Fukushima Fallout:Real or Exaggerated?

NUCLEAR radiation from the tsunami-stricken Fukushima plant in Japan is causing a stir across the globe. Countries in Southeast Asia that import food products from Japan, including Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, have imposed immediate restrictions on imports at least from the area around the stricken nuclear reactor in Fukushima, if not from the whole of Japan.
Japan itself has prohibited the export of food items from the regions where high levels of radioactivity has been recorded. In Singapore, fresh produce from Japan such as seafood, fruits, vegetables and meat, are being tested for radioactive contaminants with immediate effect from March 11, 2011.
Nuclear fallout will release radioactive particles into the atmosphere and these will contaminate the surface on which they are deposited. These surfaces could include standing crops, fruit and vegetable farms, grazing land and water sources. This would then find its way into humans if they consume the food directly or indirectly through milk and meat products from animals that consume contaminated vegetation and water.

Is the threat real?
A number of consumers have been concerned about the safety of Japanese food following the release of radioactivity, and have been asking local retailers about the safety of farm and dairy produce imported from Japan, since most of these products are typically flown in.
According to Sushmita Mahajan, Frost & Sullivan's research analyst of Chemicals, Material and Food Practice, the fear of nuclear radiation propagates fast. "When the drinking water in Tokyo was found to contain high levels of radioactive iodine, it prompted a run on bottled water in the city even though it was safe for adult consumption and only a threat to infants," she said.
She continued, "Such emotionally stressful situations or events can easily lead to people taking injudicious and out-of-proportion decisions, riding on a hyperbole of unwarranted fear. But is the fear reasonable?"

The Singapore experience
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore reportedly detected low levels of contamination in imported fresh produce from the affected prefectures of Tochigi, Ibaragi, Chiba and Ehime. According to the report, an adult needs to consume 3.kg of these vegetables to receive a similar level of radiation as from a single X-ray exposure.
"Under normal circumstances an adult would need to consume 184 kg of these vegetables to receive an exposure level equivalent to the normal background radiation that a person will be exposed to in a year. Thus, according to the Ministry of Health, short term consumption of food at this detected level does not pose a health hazard," said Ms Sushmita.
"The radiation threat also has an inconsequential effect on our food requirements in Singapore. And yet, if it is indeed harmless and banned, it has the potential to have a negative effect on relationships with Japan, and also the web of related local industries dependant on these imports, which can be out of proportion with the insignificant amounts involved," she added.
Seafood imported from Japan to Singapore is less than 2% of Singapore's total seafood imports whilst import of other food from Japan is less than 0.5% of the total of other food imports.
"With radiation is a relatively unknown field, there is a need for increased awareness. We are apprehensive about nuclear radiation, all the more so as it an unseen threat," said Ms Sushmita.
She continued, "However, radiation is increasingly used in medicine, especially in the sophisticated fields of radiology and cell treatment. During a course of radiotherNike Zoom All Out Flyknit