EU secretly ups cesium safety level in food 20-fold

Kopp Online, Xander News and other non-English news agencies are reporting that the EU implemented a secret “emergency” order without informing the public which increases the amount of radiation in food by up to 20 times previous food standards.

According to EU by-laws, radiation limits may be raised during a nuclear emergency to prevent food shortages.

But there is anger across Europe because this emergency order was issued while officials say there is no threat to the food.

Food Watch is quoted [using Google translator]:

These rules now to bring into force is absurd, because in Europe there are no nuclear emergency, and certainly no shortage of food.

The European Union has authorized radioactive load in foods in Japan has increased substantially. Until now, a maximum of 600 becquerels of radioactivity (cesium 134 and cesium 137) per kilogram allowed, but since last weekend for example oil or herbal suddenly 12,500 becquerels per kilogram, more than 20 times as high. The increase was recorded in Emergency Ordinance 297/2011 on March 27 and was in force.

While politicians talk about “enhanced control measures” and “special protection standards” is universally silent on the huge increase in the allowable limits in food in Japan. Nevertheless we are reassured with the assurance that we have no worry about radioactive products from Japan.

Explain why a 20 times as high value would make no difference for the consumer safety did not come.

According to the Food Watch advocacy does this policy provides greater confidence of European citizens in the EU measures. Food Watch wants an immediate ban on all goods coming from the affected region are Japanese. Incidentally, in Europe there is very little food imported from Japan.

Read the full post here.

And see this Above Top Secret thread, which also quoted wiki:

Caesium-137 is water-soluble, and the biological behavior of caesium is similar to that of potassium and rubidium. After entering the body, caesium gets more or less uniformly distributed through the body, with higher concentration in muscle tissues and lower in bones. The biological half-life of caesium is rather short at about 70 days.[6] Experiments with dogs showed that a single dose of 3800 μCi/kg (approx. 44 μg/kg of caesium-137) is lethal within three weeks.[7]

Accidental ingestion of caesium-137 can be treated with the chemical Prussian blue, which binds to it chemically and then speeds its expulsion from the body.[8]

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This follows the US EPA raising the safety level of radionucleids up to 100,000 fold.

2 responses to “EU secretly ups cesium safety level in food 20-fold”

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Rwolf | April 11, 2011 at 1:19 pm | Reply

Nuclear Reactor Risks
If Japan’s damaged nuclear reactors continue to leak radiation into the air and oceans, many exporting industries may be damaged by radiation contamination. For example fishing industries. How far will millions of gallons of radioactive water travel dumped from damaged Japanese reactors? Will Radioactive Fish migrate to other nation’s waters affecting other countries? One can foresee grocery store and seafood restaurant customers checking purchased seafood with a Geiger counter. If Japan’s damaged nuclear reactors continue leaking radiation into the air, could over a period of time that cause dangerous levels of radiation to be absorbed by U.S. farm crops and cattle, making U.S. farm products unmarketable; cause U.S. food shortages and high prices. Could several of Japan’s industrial products become too radioactive to export? So much for clean nuclear energy.

In the U.S. most nuclear reactors have to be subsidized by taxpayers. When nuclear reactors leak as shown in Japan, it can be hugely expensive; unaffordable when damaged reactors melt down spreading high levels of radiation. In the U.S. too many nuclear reactors are close to large U.S. populations; 500 miles may be too close when communities are downwind. In addition to catastrophic health costs, a leaking reactor can contaminate for decades and longer large geographic areas, destroying real estate values of entire cities, shutdown industries. The potential risks of operating or building more nuclear reactors in the U.S. can’t be justified considering their catastrophic downside. The U.S. has approximately 104 nuclear reactors. From a military standpoint, U.S. enemies would only need target U.S. nuclear reactors to spread deadly radiation to large cities crippling America. Nuclear reactors are a losing bet.