News from Canada on the latest round of testing for Fukushima radiation. For those wanting a deeper dive on the methodology, try the link in the story below.
Thought I would let you know of some good news in case you have been asked about this or have concerns yourself. The Fukushima incident in 2011 led to some concerns over the safety of waters and seafood products in BC, and the implied impacts for humans. A group of scientists were formed to look into this https://fukushimainform.ca/about/to assess what the risks were and to disseminate the information to the public.
Last year the group tested radiation levels in salmon and found nothing of concern. This year they also did salmon sampling, but also included shellfish which is where I was involved. I approached growers around BC, from Prince Rupert to Baynes Sound, to Sunshine Coast and west coast of Vancouver Island, using a variety of shellfish (oysters, scallops, mussels and mussel hybrids) and targeting the tissues that would be eaten by humans (in general whole body but in case of the scallops only the adductor muscle). The analysis of both the tissue and the shell is completed and great news, they found no detectable levels of radiation. You can find more about it here:
So far the webpage shows the information from the tissues only, but the shells also did not contain any radiation either and that will be posted shortly. So I thought it would be useful to pass it along to you as producers, but also so you can pass along to any consumers who may have expressed caution. You can now direct them to the study!
I also thought I would share it with you as although none of your animals were tested, it shows species information for producers in the same local area – e.g. Steve and David, you’ll see that Quadra is clean for many species. Darlene – I thought you might like to tell members or to link to it on the BCSGA webpage.
Please let me know if you have any questions and please feel free to direct anyone to the website.
Dr. Helen Gurney-Smith
Biological Effects, Ecosytems and Oceans Science
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
St. Andrews Biological Station
531 Brandy Cove Road
St. Andrews, New Brunswick, E5B 2L9 Canada
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: fukushima, Ocean Pollution, Puget Sound, radiation |
