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May 2015
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Great News for Cancer Patients
Friday, May 15th, 2015InspireHealth is now offering services at no cost to cancer patients and their support people at three centres – Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna – and online across the country.
InspireHealth is a team of family physicians, nutritionists, exercise therapists, and clinical counsellors with a special interest in cancer care. Patients are encouraged to create an individualized plan that improves their health in multiple areas such as nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress reduction, healthy communication, rekindling passion and joy in living, and their place in their community. Patients can engage with InspireHealth before, during and after cancer treatments.
For more information, visit www.inspirehealth.ca or call 1-888-734-7125.
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About InFORM: Testing for Radionuclides from Fukushima in BC
Wednesday, May 6th, 2015
Image source: http://fukushimainform.ca/
InFORM is a BC-based collaboration between local citizen scientists, a testing facility at the University of Victoria and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. We are dependent on their combined efforts for reliable information about the current impact of contamination from Fukushima on our shoreline.
InFORM’s citizen scientists gather seawater samples at regular intervals at multiple collection points along the coast of British Columbia. It was the InFORM team based at Ucluelet that collected the first North American shoreline sample that tested positive for radiation from Fukushima.
The magnitiude 9.0 earthquake and the resulting tsumani on March 11, 2011 caused meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the northeast coast of Japan. Unprecedented amounts of radionuclides have been released into the atmosphere and directly into the Pacific Ocean as a result of this catastrophic event.
Since the accident, ocean currents have been transporting a seawater plume containing radioactive contaminants toward Canadian coastal waters and the west coast of North America. Opinions differ as to the progress and expected concentrations of isotopes of the plume, however measurements indicate that it arrived in Canadian offshore waters in June 2013.
Radionuclides from Fukushima and their associated health risks are expected to increase over the next few years. Current assessments anticipate minimal negative environmental and public health consequences in Canada due to the Fukushima disaster however proper monitoring should be in place to promptly quantify these risks and to advise the public if action is required to minimize personal exposure to harmful levels of radiation.
InFORM has stepped up to meet this need. InFORM is funded by the Canadian Government through MEOPAR, a Centre of Excellence at Dalhousie University. They work closely with Health Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to monitor for Fukushima contamination in seawater and marine organisms. We are most fortunate and grateful for the extremely important contributions of those involved in this collaborative initiative.
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Where to Find Reliable Information about Radioactivity from Fukushima
Wednesday, May 6th, 2015Find informed answers to your questions about radiation from Fukushima on the following websites:
InFORM (based in British Columbia)
Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) Network:
A collaborative radiation monitoring network to determine and communicate environmental risks for Canada’s Pacific and Arctic Oceans from the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident.InFORM consists of a group of citizen scientists collecting water samples in coastal areas of British Columbia which they submit for testing to a lab at the University of Victoria and other international testing facilities.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The world’s largest independent, not-for-profit ocean research and testing facility. Based in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The WHOI website is a great source of information regarding radioactivity from Fukushima.
Topics covered include:- I have a Geiger counter. Can I use it to detect radiation from Fukushima?
- Are there other ways to detect Fukushima radiation in the ocean?
- Where does radiation from Fukushima go once it enters the ocean?
- How far can radiation travel?
- Is radiation exposure from the ocean and beach a concern?
- How long is the radiation from Fukushima a risk to humans and the environment?
- What is the normal background level of radiation?
- How will the radioactive material released in Japan affect humans?
- What is the state of fisheries off Japan and along U.S. West Coast?
- Are fish such as tuna that might have been exposed to radiation from Fukushima safe to eat?
- Is debris washing ashore on the US/Canadian West Coast of concern?
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Concerns about Radiation from Fukushima in Our Waters
Wednesday, May 6th, 2015We continue to receive questions about possible radiation in our local water supply due to radiation from Fukushima. It is important to distinguish between air borne and ocean driven contaminants, and between inland and coastal waters.
