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and BE SURE TO CHECK OTHER SITES FOR MORE UP TO DATE INFORMATION; watch news feeds on right and more news feeds below (refresh this page to reload lists for most current)
click for some info on radiation exposure treatments and warnings- rosemary, potassium iodide (below)
See also: Nuclear Power Kills; here's how (this blog, 3/12/11)
Please contact me with info on alternative treatments, or post in comments below
Update 4:00 PM 1600 PDT FRIDAY MARCH 18
US - Pacific "West Coast" fallout update
Radioactive fallout confirmed on US West Coast
Pacific Storm track bringing fallout to North America, but the severity said to be insignificant - all this acknowledging that no amount of contamination is good at all; and that, especially locally in Japan and the Northern Pacific, this is surely of historic and catastrophic proportion.
authorities say the level (miniscule) is and will be "safe," but don't take their word for it. alternative views maintain that no level of exposure is safe - its a numbers game (i guess you would have to ask those certain few individuals who fell within the percentage and actually did develop cancer and genetic damage some number of years from now)
PACIFIC JETSTREAM
North Pacific storm surge (imgage from 4:00 PM PDT Friday, 2300 UTC March 18)
StormSurf weather animation > > Click for Current Wave Model - North Pacific Surface Pressure and Wind (180 hr. loop)
Strong Pacific Storm approaches West Coast, 5:30 PM PDT, March 19 (0030 UTC March 20) - There is a lot of energy in that swirl just off the coast San Francisco Bay Area!
See also (major winter storms are forecast for the week of Sunday, March 20):
North Eastern Pacific - Current Visible + IR satellite loop
This view covers a diagonal from Hawaii to Montana, showing the US Pacific Coastline from Baja Mexico to Canada
As of [4:00 PM 1600 PDT FRIDAY MARCH]: rad levels on the North American West Coast may not warrant Iodine therapy - however: should a full-blown meltdown (or 4) become the reality, it would be wise to consider. I will continue to post updates as I can.
No threat to US as 'miniscule' amount of radiation detected
A RADIATION monitor in California has detected a "minuscule" amount of an isotope from Japan's crippled nuclear power plant but California Governor Jerry Brown insisted it posed no threat.
"As this very tragic situation in Japan unfolds, I want Californians to know that we are closely monitoring any potential impact on our state," Governor Brown said. "I also want to emphasise that there is no threat to the people of California due to radiation in Japan."
In the first confirmation of radioactivity having reached the US mainland, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the monitor in Sacramento had detected "miniscule quantities of the radioactive isotope xenon-133."
from Update 2:00 PM 1400 PDT THURSDAY MARCH 17 -
Animated map shows radioactive material's path across Pacific toward California
LA Times, Local: As The Times' Ralph Vartabedian reported, small amounts of radioactive isotopes from the quake-crippled Japanese nuclear power plant are being blown toward North America. Though they could reach California by Friday, officials said they see no health danger and stressed that any radiation reaching here would be well within safe limits.
re IODINE THERAPY - -
Iodine therapy unnecessary: B.C. officials
CBC NEWS Canada (cbc.ca): "The consumption of iodide tablets is not a necessary precaution as there is no current risk of radiological I131 exposure. Even if radiation from Japan ever made it to British Columbia, our prediction based on current information is that it would not pose any significant health risk." - provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall on March 14
Click here to visit the Radiation Remedies and Usage Warnings portion of this page.
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WHAT IS FALLOUT?
All Things Nuclear - UCS Factsheet: “Nuclear Accident ABCs”
Radioactive Isotopes
Radioactive materials decay, releasing particles that can
damage living tissue and lead to cancer. Some elements
have different forms, called isotopes, that differ in the
number of neutrons in the nucleus. The radioactive
isotopes of greatest concern in a nuclear power accident
are iodine-131 and cesium-137.
