generated some criticism when he sold a mineral supplement online that he claimed could diminish the effects of exposure to radiation.
In the video below, Busby explains that the highest level of radiation that he's seen so far came from an air-conditioning unit in a 20th-storey apartment in central Tokyo.
Christopher Busby warns about the dangers of air filters in Tokyo.
He placed a tenth of a gram of dust from the suite on a gamma ray spectrometer, noting that the concentration of cesium-137 was "enormously high".
"So we have a serious problem in Tokyo," Busby says in the video.
He mentions that this dust registered hundreds of thousands of Becquerels per kilogram, which is off the charts in terms of risk to human health.
"I think this is quite a serious discovery," Busby states. "I think that at minimum, what should be done here is people who are servicing these filters should be told that they represent a serious hazard for inhalation of the dust."
Meanwhile, RadTest4U.com has announced a cost-free way of testing air filters for those worried about radiation fallout in North America.
A company called K14U of Gonzales Texas will conduct the tests, according to a news release issued today, with the results sent back via email.
Comments
5 Comments
Ronald
Jul 27, 2012 at 11:31pm
When he put the filter under the detector, it barely doubled the background level of radiation in his lab.
Didn't seem that serious, frankly.
I don't dispute that filter handlers should be careful - maybe even licensed & tested as per Euro standards, but it didn't seem as serious as I expected.
And the scientist wasn't concerned enough to wear a mask, and sat nearby the filter(s) without much concern. The plastic bags don't stop gamma rays...
Lloyd
Jul 29, 2012 at 7:33am
If you compare Tokyo air filters, Fukushima, and Seattle, you can see big differences there. So I assume that millions of miles does not have that big impact.
CaptD
Jul 29, 2012 at 8:28am
Great article and the free testing info needs to be shared widely!
The Japanese living in Northern Japan are being used as test subjects for the fallout and the burning of radioactive debris from Fukushima... Tokyo Bay is being used as a place to DUMP radioactive waste so that the Japanese cannot be cited for "dumping" radioactive waste "At SEA" which is illegal, so they are using a loophole to add all their nuclear waste to the Pacific Ocean for the people of Earth to "enjoy" (sic)...
Christine Strickland
Jul 29, 2012 at 9:02pm
The plastic bags stop the PARTICLES from being inhaled and or ingested into the INSIDE of the body.
Eva van Loon
Aug 13, 2012 at 10:56am
When the writer describes Busby as a "beret-wearing" "alarming Cassandra" with "ties to the Green Party", just what is this not-so-subtle name-calling supposed to accomplish in the reader's mind?
After following Busby for the past 16 months, I would describe him as one of calmest, sanest, and most restrained and knowledgeable scientists speaking on the nuclear crisis, right up there with Arne Gundersen.
And yes, there are minerals which can assist in detoxifying, even after radiation. Thanks be to the few people offering such help, since our terminally dumb Health Canada offers only bland, uniformed reassurances that everything is fine, fine, fine.