The cesium-137 found in milk in Vermont is the first cesium detected in milk since the Fukushima-Daichi nuclear accident occurred last month. The sample contained 1.9 picoCuries per liter of cesium-137, which falls under the same 3.0 standard.
Airborne contamination continues to cross the western states, the new data shows, and Boise has seen the highest concentrations of radioactive isotopes in rain so far.
A rainwater sample collected in Boise on March 27 contained 390 picocures per liter of iodine-131, plus 41 of cesium-134 and 36 of cesium-137. EPA released this result for the first time yesterday. Typically several days pass between sample collection and data release because of the time required to collect, transport and analyze the samples.
But the EPA drinking-water data includes one outlier—an unusually, but not dangerously, high reading in a drinking water sample from Chatanooga, Tennessee.
The sample was collected at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Sequoyah nuclear plant. A Tennessee official told the Chatanooga Times last week that radiation from Japan had been detected at Sequoyah but is “1,000 to 10,000 times below any levels of concern.” The 1.6 picocures per liter reported by the EPA on Friday is slightly more than half the maximum contaminant level permitted in drinking water, but more uniquely, it is many times higher than all the other drinking water samples collected in the U.S.
[UPDATE: EPA released new data Saturday revealing higher levels than reported here in Little Rock milk and Philadelphia drinking water]
Drinking Water
Radioactive Iodine-131 was found in drinking water samples from 13 cities. Those cities are listed below, with the amount of Iodine-131 in picocuries per liter. The EPA’s maximum contaminant level for Iodine-131 in drinking water is 3 picocuries per liter.
Oak Ridge, TN collected 3/28: 0.63
Oak Ridge, TN collected at three sites 3/29: 0.28, 0.20, 0.18
Chatanooga, TN collected 3/28: 1.6
Helena, MT collected 3/28: 0.18
Columbia, PA collected 3/29: 0.20
Cincinatti, OH collected 3/28: 0.13
Pittsburgh, PA collected 3/28: 0.36
East Liverpool, OH collected 3/30: 0.42
Painesville, OH collected 3/29: 0.43
Denver, CO collected 3/30: 0.17
Detroit, MI collected 3/31: 0.28
Trenton, NJ collected 3/31: 0.38
Waretown, NJ collected 3/31: 0.38
Muscle Shoals, AL collected 3/31: 0.16
Precipitation
In the data released Friday, iodine-131 was found in rainwater samples from the following locations:
Salt Lake City, UT collected 3/17: 8.1
Boston, MA collected 3/22: 92
Montgomery, Alabama collected 3/30: 3.7
Boise, ID collected 3/27: 390
Air
In the most recent data, iodine-131 was found in air filters in the following locations. In the case of air samples, the radiation is measured in picoCuries per cubic meter.
Montgomery, AL collected 3/31: 0.055
Nome AK collected 3/30: 0.17
Nome AK collected 3/29: 0.36
Nome AK collected 3/27: 0.36
Nome AK collected 3/26: 0.46
Nome AK collected 3/25: 0.26
Juneau AKcollected 3/26: 0.43
Juneau AK collected 3/27: 0.38
Juneau AK collected 3/30: 0.28
Dutch Harbor AK collected 3/30: 0.14
Dutch Harbor AK collected 3/29: 0.11
Dutch Harbor AK colleccted 3/26: 0.21
Boise, ID collected 3/27: 0.22
Boise, ID collected 3/29: 0.27
Boise, ID collected 3/28: 0.32
Las Vegas NV collected 3/28: 0.30
Las Vegas, NV collected 3/30:: 0.088
Las Vegas, NV collected 3/29: 0.044
Source: commondreams