Even At 10X Price, Japanese Rice Increasingly Popular In China; Less Cadmium And Lead And Such

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. No, I didn’t misread it

I misrepresented it. (But, then, so did you.)

http://www.pnas.org/content/108/49/19530.full?sid=a47bd246-6c00-45bc-bfe8-4f3762a980f4

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Cesium-137 deposition and contamination of Japanese soils due to the Fukushima nuclear accident[/font]

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[font size=4]Abstract[/font]

[font size=3]The largest concern on the cesium-137 ([font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs) deposition and its soil contamination due to the emission from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) showed up after a massive quake on March 11, 2011. Cesium-137 ([font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs) with a half-life of 30.1 y causes the largest concerns because of its deleterious effect on agriculture and stock farming, and, thus, human life for decades. Removal of [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs contaminated soils or land use limitations in areas where removal is not possible is, therefore, an urgent issue. A challenge lies in the fact that estimates of [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs emissions from the Fukushima NPP are extremely uncertain, therefore, the distribution of [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs in the environment is poorly constrained. Here, we estimate total [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs deposition by integrating daily observations of [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs deposition in each prefecture in Japan with relative deposition distribution patterns from a Lagrangian particle dispersion model, FLEXPART. We show that [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs strongly contaminated the soils in large areas of eastern and northeastern Japan, whereas western Japan was sheltered by mountain ranges. The soils around Fukushima NPP and neighboring prefectures have been extensively contaminated with depositions of more than 100,000 and 10,000 MBq km[font size="1"]^-2[/font], respectively. Total [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs depositions over two domains: (i) the Japan Islands and the surrounding ocean (130–150 °E and 30–46 °N) and, (ii) the Japan Islands, were estimated to be more than 5.6 and 1.0 PBq, respectively. We hope our [font size="1"]¹³⁷[/font]Cs deposition maps will help to coordinate decontamination efforts and plan regulatory measures in Japan.

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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-13/rice-farmers-in-japan-set-tougher-radiation-limits-for-crops.html

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Rice Farmers in Japan Set Tougher Radiation Limits for Crops[/font]

By Aya Takada and Yasumasa Song October 13, 2011

[font size=3] Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Rice farmers near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant will impose radiation safety limits that will only clear grains with levels so low as to be virtually undetectable after government-set standards were viewed as too lenient, curbing sales.

Farmers now completing the harvest in areas affected by fallout from the nuclear station are struggling to find buyers amid doubts about cesium limits, which are [font size=4]less stringent than in livestock feed[/font]. No samples have been found exceeding the official limits.

A self-imposed, near-zero limit on radiation in rice may help spur sales from Fukushima, which was the fourth-largest producer in Japan last year, representing about 5 percent of the total harvest. The prefectural office of Zen-Noh, Japan’s biggest farmers group, plans to only ship cesium-free rice to address safety concerns, as does the National Confederation of Farmers Movements, which includes about 30,000 producers nationwide.

“We advise our members to test their rice for radiation and sell only if results show no cesium is detected,” said Yoshitaka Mashima, vice chairman of the confederation. The government has tried to “hide inconvenient information, which is deepening consumer distrust.”

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http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/rice-grown-in-miyagi-contains-more-than-double-legal-limit-of-radioactive-cesium

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Rice grown in Miyagi contains more than double legal limit of radioactive cesium[/font]

National Jan. 11, 2013 - 05:30PM JST ( 59 )

[font size=3]SENDAI — Rice grown in Miyagi Prefecture was found to contain more than double the legal limit of radioactive cesium, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced Friday.

The rice, which was grown on a farm in Kurihara last year, was found to contain around 240 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, over twice the legal limit of 100 becquerels per kilogram. Fuji TV reported that this is the first time rice grown outside Fukushima Prefecture has exceeded the legal limit.

The local government has requested farmers growing rice in the same ward as the affected farm to check each bag for radiation before shipping. It added that it will strive to carry out spot checks on rice from neighboring prefectures.

In order to quell public fears about rice already shipped from the farm in question, a ministry spokesperson said that spot checks had, until now, given no cause for alarm.[/font][/font]