Iodine-131 has a half-life of 8 days, meaning half of it will
have decayed after 8 days, and half of that in another 8
days, etc. Therefore, it is of greatest concern in the days
and weeks following an accident. It is also volatile so will
spread easily. In the human body, iodine is taken up by the
thyroid, and becomes concentrated there, where it can lead
to thyroid cancer in later life. Children who are exposed to
iodine-131 are more likely than adults to get cancer later in
life. To guard against the absorption of iodione-131,
people can proactively take potassium iodine pills so the
thyroid becomes saturated with non-radioactive iodine and
is not able to absorb any iodine-131
Cesium-137 has a half-life of about 30 years, so will take
more than a century to decay by a significant amount.
Living organisms treat cesium-137 as if it was potassium,
and it becomes part of the fluid electrolytes and is
eventually excreted. Cesium-137 is passed up the food
chain. It can cause many different types of cancer.
All Things Nuclear - "Reactor Core Cooling"
Thermal energy (heat) is produced in the reactor core of an operating reactor by the fissioning, or splitting, of uranium and plutonium atoms. When these atoms are hit by a neutron, they may split into two smaller atoms—and not always the same two types of smaller atoms—and in the process release energy and more neutrons.
Many of the smaller atoms formed by this process are unstable and as a result release radioactivity in the form of gamma rays, alpha particles, or beta particles. These radioactive emissions create heat: they carry energy with them, and when they are absorbed by material around the atom, that energy heats the material up.
Atoms release radioactivity at different rates ranging from fractions of a second to hundreds of thousands of years. Long after a reactor has been shut down, the reactor core continues to emit radioactivity and continues to generate heat. Nuclear power plants have cooling systems designed to circulate water through the reactor core after a reactor is shut down to carry away this heat...
Without cooling, [the boil-off] would continue to drop the water level below the top of the nuclear fuel in the reactor core. As nuclear fuel was uncovered by water, it would begin heating up. As the fuel temperature increased to 1,800°F, a chemical reaction between the metal cladding of the fuel rods and the steam flowing past would generate large quantities of hydrogen. If the heat-up continued past 2,200°F, the exposed fuel would begin to melt.
Click for Radiation Remedies and Warnings
Wikipedia: "Radiation Poisoning" | Rosemary Found to Offer Best Protection against Radiation Poisoning | info on radiation exposure treatments below - rosemary, potassium iodide, etc
CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response ~ Radiation
Current Situation
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Department of Homeland Security
Environmental Protection Agency
Radiation and Health
Radioisotope Brief: Iodine-131 (I-131)Radiation and Treatment
Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS): Fact Sheet for the Public
Potassium Iodide (KI)
Prussian Blue
Japanese Nuclear Jet Stream Fallout Map for CANADA BC & USA
StormSurf weather animation >Click or Current Wave Model - North Pacific Surface Pressure and Wind (180 hr. loop)
U.S. West Coast in Path of Fallout
prisonplanet.com: “If There Were a Reactor Meltdown or Major Leak at Fukushima, the Radioactive Cloud Would Likely be Blown Out … Towards the US West Coast”
Washington’s Blog, Agence-France Presse, March 13, 2011
>> Map of U.S. Jet Stream
Current Jet stream Norther Hemishpere >> (click "Build Animation") >> http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html
Current Pacific RADAR
Jet stream model
Northeast Pacific - Visible Loop
NOAA Satellite and Information Service
monitor realtime radiation in the USA
Depending on your location within the US, your elevation or altitude, and your model of Geiger counter, this background radiation level might average anywhere from 5 to 60 CPM, and while background radiation levels are random, it would be unusual for those levels to exceed 130 CPM. Thus, the "Alert Level" for the National Radiation Map is 130 CPM, so if you see any Monitoring Stations with CPM value above 130, further indicated by an Alert symbol over those stations, it probably means that some radioactive source above and beyond background radiation is responsible.
