Nuclear radiation from the tsunami stricken Fukushima plant in Japan is causing a stir across the globe. Countries in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines which import food products from Japan have imposed immediate restrictions on imports, if not from the whole of Japan, at least from the area around the stricken nuclear reactor in Fukushima.
Japan itself has prohibited the export of food items from the regions where high levels of radioactivity has been recorded. In Singapore, fresh produce from Japan such as seafood, fruits, vegetables and meat, are being tested for radioactive contaminants.
According to Frost & Sullivan’s research analyst of chemicals, material and food practice, Sushmita Mahajan, the fear of nuclear radiation propagates fast. “When the drinking water in Tokyo was found to contain high levels of radioactive iodine, it prompted a run on bottled water in the city even though it was safe for adult consumption and only a threat to infants,” she said.
She continued, “Such emotionally stressful situations or events can easily lead to people taking injudicious and out-of-proportion decisions, riding on a hyperbole of unwarranted fear. But is the fear reasonable?”
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore reportedly detected low levels of contamination in imported fresh produce from the affected prefectures of Tochigi, Ibaragi, Chiba and Ehime. According to the report, an adult needs to consume 3.5 kg of these vegetables to receive a similar level of radiation as from a single X-ray exposure.
“Under normal circumstances an adult would need to consume 184 kg of these vegetables to receive an exposure level equivalent to the normal background radiation that a person will be exposed to in a year. Thus, according to the Ministry of Health, short term consumption of food at this detected level does not pose a health hazard,” said Sushmita.
She added, “The radiation threat also has an inconsequential effect on our food requirements in Singapore. And yet, if it is indeed harmless and banned, it has the potential to have a negative effect on relationships with Japan, and also the web of related local industries dependant on these imports, which can be out of proportion with the insignificant amounts involved.”
Seafood imported from Japan to Singapore is less than 2% of Singapore’s total seafood imports while import of other food from Japan is less than 0.5% of the total of other food imports.
“With radiation is a relatively unknown field, there is a need for increased awareness. We are apprehensive about nuclear radiation, all the more so as it an unseen threat,” said Sushmita.
She continued, “However, radiation is increasingly used in medicine, especially in the sophisticated fields of radiology and cell treatment. During a course of radiotherapy, cancer patients usually get a dose of above 20,000 milli-sievert, which vital healthy tissue, close to the treated tumour, is also exposed to. This tissue survives, because the treatment is carried out under controlled conditions and spread over many days, giving healthy cells time to repair or replace.”
Patients undergoing radiotherapy enjoy years of rewarding life even after many of their vital organs have received the equivalent of more than twenty thousand years’ dosage of radiation at current environmental safety limits.
“Hence, we have to develop a new set of safety standards on how much radiation we can receive without any harm, short term or long term. We have to harness the positive powers of radiation to our benefit and advantage just like we did once with ‘shocking’ electric current,” Sushmita said.
She continued, “The long term impacts of an overdose of radiation are truly a concern. But learnings from the past, coupled with advances in knowledge, mean that the time has come for us to take a rational approach to this subject. This will help us harness radiation’s benefits, while avoiding bad life-solutions through ignorance-based panics.”
Source: Frost & Sullivan
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