[ RadSafe ] Radioactive Cars from Japan

[Otto G. Raabe]

>I received an inquiry about the possible radiation risk from 
>purchasing a Japanese car.


Chile finds low-level radioactivity in cars from Japan

By <http://content.usatoday.com/topics/reporter/Chris+Woodyard>Chris 
Woodyard, USA TODAY
Updated 2011-05-03 3:32 PM

Customs agents in Chile have detected low levels of radioactivity in 
cars shipped from the Japanese port of Yokohama.

Chile says the radioactivity was found in 21 of nearly 2,500 cars 
that arrived in Iquique, Chile, aboard the Hyundai 106 cargo ship, 
the Associated Press reports.

After the March 11 quake and tsunami, Drive On reported that some 
automakers were having workers prowling storage lots with Geiger 
counters, looking for trace radiation. Sure enough, sounds like some 
are turning up.

About a hundred port workers have protested, saying their health is 
at risk, the AP says, but the Chilean government says the radiation 
levels are too low to put people at risk. The radiation will be 
lessened by simply hosing off the cars.



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Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
Center for Health & the Environment
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
E-Mail: ograabe at ucdavis.edu
Phone: (530) 752-7754   FAX: (530) 758-6140
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