Radiation Remedies and Warnings
Please contact me with info on alternative treatments, or post in comments below
Eat seaweed (especially kelp) and other natural sources of iodine - at least keep up normal or slightly elevated levels. Also, keeping your potassium levels up could help as the radioactive fallout component Cesium is treated by the human body as potassium. The idea is to make sure the spaces in one's bio-chemistry that the radioactive molecules would use are already occupied by non-radioactive elements; so keep up with your vitimins, minerals, and healthy diet.
Dairy products are a good source of iodine, but cows will pass on fallout in their milk if the grass they eat is contaminated.
3/23: Radiation protection
by Kami McBride on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 7:15pm
Hello Everyone,
I don’t know what our exposure risk is, but I have been receiving lots of emails and phone calls about what to do for radiation protection. These protocols are used for people doing radiation therapy for cancer. Here are a few things that you can prepare for and get started with that are simple and powerful.
May we take this lesson given to us at this time and may all members of the human family move to shut down all nuclear power now.
Live Healthy.
Move your body, drink your fluids, eat well, drink your teas and get the sleep you need. Sleep deprivation lowers immunity. Keep your immune system strong. Take your alpha breaks, power nap, stress break, whatever works for you, but manage your stress. Stress depletes vital nutrients. No sugar or processed food.
Eat seaweed
Eat seaweed daily. Dulse, kombu, nori, wakame and sea palm. You can put seaweed in your soups, beans and stir fry.
Children can snack on crunchy nori sheets. Break up nori sheets and put them in salad.
Eat miso soup
Eat miso soup daily. Add grated burdock and seaweed to miso soup. Miso can be high in sodium so don’t eat so much if you have high blood pressure issues
Take medicinal mushrooms
Reishi tablets or reishi tincture, follow dosage on bottle of particular brand that you buy
Eat maitake and shitake mushrooms daily in food
My virtual dispensary can have high quality reishi at your doorstep in 2 days: http://www.livingawareness.com/AffHerbProductsList.aspx?hAffCategory=5
Eat beta-carotene rich foods
Pumpkin, winter squash, yam, carrots, beets and dark leafy greens
Calcium
Calcium blocks many radioactive minerals. Purchase a calcium/magnesium supplement and follow dosage on the bottle. Bottle dosages are for 150 pound healthy adult. When giving herbs/supplements to children, adjust the dosage following this weight guideline.
Calcium rich foods
Bone marrow broth, seaweeds, whole yogurt, soaked almonds, sesames seeds, spinach, chard, kale, beet greens, oatstraw tea, nettle tea, dandelion greens, chickweed, mustard greens, navy beans, black beans, sardines.
Soda, coffee and sugar leech calcium
Adaptogenic herbs; herbs that build stamina and immunity
Astragalus supplement:
http://www.livingawareness.com/AffHerbProductsList.aspx?hAffCategory=3&page=1&all=0
Ashwaghanda supplement
Holy basil (tulsi) tea
Goji berry tea or snack on them
Green tea, garlic, burdock, nettles, chlorella, blue green algae and turmeric are all protective
Drawing radiation from the body
Baking soda bath:
2 cups baking soda per bath and take a short bath. Take a quick shower afterwards to rinse off. This can be very dehydrating, drink lots of fluids, electrolytes; coconut water
Bentonite clay bath:
2 cups bentonite clay in bath tub, take a normal bath
Hydrate bentonite clay with water and do full body clay mask once a day. Leave clay on until it dries and wash off. This is very dehydrating. Drink lots of fluids
Burdock root
Drink 2 cups fresh or dried burdock tea daily.
Purchase fresh burdock root (also called gobo root) in the grocery store. Grate it fresh onto salads in soups and stir fry.
