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RE: Package Irradiation
Jack, Bjorn, and other,
A couple of comments.
The data I have seen from food irradiation has involved irradiation of meat
have focused on bacteria and some endospores. Generally, the spores require
doses 10 times those for dormant bacteria, 90% kill for Bacillus cereus
endospore is 2.46 kGy at 5 degrees C. Again, that is only 90%. I have not
seen any inactivation data for anthrax, which is what we are all talking
about. It may be significantly higher is the spores are very small. The
current limits, are 30 kGy from spices and dried vegetables, 10 kGy for dry
of dehydrated enzymes, 1 kGy to control insects in food, 3 kGy for
microorganisms in poultry, 4.5 kGy for fresh meat, and 7 kGy for frozen
meat.
Second, things like photographic film and dosimeters are routinely sent
through the mail. Obviously, if you are going to irradiate the U.S. mail,
all other carriers will have to follow suit.
Regarding the economic cost, consider that the U.S. Postal Service
delivered 1.98 billion pieces of mail in 1998. (From my own experience,
real mail was only a fraction of that number.) Daily deliveries are greater
than the yearly delivery in many countries.
To put risk in perspective, one person has died from anthrax. Each DAY in
the U.S., 113 die in auto accident, 45 due in falls, 23 die from poisons, 11
die from drowning, 10 die in fires, 8 die from ingestion of food or other
objects, 3 from firearms, and 2 from poison gases.
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
3050 Traymore Lane
Bowie, MD 20715-2024
E-mail: jenday1@email.msn.com (H)
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Earley [mailto:jearley@enercon.com]
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 9:35 AM
To: Bjorn Cedervall; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: Re: Package Irradiation
I believe we just read (via Sandy's news digest) about a new food
irradiation approach that irradiates a pallet every few seconds. How would
this differ?
. . .
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