Radioactive cesium found in straw fed to cattle in Fukushima
Jul. 12, 2011
High levels of radioactive cesium were detected in straw fed to cattle at a farm in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, local officials said Monday, fueling suspicion it was the source of the radioactive contamination found in the meat of cows shipped from there.
The straw, saturated with an average of 75,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, around 56 times the allowable limit, was stored in an unroofed area of the farm when a series of explosions occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after it was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to prefectural officials.
The farm, located in one of the high-risk areas, gave a total of 1.5 kg of the straw to one cow per day on average from early April, they said. The farm had kept the straw outdoors since cutting its paddy last fall.
On March 19 the central government instructed farmers in areas around the damaged Fukushima power plant not to give livestock feed that had been stored outdoors.
But the farm went against the instruction as it was not able to procure feed blend due to disruption of its supply system following the March disaster, the officials said.
The prefectural government began inspecting animal feed Monday at about 260 farms outside the 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima plant but within designated high-risk areas, the officials said. The local government will eventually widen the inspection area to all farms in the prefecture, they added.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Monday it will strengthen its monitoring of cattle meat in Fukushima and the nearby prefectures of Miyagi, Yamagata, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Niigata.
Senior vice health minister Kohei Otsuka said during a television program that if necessary, the government would begin testing the meat of all cows shipped from farms in areas surrounding the power plant to ensure it is safe to eat.
Last week, meat containing levels of cesium three to six times higher than the Japanese government-set safety limit of 500 becquerels per kg was found in 11 cows shipped from the farm located in Minamisoma, 20 to 30 km north of the disaster-struck nuclear power plant.
The highest level was 3,200 becquerels but none of the meat from the 11 contaminated cows reached retailers.
However, separately from the 11 cows, the same farm had shipped five cows to Tokyo and one to Tochigi Prefecture in May and June, all of which were fed with the contaminated straw.
The Tokyo metropolitan government said Monday the processed meat of the six cows was distributed to Shizuoka, Osaka, Tokyo, Kanagawa and Ehime prefectures.
Osaka prefectural government officials said meat processed from two of the six cows was shipped from Tokyo to a meat wholesaler in the western Japan prefecture and distributed to four places, including another meat dealer in the prefecture. The meat from one cow was still in stock but some from the other cow had already been sold.
In Shizuoka Prefecture, where some of the meat processed from another of the six cows was distributed, the local government said 1,998 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram was detected in processed meat found at a restaurant in the city of Shizuoka.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on July 11, 2011)
The straw, saturated with an average of 75,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, around 56 times the allowable limit, was stored in an unroofed area of the farm when a series of explosions occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after it was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to prefectural officials.
The farm, located in one of the high-risk areas, gave a total of 1.5 kg of the straw to one cow per day on average from early April, they said. The farm had kept the straw outdoors since cutting its paddy last fall.
On March 19 the central government instructed farmers in areas around the damaged Fukushima power plant not to give livestock feed that had been stored outdoors.
But the farm went against the instruction as it was not able to procure feed blend due to disruption of its supply system following the March disaster, the officials said.
The prefectural government began inspecting animal feed Monday at about 260 farms outside the 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima plant but within designated high-risk areas, the officials said. The local government will eventually widen the inspection area to all farms in the prefecture, they added.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said Monday it will strengthen its monitoring of cattle meat in Fukushima and the nearby prefectures of Miyagi, Yamagata, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Niigata.
Senior vice health minister Kohei Otsuka said during a television program that if necessary, the government would begin testing the meat of all cows shipped from farms in areas surrounding the power plant to ensure it is safe to eat.
Last week, meat containing levels of cesium three to six times higher than the Japanese government-set safety limit of 500 becquerels per kg was found in 11 cows shipped from the farm located in Minamisoma, 20 to 30 km north of the disaster-struck nuclear power plant.
The highest level was 3,200 becquerels but none of the meat from the 11 contaminated cows reached retailers.
However, separately from the 11 cows, the same farm had shipped five cows to Tokyo and one to Tochigi Prefecture in May and June, all of which were fed with the contaminated straw.
The Tokyo metropolitan government said Monday the processed meat of the six cows was distributed to Shizuoka, Osaka, Tokyo, Kanagawa and Ehime prefectures.
Osaka prefectural government officials said meat processed from two of the six cows was shipped from Tokyo to a meat wholesaler in the western Japan prefecture and distributed to four places, including another meat dealer in the prefecture. The meat from one cow was still in stock but some from the other cow had already been sold.
In Shizuoka Prefecture, where some of the meat processed from another of the six cows was distributed, the local government said 1,998 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram was detected in processed meat found at a restaurant in the city of Shizuoka.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on July 11, 2011)
