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   XPost: misc.health.alternative, sci.med, sci.med.nutrition   
   XPost: sci.life-extension   
   From: taka0038@gmail.com   
      
   Fake Science Alert: Fukushima Radiation Can’t Be Compared to Bananas   
   or X-Rays   
      
   Nuclear Energy Apologists Are Going Bananas   
      
   Nuclear apologists pretend that people are exposed to more radiation   
   from bananas than from Fukushima.   
      
   But the EPA explains:   
      
   The human body is born with potassium-40 [the type of radiation found   
   in bananas] in its tissues and it is the most common radionuclide in   
   human tissues and in food. We evolved in the presence of potassium-40   
   and our bodies have well-developed repair mechanisms to respond to its   
   effects. The concentration of potassium-40 in the human body is   
   constant and not affected by concentrations in the environment.   
      
   Wikipedia notes:   
      
   The amount of potassium (and therefore of 40K) in the human body is   
   fairly constant because of homeostatsis, so that any excess absorbed   
   from food is quickly compensated by the elimination of an equal   
   amount.   
      
   It follows that the additional radiation exposure due to eating a   
   banana lasts only for a few hours after ingestion, namely the time it   
   takes for the normal potassium contents of the body to be restored by   
   the kidneys.   
      
   BoingBoing reports:   
      
   A lot of things you might not suspect of being radioactive are,   
   including Brazil nuts, and your own body. And this fact is sometimes   
   used to downplay the impact of exposure to radiation via medical   
   treatments or accidental intake.   
      
   ***   
      
   I contacted Geoff Meggitt—a retired health physicist, and former   
   editor of the Journal of Radiological Protection—to find out more.   
      
   Meggitt worked for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and its   
   later commercial offshoots for 25 years. He says there’s an enormous   
   variation in the risks associated with swallowing the same amount of   
   different radioactive materials—and even some difference between the   
   same dose, of the same material, but in different chemical forms.   
      
   It all depends on two factors:   
      
   1) The physical characteristics of the radioactivity—i.e, What’s its   
   half-life? Is the radiation emitted alpha, beta or gamma?   
      
   2) The way the the radioactivity travels around and is taken up by the   
   body—i.e., How much is absorbed by the blood stream? What tissues does   
   this specific isotope tend to accumulate in?   
      
   The Potassium-40 in bananas is a particularly poor model isotope to   
   use, Meggitt says, because the potassium content of our bodies seems   
   to be under homeostatic control. When you eat a banana, your body’s   
   level of Potassium-40 doesn’t increase. You just get rid of some   
   excess Potassium-40. The net dose of a banana is zero.   
      
   And that’s the difference between a useful educational tool and   
   propaganda. (And I say this as somebody who is emphatically not   
   against nuclear energy.) Bananas aren’t really going to give anyone “a   
   more realistic assessment of actual risk”, they’re just going to   
   further distort the picture.   
   Most “Background Radiation” Didn’t Exist Before Nuclear Weapons   
   Testing and Nuclear Reactors   
      
   Nuclear apologists also pretend that we get a higher exposure from   
   background radiation (when we fly, for example) or x-rays then we get   
   from nuclear accidents.   
      
   In fact, there was exactly zero background radioactive cesium or   
   iodine before above-ground nuclear testing and nuclear accidents   
   started.   
      
   Wikipedia provides some details on the distribution of cesium-137 due   
   to human activities:   
      
   Small amounts of caesium-134 and caesium-137 were released into the   
   environment during nearly all nuclear weapon tests and some nuclear   
   accidents, most notably the Chernobyl disaster.   
      
   ***   
      
   Caesium-137 is unique in that it is totally anthropogenic. Unlike most   
   other radioisotopes, caesium-137 is not produced from its non-   
   radioactive isotope, but from uranium. It did not occur in nature   
   before nuclear weapons testing began. By observing the characteristic   
   gamma rays emitted by this isotope, it is possible to determine   
   whether the contents of a given sealed container were made before or   
   after the advent of atomic bomb explosions. This procedure has been   
   used by researchers to check the authenticity of certain rare wines,   
   most notably the purported “Jefferson bottles”.   
      
   As the EPA notes:   
      
   Cesium-133 is the only naturally occurring isotope and is non-   
   radioactive; all other isotopes, including cesium-137, are produced by   
   human activity.   
      
   Similarly, iodine-131 is not a naturally occurring isotope. As the   
   Encyclopedia Britannica notes:   
      
   The only naturally occurring isotope of iodine is stable iodine-127.   
   An exceptionally useful radioactive isotope is iodine-131…   
      
   (Fukushima has spewed much more radioactive cesium and iodine than   
   Chernobyl. The amount of radioactive cesium released by Fukushima was   
   some 20-30 times higher than initially admitted. Japanese experts say   
   that Fukushima is currently releasing up to 93 billion becquerels of   
   radioactive cesium into the ocean each day. And the cesium levels   
   hitting the west coast of North America will keep increasing for   
   several years. Fukushima is still spewing radiation into the   
   environment, and the amount of radioactive fuel at Fukushima dwarfs   
   Chernobyl.)   
      
   As such, the concept of “background radiation” is largely a misnomer.   
   Most of the radiation we encounter today – especially the most   
   dangerous types – did not even exist in nature before we started   
   tinkering with nuclear weapons and reactors. In a sense, we are all   
   guinea pigs.   
   Mixing Apples (External) and Oranges (Internal)   
      
   Moreover, radioactive particles which end up inside of our lungs or   
   gastrointestinal track, as opposed to radiation which comes to us from   
   outside of our skin are much more dangerous than general exposures to   
   radiation.   
      
   The National Research Council’s Committee to Assess the Scientific   
   Information for the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program   
   explains:   
      
   Radioactivity generates radiation by emitting particles. Radioactive   
   materials outside the the body are called external emitters, and   
   radioactive materials located within the body are called internal   
   emitters.   
      
   Internal emitters are much more dangerous than external emitters.   
   Specifically, one is only exposed to radiation as long as he or she is   
   near the external emitter.   
      
   For example, when you get an x-ray, an external emitter is turned on   
   for an instant, and then switched back off.   
      
   But internal emitters steadily and continuously emit radiation for as   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)