Siberian ginseng reduces damage from radiation
20 drops of Siberian ginseng tincture in ¼ cup water for several days
Read what people are doing to protect their herb and vegetable crops: http://www.harmsfarmlog.com/2011/03/bc-prep-and-radiation-bring-balance-in.html?spref=fb
http://www.jpibiodynamics.org/
Yarrow flower essence for protection
Rosemary Found to Offer Best Protection against Radiation Poisoning
naturalnews.com: "Compounds from rosemary fight against mutagenic effects of radiation - In two separate studies, scientists in Spain found that nothing fights radiation damage to micronuclei like a simple garden herb known as rosemary. They noted that ionizing radiation causes the massive generation of free radicals that induce cellular DNA damage. They studied the protective effects of several compounds against gamma ray induced chromosomal damage in micronuclei testing by adding various compounds to human blood before and after irradiation. When the compounds were added after gamma-irradiation treatment, the protective effects relied not on scavenging ability, but on activity against free radicals already present in the cells, such as lipoperoxy radicals which are mainly responsible for continuous chromosomal oxidative damage.
re: POTASSIUM IODIDE and radiation
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TREATMENT ONLY GOES SO FAR! - Radioactive Iodine (I131) would be only one component of fallout which would be a mix of many radioactive elements. Plutonium, for example is extremely carcinogenic at very low doses, and KI treatment for exposure would not help a bit for that. In the event of catastrophic meltdown, I131 would be but one of many concerns.
DO NOT TAKE KI UNLESS SERIOUS FALLOUT IS PREDICTED - BE CAREFUL AND DO NOT TAKE TOO MUCH IODINE - THAT HAS ITS OWN HEALTH RISKS - SOME PEOPLE SHOULD NOT TAKE IT AT ALL AS IT COULD BE ITS OWN SERIOUS HEALTH RISK FOR THEM
re IODINE THERAPY - -
Iodine therapy unnecessary: B.C. officials
CBC NEWS Canada (cbc.ca): "The consumption of iodide tablets is not a necessary precaution as there is no current risk of radiological I131 exposure. Even if radiation from Japan ever made it to British Columbia, our prediction based on current information is that it would not pose any significant health risk." - provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall on March 14
-- NOTE: At this point rad levels on the North American West Coast do not warrant Iodine therapy - however: should a full-blown meltdown (or 4) become the reality, it would be wise to consider. I will continue to post updates as I can.
-- One should be careful with use of "KI" (potassium iodide) - usage should be carefully considered and studied so that dosage levels are appropriate - it is TOXIC if used in excess, and may be harmful to individuals with certain conditions - Rosemary is purported to offer excellent protection against radiation damage.
Iodine Dosage
This is what has been recommended for the extreme conditions experienced by evacuees of the vicinitiy of the plant in Japan.
On 16 March, Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission recommended local authorities to instruct evacuees leaving the 20-kilometre area to ingest stable (not radioactive) iodine. The pills and syrup (for children) had been prepositioned at evacuation centers. The order recommended taking a single dose, with an amount dependent on age:
Baby: 12.5 mg
1 mo.-3 yrs: 25 mg
3-13 yrs: 38 mg
13-40 yrs: 76 mg
40+ yrs: Not necessary
GOOGLE SEARCH "POTASSIUM + IODIDE + radiation (treatment)"
See: Iodine @Wikipedia
As a component of thyroid hormones, iodine is required by higher animals. Radioisotopes of iodine are concentrated in the thyroid gland. This property of thyroid-concentration, along with its mode of beta decay, makes iodine-131 one of the most carcinogenic nuclear fission products.
Natural sources of iodine include sea life, such as kelp and certain seafood, as well as plants grown on iodine-rich soil.[39][40] Iodized salt is fortified with iodine.[40]
The daily Dietary Reference Intake recommended by the United States Institute of Medicine is between 110 and 130 µg for infants up to 12 months, 90 µg for children up to eight years, 130 µg for children up to 13 years, 150 µg for adults, 220 µg for pregnant women and 290 µg for lactating mothers.[32] The Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for adults is 1,100 μg/day (1.1 mg/day).[33] The tolerable upper limit was assessed by analyzing the effect of supplementation on thyroid-stimulating hormone.[31]
As of 2000, the median intake of iodine from food in the United States was 240 to 300 μg/day for men and 190 to 210 μg/day for women.[33] In Japan, consumption is much higher due to the frequent consumption of seaweed or kombu kelp.[31]
After iodine fortification programs (e.g., iodized salt) have been implemented, some cases of iodine-induced hyperthyroidism have been observed (so called Jod-Basedow phenomenon). The condition seems to occur mainly in people over forty, and the risk appears higher when iodine deficiency is severe and the initial rise in iodine intake is high.[41]
from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Emergency Preparedness and Response -
Potassium Iodide (KI)
What is Potassium Iodide (KI)?
