[ RadSafe ] FW: Lichen / Caribou diet: was: RE: More Nuclear-News Hype High radiation level at Fukushima school, even after 'decontamination'

Mon Jul 16 00:04:11 CDT 2012

Dear Stewart:

Perhaps there is a parallel with a recent selenium scare in spinach in
the UK. It was reported that high levels of selenium were found in
quite a bit of the spinach being sold, and it was taken off the
shelves until a determination was made about safety.

As it turned out, the spinach "so tenaciously" held onto the selenium
passing through the gut, there was a net negative affect on selenium
balance in the body - that is - more selenium was excreted than was
introduced.

What is the net balance uptake for caribou eating Cs-137 in lichen?

Dan ii

On Sat, Jul 14, 2012 at 2:17 PM, Stewart Farber <SAFarber at optonline.net> wrote:
> I just read the entire paper cited in my preceding post about lichen
> radioecological studies.
> Interesting info from the paper:
>
> 1) While Cs-137 is tenaciously bound by lichen once picked up, the half-life
> of Cs-137 body burden in caribou is only 5 to 7 weeks. So studies have shown
> that very elevated levels of Cs-137 in caribou picked up in the winter
> months of the mid-1960s when lichen beds were a major source of caribou diet
> [in the absence of other food] during the caribou winter migrations,   would
> decline rapidly after winter was over.
>
> 2) A Lapplander was eating 5 to 6 kg of caribou meat a week in 1965 when the
> study was done! That's a lot of caribou meat. Interesting diet. Almost a
> kg/day of caribou meat among the Lapplander people.
>
> Forget Kobi beef. Give me a good caribou steak since caribou meat must be so
> tasty!
>
> Stewart Farber
>
> ========================
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Stewart Farber
> Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2012 3:26 PM
> To: 'The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List'
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Lichen: was: RE: More Nuclear-News Hype High radiation
> level at Fukushima school, even after 'decontamination'
>
> A bit of relevant history about Lichen and atmospheric fallout of Cs-137.
>
> Lichen makes a very interesting sampling media which shows the unique
> ability to greatly concentrate Cs-137 in fallout. It is basically a filter,
> concentrating fallout.  This issue was studied in great detail during the
> peak levels of atmospheric fallout observed from open air nuclear weapons
> testing around 1965. See the reference below:
>
> Hanson, Health Physics Society Journal, April 1967 - Volume 13 - Issue 4,
> Cesium-137 in Alaskan Lichens, Caribou and Eskimos
>
> Levels of Cs-137 were measured up to 100 pCi/gram dried lichen in Alaska in
> 1965. This equates to 100,000 pCi/kg dried lichen. This was in some samples
> of lichen sampled from locations that had Cs-137 deposition of about 50,000
> pCi/square meter.
>
> The number claimed in the cited report from Japan near Fukushima was a bit
> less than 1,000,000 Bq/kg, or 37,000,000 pCi/kg dried lichen. Anti-nuclear
> activists/scaremongers always want to make any measured activity look bigger
> to their target audience [other anti-nukes, media, legislators,  and many
> members of the public]  by stating any measured activity [which may be
> accurate in this case] in terms of activity/kg of media which multiplies any
> measured value by 1,000 vs. reporting activity/gram which is appropriate to
> a media like lichen.
>
> 37,000,000 pCi/kg lichen as claimed in Japan would be about 37 times higher
> than the 100,000 pCi/kg of lichen at peak fallout levels measured in Alaska
> in 1965 [and across the the northernmost areas like Sweden, Norway, and
> Finland where there is a lot of lichen]. The elevated levels of Cs-137 in
> lichen in the 1960s in many areas of the far North presented an interesting
> case because caribou there eat large amounts of lichen. In places like
> Lapland [the region comprised of near Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden, and
> Finland occupied by the indigenous Laplanders or Sami people] caribou was a
> major food source for these indiginous Laplanders,  as they are called who
> showed very elevated body burdens of Cs-137 during the 1960s which declined
> over time.
>
> Could the airborne deposition of Cs-137 in isolated areas of Japan be 37
> times higher than the generalized areal deposition in Alaska in 1965 from
> bomb fallout? Seems reasonable. However, I don't have the data at hand, and
> have wasted enough time today.   Does 37E6 pCi Cs-137/kg dried lichen mean
> anything other than lichen is an interesting sampling media? Doesn't appear
> to be a concern in Japan, even if true ---UNLESS large numbers of caribou
> are wandering around Japan near Fukushima eating large amounts of lichen as
> a major source of their food, and people in Japan are eating caribou as a
> large fraction of their diet! Seems unlikely. Have any caribou been reported
> in Japan of late?
>
>
> Stewart Farber, MSPH
> Farber Medical Solutions, LLC
> Bridgeport, CT 06604
> SAFarber at optonline.net
> 203-441-8433
> =========================
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
> [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Roger Helbig
> Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2012 6:47 AM
> To: RADSAFE
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] More Nuclear-News Hype High radiation level at
> Fukushima school, even after 'decontamination'
>
> This level of Cesium contamination seems unusally high like someone misread
> or just misreported a meter reading.  They are also claiming high number of
> birth defects at Fukushima hospital.  They should perhaps check with the
> Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hirsoshima/Nagasaki before taking a
> page from the Iraqi propagandists in Fallujah.
>
> Roger Helbig
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> New post on nuclear-news
>
> High radiation level at Fukushima school, even after 'decontamination'
>
> by Christina MacPherson
>
> 1,000,000 Bq/kg of cesium detected at Fukushima school. after being
> 'decontaminated' - "It's obvious they will just leave it" - Local
> Official y 13th, 2012   By ENENews  July 11, 2012 post by Koichi
> Oyama, Minamisoma city council member, translated by Dissensus Japan:
>
> 1.000.000 Bq detected in a school after a decontamination conducted!
>
> A University's research team collected lichen at the entrance of the
> gymnastic hall of a school that restarted after a decontamination operation,
> and the sample measured the Cesium radiation level, 989.000 Bq/Kg.
>
> It's obvious they will just leave it. I told them my ideas at least, but I'm
> not sure if this inspired them to do anything. No one makes decision to get
> rid of dangers.
> I want to believe that at least "school principal" won't leave the danger at
> the place where students walk by. I would go there tomorrow
> to make sure.   Read the report here
>
> Christina MacPherson | July 14, 2012 at 6:03 am | Categories:
> environment, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | URL:
> http://wp.me/phgse-6Gb
>
> http://nuclear-news.net/2012/07/14/high-radiation-level-at-fukushima-school-
> even-after-decontamination/
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-- 
Dan ii

Dan W McCarn, Geologist
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