Nothing to worry about

The Japanese are known to be sticklers for many things that other nationalities take for granted.

Punctuality, tradition, minute details, honor, love of country, regard for rules, name it.

 So when the Japanese government told our Department of Agriculture that no food product contaminated with dangerous levels of radiation will be allowed to leave Japan’s shores, many totally understood what that meant.

What Japanese officials asked their Philippine counterparts is to take their word for it that food contaminated with radiation from the recent nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant Station are destroyed and are not allowed to even leave the farm or, in the case of fishery products, Japanese local ports.

But our agriculture department has been insisting that each and food shipment from Japan should contain a certification that they have been tested and that their radionuclide levels do not exceed acceptable levels. No other country in the world is imposing such a requirement. Only in the Philippines.

I recently received a lunch invitation from Minister Shinsuke Shimizu, Head of Chancery of the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines at a Japanese restaurant in Manila. It never crossed my mind to worry that the food that I will be partaking may be contaminated. Nor did the other people at the restaurant, one of who is a justice of the Supreme Court accompanied by members of his family, who seem to be enjoying their sushi and sashimi.

Mr. Shimizu explains that the government of Japan and prefectural government rigorously and intensively monitor radionuclide levels in food, water, and the atmosphere. In the case of drinking water, the monitoring is conducted daily.

In response to the nuclear power plant station accident, the Japanese government has set provisional restriction values of radioactive materials in food. Take note that radiation naturally exists in the atmosphere and in some kinds of food. It is only when the levels exceed allowable ones that they can be dangerous.

The restriction values are as follows: for radioactive iodine – drinking water (300 bq/kg), milk and dairy products (300), vegetables (200), grain (0), fishery products (2000); for radioactive cesium – drinking water (200), milk and dairy (200), vegetables (500), grain (500), and meat, eggs, fish, and others (500). Furthermore, drinking water exceeding 100 bq/kg are guided not to be used in milk supplied for use in powdered baby formula or for direct drinking to babies.

Following the results of monitoring, the Prime Minister of Japan gave instructions not to distribute foods harvested in certain prefectures that fail to meet stringent criteria.

What is more important is that foods that are not distributed in Japan are not to be exported.

I had to ask Mr. Shimizu. How about smuggled contaminated food? He says that will never happen.

The Philippines imports very little amount of food from Japan. Mr. Shimizu says that most of the imported food are used by Japanese restaurants. Some of these restaurants have even resorted to using local materials because of the high cost of imported Japanese materials.

At present, the Fukushima Dai-ichi area and those within a 50-kilometer radius have been evacuated. Those living from 51 km to 200 km away have the option to stay although it is not encouraged. Tokyo is about 230-km away from the nuclear plant.

So is our Department of Agriculture being paranoid? Many believe so. The upper limit of radiation dose permitted for people who engage in emergency work in 250,000 microsieverts per year while that for radiation workers, police, and firefighters who engage in disaster prevention is 50,000. One who is subjected to chest CT scan receives about 6,900 microsieverts of radiation dose each time while those who get chest X-rays receive about 50 microsieverts each examination. The natural radiation dose per year (space, ingestion, the Earth, and Radon absorbed) is about 2,400.

In short, we may be receiving radiation doses without our knowing it. Eating raw fish imported from Japan cannot possibly harm us. But more importantly, the Japanese gave their word that they will not destroy their reputation as sticklers for quality just to earn a few bucks from us.

By the way, I asked Mr. Shimizu if there is any possibility that the levels of radiation at Fukushima Dai-ichi will ever reach those of Chernobyl.

He patiently explained that the nuclear plant at Chernobly exploded due to human error while the one in Japan sustained small cracks due to the earthquake and tsunami. Earlier, the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere from the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was around 10 percent that of Chernobyl. No radiation-linked deaths have been reported since the earthquake struck, and only 21 plant workers have been affected by minor radiation sickness. A number of people died at Chernobyl.

To avoid explosion that may be caused by overheating of the nuclear fuel rods, Japanese workers had to literally pore water into the cooling systems at the reactors. But ever since power was restored, seawater is regularly pumped into the cooling systems. Since the water is in direct contact with radioactive materials, it not allowed to be thrown back into the sea but is instead stored in water tanks. Right now, the water tanks are contained in ships or tankers and have not been disposed of. The plan is to have them treated. A number of American and French nuclear experts have volunteered their services to help the Japanese deal with the nuclear accident aftermath.

I’m not trying to be an apologist for the Japanese. But overreacting will not help us.

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