Health officials say there is no threat at this time because of the distance nuclear radiation would have to travel. But that is not stopping some from taking their own precautions.
Within days, nuclear radiation released from Japan’s damaged Fukushima reactors could reach California, but experts say the amount that makes its way across the ocean should pose no danger.
“What we’re being told is that there is no threat to California at this time,” said Mike Sicilia, a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health. “It’s a matter of distance. Dangerous radioactivity could not cross the 5,000 miles of the Pacific without petering out.”
The reassurances came as California and federal health officials opened hotlines to field questions about possible radiation risks. 环境保护局 官员, 谁在监测空气辐射水平, 牛奶和降水, 周二表示，他们计划派遣更多的人员到美国西部.
碘化钾药片 - 用于防止身体吸收放射性碘 - 已经卖完了在许多商店尽管卫生官员警告说，这些药丸是不必要的，甚至可能有有害的副作用.
大卫·麦金太尔, 发言人 核管理委员会 在华盛顿, 说，他的办公室是工作周二与美国国家海洋和大气管理局 “项目急流和任何辐射可能采取的路径。”
美国能源部启动了大气放射性监测中心 劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室 在海湾地区建立怎样放射性释放在福岛的先进的计算机模型将扩散到大气中, 据一名高级能源部门负责人. 但他警告说， “我们必须得到良好的数据放入它为它是一个可靠的预测，并依据人民赋予的公共安全作出决定。”
即使没有详细数据, 一些专家说，在日本的辐射带来的危险不大到美国.
托尼VanCuren, 大气科学家与 加州空气资源委员会 在萨克拉门托, 表示，将采取一 “灾难性释放” 辐射来进行大洋彼岸的危险水平, 即使如此，这将需要五到 15 天粒子到达加州.
比尔Patzert, a climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, contrasted the problems at Fukushima with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 in the Ukraine, where a massive blast drove radioactive debris into the air and around the globe.
“If we had multiple Chernobyl-type failures and it did go five to eight miles into the atmosphere and get into the jet stream, it could definitely impact the West Coast of the United States and Canada,” Patzert said. “But we’re not there yet.”
After the explosions and fire, the Fukushima nuclear complex released radiation of up to 400 millisieverts per hour, Japanese officials have said. That would be about 20 times the annual exposure for some nuclear industry workers.
博士. James Thrall, radiologist-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and president of the American College of Radiology, said anything more than about 50 millisieverts may be cause for alarm, including the use of potassium iodide pills to mitigate exposure. Studies conducted after the atomic bombing of Japan during World War II showed those exposed to 50 millisieverts or more of radiation were at increased risk for leukemia and cancer, Thrall said.
California Department of Public Health officials have advised anyone with radiation-related questions to call (916) 341-3947. As of Tuesday, the state hotline had received at least 200 电话, mostly from people afraid of radiation exposure, many trying to buy potassium iodide pills.
“That’s very concerning to us because you really should not take that without professional advice,” Sicilia said, 或, “unless you are within the zone of the nuclear event,” the 12-mile radius surrounding Fukushima that already has been evacuated.
Lee Cantrell, director of the San Diego division of the California poison control system, said he had been “bombarded with calls since Sunday” from people wanting to know if they should be taking potassium iodide. In Los Angeles County, 博士. Jonathan E. Fielding, the county’s public health chief, said he has heard stocks in many pharmacies are “very low or running out.”
Fielding, in a news conference Tuesday, said his office has checked local government stockpiles of potassium iodide. If risk of radiation exposure became an issue, Fielding said, “there would be plenty of warning and opportunity to obtain the medication.”
Despite efforts to allay concerns, 加州的客户络绎不绝，特洛伊·琼斯’ 网上商店 “nukepills。” 琼斯, 谁花了五个新的订单，而跟一个记者, 说他从卖去 $1,000 值得钾一周碘在销售六位数期间的最后两天.
在西米谷的维生素站是在那些售罄.
“他们切尔诺贝利期间做到了. 他们又来了,” 朗尼说：八月, 谁开的店 29 年前. “每个人都出它无处不在. 人们担心和恐慌的事情。”
被官员说真话关于辐射中毒的危险?
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提出的意见 日本辐射风险加州淡化 目前已经结束.