Bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California have a higher level of radioactivity than the specimens examined in 2008. This would be a direct consequence of the Fukushima nuclear accident.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himI bluefin tuna fished off the coasts of California have a higher level of radioactivity compared to the specimens examined in 2008. It would be a direct consequence of theFukushima nuclear accident. This is supported by a study published in the journal PNAS and conducted researchers from the Hopkins Marine Station of the Stanford University e della School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences della Stony brook university.
It is fifteen specimens of bluefin tuna from the eastern Pacific, an area in which no radioactivity was found, in which traces of Cesium 134 and 137. This led to the deduction that the contamination could only have occurred in the sea area of the central of Fukushima. “The release of radionuclides from the Fukushima Daiichi plant following the tsunami of 11 March 2011 has generated great concern for the diffusion of radioactive material in the Pacific Ocean" explained Daniel Madigan, one of the authors of the study. But the traces of radioactivity, experts reassure, are clearly below the warning levels and do not represent any danger to human health.
The study, the experts explain, however, represents a useful tool for trace the way in which marine species migrate: “The results indicate that the Pacific tuna is capable of quickly transport radioactive material from one point in Japan to other distant regions, thus emphasizing the role of migratory animals such as diffusion vectors of radionuclides". That's why the research team asked to be able to look into it too other aquatic animals, which may have also been contaminated. In this way, it will be possible to trace the migration patterns of marine species, just by analyzing the decay times of isotopes, that is, the time it takes for the radioactive element to 'transform' into a more stable and lighter element, and their concentration.
In short, the researchers reassure the populations, but what the presence of more radioactive elements dispersed in the Pacific Ocean can really mean in the medium and long term, no one can yet say. Also because, the level of the two cesium isotopes will also be below the alarm thresholds, but these are still quantities ten times higher than the norm that have entered the food chain. Here, then, is one more reason to add to our list of good reasons to choose not to eat tuna.
Roberta Ragni
