Radioactive fallout from the three melting Japanese nuclear reactors reached the US and continues to appear through the ocean and air, necessitating health protocols.
Radiation Levels Detected Beyond Reactor Sites
As the Fukushima nuclear meltdown nightmare continues to unfold, the region of Northern Japan, and to an extent the rest of the world must be prepared to deal with its effects. Radiation fallout, also known as fission gases, are carried by prevailing winds to the surrounding area and from the jetstream throughout the globe. It took ten days for the poisoned cloud from Chernobyl to reach the California Coast. Air quality monitoring by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has already shown that airbourne lead pollution collected in the San Francisco Bay Area have been traced to Asia. It should be noted that levels of contamination are generally slight, but some health professionals argue than any exposure to radiation is dangerous and should be avoided.
As remediation of the damaged reactors is not expected to reach cold shutdown before January 2012 and beyond, we may face a long-term exposure situation that will be serious, even for geographic regions beyond Japan. Accuweather.com forecasts that radiation would take about a week to reach Alaska and eleven days to Los Angeles. Be mindful that beyond the immediate fallout, the half life of these particular radioactive particles from this event is quite long. And particles will fall everywhere – on food and animal feed crops, farm animals, pets, wildlife, lakes, rivers, the ocean, water supplies, and of course on people.
Precautionary Principle
From David Vaughn, geochemist who was formerly under contract with the Dept of Defense and Dept of Energy doing uranium prospecting for Savannah River Laboratories:
I worry least about reservoir water supplies because the radioactive particles will settle out quickly and disperse into the sediments, but the fallout will be in snowmelt too, so exposure will be long and sustained. Water is not drawn from the bottom of the reservoir for municipal water supplies. Particulate that happens to make it into the water supply to your home can be filtered out with a carbon filter. If radiation levels in the water are high then the filters may become dangerous and must be handled accordingly. You should change your filters more often if fallout becomes significant.
I recommend that you not believe what the Japanese or US governments will be saying — do your own research and monitoring. It is NOT in their best interest to tell us if the problem is serious (which it easily could be). You can see what independent monitoring stations are finding here: http://www.radiationnetwork.com/RadiationNetwork.htm
Here is a link to the best radiation prevention and detox protocols that I know of: http://www.radiationdetox.com/ebook/0707RadiationDetox.pdf
Health Maintenance During Radioactive Fallout
There are a number of supplements, foods, and protocols that can protect you during a period of low-level radioactive fallout. Understand that potassium iodide (KI) only protects the thyroid, not the rest of the body, and is dangerous to take for extended periods and if there are any pre-existing thyroid issues. Radioactive isotopes will become dispersed and diluted with distance, but will be measurable in many areas. In the event of an acute exposure with no KI available, application of a 2 percent tincture of iodine to the abdomen would suffice. This is not recommended with passive exposure from long-traveled radiation clouds. Never drink these iodine solutions; they are poisonous.
Instead, consider more general health precautions…
Exposure to low-grade radioactive fallout may necessitate a baking soda bath. This should be combined with drinking a solution of water with baking soda and sea salt and taking calcium lactate supplements for nightly detoxification. Bentonite clay baths and even taken internally can also assist in detoxification.
Algae supplements such as spirulina and chlorella should also be consumed because they accelerate the evacuation of radionuclides from the human body. Seaweed and kelp contain sodium alginate that bind radioactive compounds and are also recommended.
See the US Environmental Protection Agency Page on Health Effects from Radiation
MedlinePlus on radiation exposure.
We need to spread this information out to the public especially on the West Coast of the U.S so each person can decide by them selves what they need to do or not.
Do you know of anyone independently monitoring radiation levels in Alaska or the Aleutians?