No Detectable Radioactive Contamination from Fukushima in Our Tap Water Sources
Our tap water in Metro Vancouver comes from mountainous fresh water sources; open reservoirs that could be subject to air borne contamination. However, Metro Vancouver continues to test these tap water sources for radioactivity as well as for hundreds of other possible contaminants. The only radionuclides that continue to be observed in our water reservoirs at levels above the detection limit are those associated with the local erosion of mineral deposits, a natural activity typical of most areas on planet Earth.
Radiation from Fukushima Detected at Ucluelet Shoreline
Our coastal waters are a different story. Although the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima occurred more than 4 years ago, “massive amounts of radioactively contaminated water continue to flow into the Pacific Ocean.” The first North American shoreline sample testing positive for radiation from Fukushima was collected on our coastline at Ucluelet, BC on February 19, 2015.
Although current assessments anticipate minimal negative impact for British Columbia and North America, the situation calls for ongoing monitoring. Find out more about InFORM, the BC-based group of citizen scientists that is monitoring and reporting radiation from Fukushima in our coastal waters in collaboration with a lab at the University of Victoria, the internationally acclaimed testing facility at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Health Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and is funded by MEOPAR, a National Centre of Excellence. See our article about InFORM.
Updated December 22nd, 2015: Health Canada has just released (Dec 2015) a Summary Report on Fukushima Accident Contaminants in Canada (link to Health Canada, PDF available on page) and a technical report Special Environmental Radiation in Canada Report on Fukushima Accident Contaminants (links to PDF hosted by Fukushima InForm. For additional copies see instructions on Health Canada’s Summary Report page). Fukushima InForm has commented as follows (Dec 21st, 2015) regarding this report:
The Impact of the Fukushima on Canada: Health Canada Reports
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Low Levels of Fukushima Radioactivity Detected at Ucluelet, BC
Wednesday, May 6th, 2015
Map of InFORM testing sites and sample results.
Image source: InFORM e-news April 2015Updated December 22nd, 2015: Health Canada has just released (Dec 2015) a Summary Report on Fukushima Accident Contaminants in Canada (link to Health Canada, PDF available on page) and a technical report Special Environmental Radiation in Canada Report on Fukushima Accident Contaminants (links to PDF hosted by Fukushima InForm. For additional copies see instructions on Health Canada’s Summary Report page). Fukushima InForm has commented as follows (Dec 21st, 2015) regarding this report:
The Impact of the Fukushima on Canada: Health Canada Reports
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The combined presence of Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 is the ‘marker’ used to recognize radioactive emissions from ‘Fukushima’.
Measurable levels of Cesium-137 are always present in all coastal water samples due to lingering contamination from atmospheric nuclear weapons tested during the 1950s and 1960s, and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1986).
First radioactivity detected from Fukushima
In April 2015 the first sample testing positive for radiocesium from Fukushima captured at a North American shoreline collection point was reported. The water sample, which contained detectable Cesium-134, was collected by citizen scientists at the Ucluelet Aquarium on February 19th, 2015. The sample tested positive for very low levels of the isotope, Cesium-134. The sample also indicated elevated levels of Cesium-137. The combined presence of Cesium-134 (134Cs) and Cesium-137 (137Cs) is the marker that indicates these isotopes came from Fukushima.
Trace Amount of Cesium-134 Detected
The amount of total radiocesium measured in this sample [~7 Bq m-3 of (134Cs + 137Cs)] is far below the maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) in drinking water of 10,000 Bq m-3*. The following comparison made by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution helps puts it in perspective: “If someone were to swim for 6 hours a day every day of the year in water that contained levels of cesium twice as high as the Ucluelet sample, the radiation dose they would receive would still be more than one thousand times less than that of a single dental x-ray.”
Importance of Monitoring Radioactivity from Fukushima
However it indicates that further monitoring will be very important for tracking the progression of the radiocesium from Fukushima toward the North American west coast.The capture, measurement and reporting of this sample is due to the laudable efforts of InForm, a local network of BC citizen scientists who collaborate with the University of Victoria and international testing facilities for sample analysis and to keep the public informed about radiological risks to Canada’s oceans associated with Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident.
* According to the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality by Health Canada.
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