Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 136-143 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Environmental Radioactivity |
| Volume | 151 |
| Early online date | 8 Oct 2015 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2016 |
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess whether or not the food monitoring campaign after the Fukushima nuclear accident has been successful in reducing the number of above-limit-food from reaching the consumers. The hypothesis of this study is that the fraction of "post-market" food can be used for this purpose, when the post-market fraction in the above-limit (p') items is compared to the post-market fraction in the entity of food items (p) that have been screened for radionuclides (134Cs and 137Cs). Indeed the post-market fraction in most vegetarian produce decreased significantly in the above-limit food items (p'/p < 1), indicating a high efficiency of the monitoring campaign. For tea, however, the analysis reveals a low efficiency of the campaign (p'/p ≈ 1). For beef, the fraction of post-market-foods within the above-limit samples was much higher than the respective fraction in the entity of measured samples (p'/p > 1), indicating a much lower effectiveness of the monitoring action for beef. The author speculates that, by following the governmental monitoring manual (which gives "meat" only second priority), the sudden exceedances caught the monitoring agencies unprepared and triggered a much higher density monitoring of beef with the delay of several weeks. Even then, many above limit items reached the market (mainly because the monitoring during this period had focused on the post-market). Therefore, it is likely that some above-limit beef has been consumed by the public. For other meat products, the fraction of post-market samples was very low, which does not allow for the validation of the effectiveness of the monitoring campaign. Overall, the monitoring seemed to have been more effective for vegetarian produce than for meat.
Keywords
- Cattle, Food monitoring, Food safety, Fukushima nuclear accident, Internal exposure, Radioactive fallout, Radiocesium, Regulatory limit
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Chemistry
- Environmental Science(all)
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Environmental Science(all)
- Pollution
- Environmental Science(all)
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
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In: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Vol. 151, 01.01.2016, p. 136-143.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of the effectiveness of the post-Fukushima food monitoring campaign in the first year after the nuclear accident
T2 - A hypothesis
AU - Steinhauser, Georg
N1 - Funding Information: The author thanks Alexander Brandl and Peter Bossew for insightful and inspiring discussions on this topic. This study was supported by Grant Number T42OH009229-07 from CDC NIOSH Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center . Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC NIOSH and MAP ERC. The author also gratefully acknowledges funding by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) , grant number NRC-HQ-12-G-38-0044 .
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - The purpose of this study was to assess whether or not the food monitoring campaign after the Fukushima nuclear accident has been successful in reducing the number of above-limit-food from reaching the consumers. The hypothesis of this study is that the fraction of "post-market" food can be used for this purpose, when the post-market fraction in the above-limit (p') items is compared to the post-market fraction in the entity of food items (p) that have been screened for radionuclides (134Cs and 137Cs). Indeed the post-market fraction in most vegetarian produce decreased significantly in the above-limit food items (p'/p < 1), indicating a high efficiency of the monitoring campaign. For tea, however, the analysis reveals a low efficiency of the campaign (p'/p ≈ 1). For beef, the fraction of post-market-foods within the above-limit samples was much higher than the respective fraction in the entity of measured samples (p'/p > 1), indicating a much lower effectiveness of the monitoring action for beef. The author speculates that, by following the governmental monitoring manual (which gives "meat" only second priority), the sudden exceedances caught the monitoring agencies unprepared and triggered a much higher density monitoring of beef with the delay of several weeks. Even then, many above limit items reached the market (mainly because the monitoring during this period had focused on the post-market). Therefore, it is likely that some above-limit beef has been consumed by the public. For other meat products, the fraction of post-market samples was very low, which does not allow for the validation of the effectiveness of the monitoring campaign. Overall, the monitoring seemed to have been more effective for vegetarian produce than for meat.
AB - The purpose of this study was to assess whether or not the food monitoring campaign after the Fukushima nuclear accident has been successful in reducing the number of above-limit-food from reaching the consumers. The hypothesis of this study is that the fraction of "post-market" food can be used for this purpose, when the post-market fraction in the above-limit (p') items is compared to the post-market fraction in the entity of food items (p) that have been screened for radionuclides (134Cs and 137Cs). Indeed the post-market fraction in most vegetarian produce decreased significantly in the above-limit food items (p'/p < 1), indicating a high efficiency of the monitoring campaign. For tea, however, the analysis reveals a low efficiency of the campaign (p'/p ≈ 1). For beef, the fraction of post-market-foods within the above-limit samples was much higher than the respective fraction in the entity of measured samples (p'/p > 1), indicating a much lower effectiveness of the monitoring action for beef. The author speculates that, by following the governmental monitoring manual (which gives "meat" only second priority), the sudden exceedances caught the monitoring agencies unprepared and triggered a much higher density monitoring of beef with the delay of several weeks. Even then, many above limit items reached the market (mainly because the monitoring during this period had focused on the post-market). Therefore, it is likely that some above-limit beef has been consumed by the public. For other meat products, the fraction of post-market samples was very low, which does not allow for the validation of the effectiveness of the monitoring campaign. Overall, the monitoring seemed to have been more effective for vegetarian produce than for meat.
KW - Cattle
KW - Food monitoring
KW - Food safety
KW - Fukushima nuclear accident
KW - Internal exposure
KW - Radioactive fallout
KW - Radiocesium
KW - Regulatory limit
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84944097517&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2015.09.013
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2015.09.013
M3 - Article
C2 - 26454204
AN - SCOPUS:84944097517
VL - 151
SP - 136
EP - 143
JO - Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
JF - Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
SN - 0265-931X
ER -