Uncategorized

42 Bq/Kg from the insoles of elementary school student’s shoes in Saitama

 

A citizen’s radiation monitoring station in Saitama tweeted that they measured the significant level of radioactive material from inside of elementary school student’s shoes.

 

The sample was the insoles of the shoes after worn to clean the swimming pool. (cf, High schooler leukemia→School had students “clean” the swimming pool last summer [URL]) The location is Kawagoe city Saitama.

The analysis showed the Cesium-137 density was 42.3 Bq/kg.

 

The sample weighed only 31g. The analyst comments this is only the reference value but Fukushima Diary hopes other nuclides such as Strontium-90 or Plutonium-238/239/240 to be analyzed as well.

 

https://twitter.com/fujimiiru/status/475019596651450369/photo/1

http://fujimi-ru.greenwebs.net/

 

 

You read this now because we’ve been surviving until today.

_____

Français :

See also

42 Bq/kg dans les semelles intérieures des chaussures d’élèves du primaire de Saitama

 

Une station civile de surveillance de la radioactivité de Saitama a tweeté qu’ils ont relevé une radioactivité élevée dans l’intérieur de chaussures d’élèves du primaire.

L’échantillon était une semelle intérieure utilisées pendant le nettoyage de leur piscine de natation. (cf. Leucémies de lycéens → Le lycée avait fait “nettoyer” la piscine par les élèves l’été dernier) C’est dans la commune de Kawagoe de Saitama.
L’analyse a révélé que la concentration en césium-137 était de 42,3 Bq/kg.

L’échantillon ne faisait que 31 g. L’analyste déclare que c’est la seule valeur connue en référence et le Fukushima Diary espère qu’ils analyseront aussi d’autres nucléides comme le strontium 90 ou les plutonium-238/239/240.

https://twitter.com/fujimiiru/status/475019596651450369/photo/1
http://fujimi-ru.greenwebs.net/

Vous pouvez lire ceci parce que nous avons survécu jusqu’à aujourd’hui.

Mochizuki
Mochizuki
The writer of Fukushima Diary.
Related
Previous Female idol “Had shiver, went to a hospital to be ordered to be hospitalized for risk of rupture of internal organ”
Next Fukushima worker “Frozen wall was originally designed to stand with clay wall but they removed to cut the cost.”

13 Comments

    1. Niall, you could be right. The analysis protocol shows 279 Bq/kg for K-40….

      Dear Mr. Mochizuki,
      as much I admire your commitment to keeping the world informed about the Fukushima accident – but this is (again) another hysteric article.

      In principle I agree that Cs-134/7 should not be there in any noticable amount. The sole presence of Cs-134/7 shows that the area where the shoe was contaminated got some fall-out. But the analisis also clearly shows that in this case Cs-134/7 is only a minor contributor to the sample’s totoal radioactivity. The natural K-40 has most likey been there already prior the accident and has a comparable effect on human bodies (K-40 as well as Cs-134/7 are beta emmitter).
      And as it was only on the shoe I guess eating a single banana will cause more radio-biological effects than that small amount of Cs-134/7 under the shoe….

      Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to downplay the radioactivity. But you as the journalist/blogger here have to clearly distinguish between true causes for concern and hystrics. Otherweise you discredit yourself.

      1. There is nothing remotely hysterical about this article. Mochizuki-san is reporting a simple fact. The fact is relevant to the story of Fukushima because school swimming pools have been a known source of radioactive contamination and because school authorities have on several occasions controversially required students to clean the pools.

        There is extensive evidence that Japanese authorities including school authorities are putting children’s health at risk in order to maintain the illusion of post-meltdown normality. There is also substantial evidence that official measurements continue to underestimate the true levels of environmental contamination in Fukushima. In response to this, citizen’s groups such as one referred to in this article have taken matters into their own hands by measuring radiation levels in numerous situations.

        This article reports the result of one such measurement. It does not claim the measurement was exceptionally high; it simply states that it was significant, which in statistical terms is probably true.

        Please read the article again and see if you can find any evidence of hysteria.

      2. You’re a lying nuclear shill. Please give us a break from -your- hysterical nonsense.

      3. Quote: “I don’t want to downplay the radioactivity.”

        That implies that you need to downplay the radioactivity, as that is clearly what you have done. You have also downplayed the suffering of those affected by it and it’s substances’ toxicological and epigenetic affects as well.

        It would appear that we have found the Captain of Naill’s “Ship of FAIL”.

        Message to Captain: “Man overboard”!!!

        1. Dear Dud,
          I only want to be realistic. I growed up under the shaddow of the Chernobyl fall-out (I lived in Germany in a light contaminated area). I fully understand the feelings, the deferred anxiety the people in Japan have. And I can tell you that a huge rock of angst fell off from me seeing my children born a few years ago beeing at good health and not beeing affected by the contamination genetically.
          Living with the contamination here I have learned a lot about radioactivity and as an engineer I dedicated my working power to turn the our country away from nuclear power. I personally spent a lot of money into a environment friendly and low energy house, etc. This is all the result, a reflection of the horror that came with Chernobyl when I was younger.

