About 10% of seafood from Fukushima carries radiation, study reveals

Posted on : 2021-03-18 16:15 KST Modified on : 2021-03-18 16:15 KST
Cesium detection level for Fukushima Prefecture was 11 times higher than other regions
Activists from the Korea Federation of Environmental Movements and the Korea Radiation Watch Center share findings of their analysis of radioactive contamination in Japanese farming, livestock and seafood products in 2020, on Wednesday, at KFEM’s Hoehwa Namu Hall in Seoul. (Kang Chang-kwang/The Hankyoreh)
Activists from the Korea Federation of Environmental Movements and the Korea Radiation Watch Center share findings of their analysis of radioactive contamination in Japanese farming, livestock and seafood products in 2020, on Wednesday, at KFEM’s Hoehwa Namu Hall in Seoul. (Kang Chang-kwang/The Hankyoreh)

The radioactive element cesium was detected in 9.2% of seafood from Fukushima and seven other Japanese prefectures from which the South Korean government currently prohibits imports.

The rate was 11 times higher than in other regions of Japan.

Environment groups stressed the importance of the South Korean government not agreeing to Japan’s demands to allow imports of seafood from the Fukushima region.

The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) and the Korea Radiation Watch Center held a press conference at KFEM’s Hoehwa Namu Hall to share a report analyzing radioactive contamination in Japanese farming, livestock and seafood products in 2020.

The analysis was based on the testing of cesium isotope (Cs-134 and Cs-137) levels in 139,731 farming, livestock and fishing products from throughout Japan last year by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

According to the report, cesium detection levels for Fukushima Preference and eight surrounding prefectures were 11 times higher than in other regions.

Testing of 10,582 seafood products from the prefectures of Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori showed cesium present in 987 of them, or 9.2%. In other regions, cesium was detected in four out of 494 total products, or 0.8%.

Among 404 samples of Dolly Varden trout observed in Gunma Prefecture, 264 of them — or 65.3% — showed cesium at a level of 140 becquerels per kilogram (Bq/kg), far exceeding the Japanese government’s 100Bq/kg threshold for circulation. Cesium was also detected at levels up to 83Bq/kg in 54 out of 200 samples (27%) of sea bass from Chiba Prefecture.

In the case of masu salmon from Fukushima Prefecture, cesium was detected in 169 out of 383 samples (44.1%). The highest level was 76Bq/kg.

In eel from Chiba Prefecture, cesium was detected in 15 out of 94 samples (16%) at levels reaching 63Bq/kg.

In regions not subject to seafood import bans, cesium was detected at a level of 7.3Bq/kg in one out of two samples of crucian carp from Saitama Prefecture and 5.8Bq/kg in one out of seven samples of common catfish.

Cesium was also detected in farming and livestock products, wildlife and processed foods from Fukushima and its surrounding region at much higher rates than in other regions. The element was found in 18% of farming products in Fukushima and seven nearby prefectures, compared with 12% in other regions.

In Miyagi Prefecture, cesium was found in koutake mushrooms at a level of 1,700Bq/kg, or 17 times higher than the threshold.

In the case of wildlife, cesium was detected at a rate of 51.2% in Fukushima and seven nearby prefectures, compared with 10.6% outside of them. It was found at a level of 5,000Bq/kg, or 50 times the thresholds, in a wild boar examined in Fukushima Prefecture.

“The fact that cesium levels were so high in an apex predator like a wild boar is an indicator showing that the surrounding environment itself is contaminated with radiation,” said Ahn Jae-hoon, director of KFEM’s energy and climate bureau.

Also noteworthy was that while the number of cesium tests performed last year was down by 63% from 2019, the detection rate remained largely unchanged. From this, it can be inferred that cesium might be detected in more food items if the sampling was expanded.

On that basis, environmental groups maintain that the safety of food from the Fukushima region has not improved.

“The total number of tests performed fell substantially from 376,696 in 2019 to 139,731 last year, where the number of detections did not decrease by that much, going from 6,946 to 5,001,” Ahn said.

“We also saw a slight increase in the cesium detection rate for seafood,” he noted.

The environment groups were critical of the Japanese government’s demands that South Korea lift its import prohibition measures on farming product and seafood imports from the Fukushima region, insisting that the current bans need to remain in place.

In a statement to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake on March 11, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said, “It’s very dismaying that ten years after the earthquake, there are still countries and regions to restrict imports of Japanese food items.”

He also sparked controversy with his announcement of Tokyo’s plans to “do everything in our power to see to it that restrictions are quickly abolished based on the scientific evidence.”

In March 2011 and September 2013, the South Korean government imposed temporary special measures including a ban on imports of seafood from the region surrounding Fukushima. Those measures currently remain in place.

By Kim Min-je, staff reporter

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