US Tuna radioactively contaminated by Fukushima disaster.
64 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Pacific Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California have been found to have radioactive contamination from last year's Fukushima nuclear accident.
The fish would have picked up the pollution while swimming in Japanese waters, before then moving to the far side of the ocean.
[B]Scientists stress that the fish are still perfectly safe to eat.[/B]
However, the case does illustrate how migratory species can carry pollution over vast distances, they say.
"It's a lesson to us in how interconnected eco-regions can be, even when they may be separated by thousands of miles," Nicholas Fisher, a professor of marine sciences at Stony Brook University, New York, told BBC News.
Fisher and colleagues report their study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
They examined the muscle tissues of 15 Bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) taken from waters off San Diego in August 2011, just a few months after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
These were animals whose parents would have spawned in Japanese waters and spent one to two years locally before heading to feeding grounds in the eastern Pacific.
The levels of radioactivity are well within permitted limits, and below those from other radioisotopes that occur naturally in the environment, such as potassium-40.
"The potassium was about 30 times higher than the combined radio-caesium levels. If you calculate how much additional radioactivity there is in the Pacific Bluefin tuna caught in California relative to the natural background - it's about 3%," said Prof Fisher.
[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60542000/gif/_60542794_radiation_tuna_464-01.gif[/IMG]
The scientists even calculated how much radioactivity might have been present in the fish before they swam across the Pacific (it would have fallen over time) and figured it could have been 50% above background levels; but, again, this would still have met the legal requirements for safe consumption.
Tuna caught in the coming months will be subjected to new tests. These animals would have spent much longer in Japanese waters and so conceivably could have a very different pollution load.
The team also believes the investigation should be extended to other migratory species that frequent Japanese waters.
Fukushima pollution is potentially a very useful tool to trace the origin and timing of animal movements.
Because of their very predictable decay rates, the caesium isotopes and their ratio to each other can be used like a clock to work out when a particular migration took place.
"There's been a lot of really nice electronic tagging work, but any tag you put on a fish shows you what that animal will do from this point forward. What it can't tell you is about the past, and that's what these tracers can do," explained the study's lead author Dan Madigan from Stanford University.
"The logical next step is to look at other species that do what the Bluefin do… migrate from Japan.
"Right now, we have the sampling in place to look at sea turtles, sharks, other fish, potentially whales, and some seabird species as well. This will give us information about the transport [of the contamination] by the animals and it will tell us about the migratory patterns of the animals," he told BBC News.
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[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18239107"]Tuna[/URL]
Good to know I've been ingesting radioactive contaminants.
i hope i get superpowers now i love tuna
What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.
I still have no fucking clue how radiation works.
It isn't 'tangible' like a chemical contaminant so there wouldn't be any bioaccumulation, I think, since I don't know shit about it.
I'm glad to hear it's not a serious problem, I love Tuna.
Superpowered tuna!
Good thing I don't eat fish.
[QUOTE=Motherfuckers;36119286]I still have no fucking clue how radiation works.
It isn't 'tangible' like a chemical contaminant so there wouldn't be any bioaccumulation, I think, since I don't know shit about it.[/QUOTE]
I think its fallout, tiny particles are radioactive material are spread over vast distances and irradiate shit and if you ingest it it radiates you from the inside.
Keep in mind I know nothing about radiation I'm just guessing like a fool.
Pfooh, glad it's still safe to eat. Price of tuna would skyrocket otherwise, and tuna is like... my most favorite fish.
[QUOTE=Motherfuckers;36119286]I still have no fucking clue how radiation works.
It isn't 'tangible' like a chemical contaminant so there wouldn't be any bioaccumulation, I think, since I don't know shit about it.[/QUOTE]
Near as I can tell, it's in the form of trace minerals that our body picks up and metabolizes. I could be wrong of course.
[QUOTE=Roof;36119233]i hope i get superpowers now i love tuna[/QUOTE]
You get the superpower of extreme cell growth.
[quote][B]Scientists stress that the fish are still perfectly safe to eat.[/B][/quote]
for those too dumb to read past the title
the fish have been contaminated but it's such a tiny amount that it's relatively harmless
At least now I know I'm not alone in being clueless about radiation.
[QUOTE=Motherfuckers;36119286]I still have no fucking clue how radiation works.
It isn't 'tangible' like a chemical contaminant so there wouldn't be any bioaccumulation, I think, since I don't know shit about it.[/QUOTE]
Well it's nearly exactly like a chemical contaminant - except these 'chemicals' emit tiny alpha/beta particles (or dangerous high frequency electromagnetic waves) which cause ionisation (ionisation of your body atoms if you happen to be in range => bad!) until they eventually degrade to the point where they no longer pose a threat (after many half-lives of the particular element)
In this case, the radioactive material isn't really a significant amount and so that's why they're saying it's safe to eat
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;36119321]Near as I can tell, it's in the form of trace minerals that our body picks up and metabolizes. I could be wrong of course.[/QUOTE]
It's radioactive isotopes of various elements (although some are far more prevalent then others), which at this stage are most likely bonded into molecules such as salts.
[QUOTE=Ridz0r;36119258]What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.[/QUOTE]
What doesn't kill you right away is sure to kill you later on.
[editline]29th May 2012[/editline]
See: cancer, stab wounds, buckshot, cars.
[QUOTE=Roof;36119233]i hope i get superpowers now i love tuna[/QUOTE]
And your super power is....the ability to have your body produce cells faster!
[QUOTE=Firefox42;36119305]Good thing I don't eat fish.[/QUOTE]
Why don't you eat fish?
Increased radioactivity is weakness leaving the body.
I'm gonna make fun of anyone who freaks out over this
[QUOTE=Crimptor;36119732]Why don't you eat fish?[/QUOTE]
Some people just don't like the taste and texture.
Blerg, watery revolting catering tuna has put me off fish for good.
The tuna is about 3 times as radioactive as a banana for the same mass. That's still nothing.
I love the sensationalism on this.
Well no shit they got contaminated.
[QUOTE=Roof;36119233]i hope i get superpowers now i love tuna[/QUOTE]
do it with an energy drink then you will
A sample of only 15 tuna? Strikes me as a little low.
I want super powers too
A direct retaliation for America deploying the earthquakes
The 2nd cold war is escolating
I just ate a can of tuna the other night.
Am I gonna die
Big fuckin surprise... Stopped eating Tuna after Fukushima, even though its the only fish i really like.
But hey, its all conspiracy theories!
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