          But even with this experince I still think that the above article is hysterically. Because it draws the attention to small pieces of information away from those that are really important for the people in Japan (“making an elephant out of a fly”).

          Yes, the japanese government it cheating. But the important message is there already since at least two years: “in a nuclear accident you (as a citizen) cannot count on the government. You have to care for yourself!”.

          And in order to do so you need information about the big picture, about true dangers, hard facts and realistic judgment of the situation – and not small reports about contamination way below natural level under a shoe.

          1. Greetings and salutations, Sievert!

            Every shoe comes in pairs.
            One pair of shoes is indeed the smallest of integral sample sizes.
            In every school there are many dozens of pairs of shoes.

            Perhaps this article is trivial to many,
            yet Mochizuki-san is painting a mozaic to, for us, an unknown end.

            To him it seems, no story involving Japan and any possible link to the ongoing crisis emanating from FD is at all trivial, and whom can blame him? It’s his ship, and he steers it where he sees fit.

            I was just a teenager when Chernobyl blew, yet will never forget the look of alarm and anxiety on the face of my Physics Professor as he continued receiving counts above background from his Geiger-Mueller counter. Then after some brief coverage, nothing in the news shortly afterward. That is still an ongoing disaster, of course. Part of a pattern from the MSM, in retrospect.

            If i remember correctly, there were warnings concerning Black Forrest boar, mushrooms, and northern Raindeer. Considering the short time-span since the initial “nukular” fire, these warnings are still in effect, are they not?

            It must be like a load of a tonne of bricks have been lifted from your shoulders knowning that your children are developing well. A parent’s grief should never be realized before teen years. That unconditional love is a force unto it’s own ends, neh?

            Actually, it seems that Germany is a great model for nuclear decomissioning. She’s making the companies pay for their own decomissioning, and not allowing them to abscond with taxpayer’s hard-won earnings while walking away from responsibility. Renewables have taken the lead in growth there. Education is rampant, not illiteracy. North America could learn so much from Germany if we would just get our heads out of our stupid “smart”-phones, boob tubes, &/or arses, and grow to give a damn and get educated even if via Khan-Academy. Engineering is a wonderful example of an education that includes many disciplines.

            Also, there is little i can say about Japanese government; much needs rectifying here in “Candu”/Canada, of WHO i could critically speak.

            Where do you go for news, data or analyses of the ongoing crisis known as Fukushima?

            Thank you for taking the time to respond.

  2. High levels of radioactive cesium have been recorded in the sediment of school swimming pools in Fukushima. If that were the case here, one would not necessarily expect to find elevated levels on the insides of children’s shoes unless the shoes had absorbed water when they were cleaning the pool. It would be more useful to test the children’s socks and laces, the dirt under their nails, and the sediment itself.

    http ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201304220072

  4. Wonder what the health is like for the STUDENT whose shoe was tested? And there could, of course, be other radioactive materials as Lori mentioned. More testing is needed.Sadly, dont think this will be done by any officals. Also noted the Japanese government approved new drugs for leukemia..and testing of same drugs. This in a county which in the past was extremely slow to approve new drugs. So there must be a need. Didnt we read about shots being given to children with high white blood counts..or symptoms of leukemia? Like once a month or so? Again, how is the health of the student?

    1. Citizens must empower themselves.

      Is that not one hard-earned lesson of Katrina, Sandy, etc.???
      Do you trust governance with the charge of monitoring for our respective health and well-being?

      Trust after verification, perhaps?

  5. Japanese kick their shoes off and walk about the house, even more than USA kids do. So also, Japanese adults. This habit – cultural norm – courtesy is an excellent custom and cleanliness method. It is particularly useful during a nuclear disaster.

    This single reported measurement, merely serves to NOTIFY the GLOBAL public of a hazardous, yet apparently innocuous contamination mode. Americans would have tracked 20X as much radioactive fallout into their homes as did the Japanese.

    Some ALARMING values would have been measured, had every Japanese shoe been checked for Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Neutron emissions, every day, since 311.

  6. Unknown Unknowns

    We shall never know the post-311, children’s insole radiation contamination level for Anchorage AL, San Francisco Ca, Boise Idaho, Boston, MA and other USA hotspots.

    Failure to TEST does not imply safety.

Comments are closed.

All Rights Reserved, but do share.

About this site

This website updates the latest news about the Fukushima nuclear plant and also archives the past news from 2011. Because it's always updated and added live, articles, categories and the tags are not necessarily fitted in the latest format.
I am the writer of this website. About page remains in 2014. This is because my memory about 311 was clearer than now, 2023, and I think it can have a historical value. Now I'm living in Romania with 3 cats as an independent data scientist.
Actually, nothing has progressed in the plant since 2011. We still don't even know what is going on inside. They must keep cooling the crippled reactors by water, but additionally groundwater keeps flowing into the reactor buildings from the broken parts. This is why highly contaminated water is always produced more than it can circulate. Tepco is planning to officially discharge this water to the Pacific but Tritium is still remaining in it. They dilute this with seawater so that it is legally safe, but scientifically the same amount of radioactive tritium is contained. They say it is safe to discharge, but none of them have drunk it.

Categories

June 2014
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30