Chinese vegetables are contaminated

China has discovered vegetables grown in water contaminated with radioactive iodine-131 radiation.

The first report on the status of vegetables in contaminated water came after the Ministry of Health of the country requested radioactive checks in vegetables and water in Beijing, Beijing and some coastal provinces.

Examination of vegetable samples collected on April 4 found a low level of radioactive iodine in spinach grown in Beijing, Beijing and Henan with a concentration of 1 to 3 becquerel / kg , China Daily quoted the ministry's report. Medical said.

'The level of radioactive contamination is so low that it does not affect health,' the report said.

Spinach in Beijing vegetable market. (Source: China Daily )

According to health experts, radioactive iodine can build up in the human body when eating contaminated food, leading to a risk of thyroid cancer. But this substance decomposes itself in a few weeks in nature.

The report also said that recent rains in Beijing and Beijing could be sources of radioactive contamination on vegetables.

No cases of contaminated milk have been detected in China, but the country's health authorities will continue to check.

Wang Zhongwen, a researcher at the China Atomic Energy Institute , said the country could only conduct tests in some areas.

Radioactive isotopes of car-zi-137 and -134 were found in the air in 21 provinces and regions of China on April 5, the country's national radioactive emergency committee said.

On April 6, Tokyo Electric Power Company began pumping nitrogen gas into one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to reduce the risk of hydrogen gas explosion.

This gas is pumped into the tank of the No. 1 reactor. That process may take several days. Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesperson for the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, denies that there is an "immediate explosion hazard", saying only that is a precaution.

Earlier, radioactive water flowed from the area of ​​the No. 2 marine reactor was successfully stopped, after TEPCO pumped about 6,000 liters of sodium silicate.

By the end of April 7, the blue cloud part (in the map) had a radionuclide concentration higher than 100 times that of the purple cloud approaching Hainan Island (China).

Mr. Nishiyama said that no more leaks have been found to date. But it is possible that the contaminated water will continue to leak elsewhere because the water is no escape.

TEPCO plans to discharge 10,000 tons of low-radioactive water into the sea later this week, but faces opposition from the troubled countries and the domestic fishing industry.

After opening the waste water tank, with a capacity of 30,000 tons of liquid storage, the restoration work is expected to continue for a week to ensure the reservoir can safely store highly contaminated water without worrying. fear of liquid leaking out.

TEPCO estimates that 25% of fuel rods in the No.3 reactor have been damaged. Previously, TEPCO said that 70% of reactor fuel rods No. 1 and 30% of fuel of reactor 2 were damaged.

About the situation of radioactivity in Vietnam , the information quoted in the report of the incident information processing team of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant of the Ministry of Science and Technology (from April 5 to around 15:00 April 6, 2011) provided.

In the coming days, if there is not much change in climatic conditions, radioactive clouds to Southeast Asia may have a level of radionuclide measured up to about 10 times higher. However, the concentration of radionuclides is still tens of thousands times lower than the permissible level, not affecting human health.

In Vietnam , according to measurements by the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission, in aerosols, in addition to the natural radioisotopes are: Be-7 (derived from cosmic rays), K-40, Th -232 and U-238 (derived from dirt); Also recorded are radioactive isotopes of I-131 and Cs-137 at very low levels, which do not affect human health and the environment.