EPA: New Radiation Highs in Little Rock Milk, Philadelphia Drinking Water
Apr. 10 2011 - 6:48 am
Via
Milk from Little Rock and drinking water from Philadelphia contained the highest levels of Iodine-131 from Japan yet detected by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to data released by EPA Saturday.
The Philadelphia sample is below the EPA’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) for iodine-131, but the Little Rock sample is almost three times higher.
Nonetheless, the EPA does not consider the milk dangerous because the MCL is set for long-term exposure, and the iodine-131 from Japan’s Fukushima-Daichi nuclear accident is expected to be temporary and deteriorate rapidly. (RP NOTE: YEA, AND PINK ELEPHANTS REALLY DO FLY)
The EPA’s MCL for iodine-131 is 3 picoCuries per liter.
The Little Rock milk sample contained 8.9 picoCuries per liter. It was collected on March 30.
Three drinking water samples collected in Philadelphia on April 4 contained Iodine-131, according to Saturday’s data release:
•A sample from the city’s Queen Lane Treatment Plant showed 2.2 picoCuries per liter—the highest concentration in EPA’s drinking water data so far.
•Water collected at the Belmont Treatment Plant contained 1.3 picocuries, and
•Water collected at the Baxter Treatment Plant contained 0.46 picocuries.
Philaphelphia becomes the 14th US city with radioactive fallout detected in its drinking water.
Iodine-131 has a half life of eight days: every eight days, half of its mass decays into a non-radioactive isotope of xenon.
There is much more detailed information about this weekend’s data releases from EPA in the previous post: “Radiation Detected In Drinking Water In 13 More US Cities.”
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