Potassium iodide (also called KI) is a salt of stable (not radioactive) iodine. Stable iodine is an important chemical needed by the body to make thyroid hormones. Most of the stable iodine in our bodies comes from the food we eat. KI is stable iodine in a medicine form. This fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gives you some basic information about KI. It explains what you should think about before you or a family member takes KI.
What does KI do?
Following a radiological or nuclear event, radioactive iodine may be released into the air and then be breathed into the lungs. Radioactive iodine may also contaminate the local food supply and get into the body through food or through drink. When radioactive materials get into the body through breathing, eating, or drinking, we say that “internal contamination” has occurred. In the case of internal contamination with radioactive iodine, the thyroid gland quickly absorbs this chemical. Radioactive iodine absorbed by the thyroid can then injure the gland. Because non-radioactive KI acts to block radioactive iodine from being taken into the thyroid gland, it can help protect this gland from injury.
Who should take KI?
The thyroid glands of a fetus and of an infant are most at risk of injury from radioactive iodine. Young children and people with low stores of iodine in their thyroid are also at risk of thyroid injury.
How much KI should I take?
The FDA has approved two different forms of KI—tablets and liquid—that people can take by mouth after a nuclear radiation emergency. Tablets come in two strengths, 130 milligram (mg) and 65 mg. The tablets are scored so they may be cut into smaller pieces for lower doses. Each milliliter (mL) of the oral liquid solution contains 65 mg of KI.
According to the FDA, the following doses are appropriate to take after internal contamination with (or likely internal contamination with) radioactive iodine:
Adults should take 130 mg (one 130 mg tablet OR two 65 mg tablets OR two mL of solution).
Women who are breastfeeding should take the adult dose of 130 mg.
Children between 3 and 18 years of age should take 65 mg (one 65 mg tablet OR 1 mL of solution). Children who are adult size (greater than or equal to 150 pounds) should take the full adult dose, regardless of their age.
Infants and children between 1 month and 3 years of age should take 32 mg (½ of a 65 mg tablet OR ½ mL of solution). This dose is for both nursing and non-nursing infants and children.
Newborns from birth to 1 month of age should be given 16 mg (¼ of a 65 mg tablet or ¼ mL of solution). This dose is for both nursing and non-nursing newborn infants.
How often should I take KI?
A single dose of KI protects the thyroid gland for 24 hours. A one-time dose at the levels recommended in this fact sheet is usually all that is needed to protect the thyroid gland. In some cases, radioactive iodine might be in the environment for more than 24 hours. If that happens, local emergency management or public health officials may tell you to take one dose of KI every 24 hours for a few days. You should do this only on the advice of emergency management officials, public health officials, or your doctor. Avoid repeat dosing with KI for pregnant and breastfeeding women and newborn infants. Those individuals may need to be evacuated until levels of radioactive iodine in the environment fall.
Taking a higher dose of KI, or taking KI more often than recommended, does not offer more protection and can cause severe illness or death.
>> see more info at CDC's Potassium Iodide page
CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response ~ Radiation
GOOGLE SEARCH "POTASSIUM + IODIDE + radiation"
See also:
Wikipedia: "Radiation Poisoning"
3/23: Kami McBride's "Radiation protection"
Rosemary Found to Offer Best Protection against Radiation Poisoning
Nuclear Power Kills; here's how (this blog, 3/12/11)
All Things Nuclear - UCS Factsheet: “Nuclear Accident ABCs”
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