The FDA initiated the first recall in an Aug. 19 notice, announcing certain raw frozen shrimp products processed by Indonesian company PT. Bahari Makmur Sejati (doing business as BMS Foods) had tested positive for Cesium-137, also known as Cs-137. A handful of manufacturers sold these products under different brand names to retailers nationwide.
The FDA published an expanded recall notice on its website on Dec. 19, one of 12 notices that have been issued in the growing recall.
Cs-137 is a radioisotope of cesium, meaning it is a chemical element that emits radiation as it breaks down. It is man-made and is produced by nuclear fission, according to the FDA. In the United States, it is used in medical devices and measurement gauges.
Because it is widespread around the globe, trace amounts can be found in the environment, including soil, food and air, the FDA said. Agencies, including the FDA and U.S. Customs & Border Protection, test for, monitor and regulate the presence of the substance due to the risks associated with long-term exposure.
The FDA said low-level radiation exposure over time can lead to serious health complications. Exposure to Cs-137 alone can cause burns, acute radiation sickness, cancer and death. Due to the risks, governing agencies restrict potential exposure to lessen the possibility of these long-term impacts.
I mean…
That is bigger than the initial theory that it was just bad luck and some malfunctioning equipment…
Like, that says contaminated ore was smelted into iron, passed by air transmission to the shrimp factory and that’s what caused it…
That means a shit ton went into iron, and with a 30 year half life that iron will become irradiated and now we got fucking cobalt 60 and that’s around for like 50 years and way more dangerous.
What you quoted is a huge fucking deal, especially since it’s grey market iron and who knows where it is.
Cs137 didn’t really exist until after WW2, so when it pops up enough to be noteworthy, then it is almost always more than we initially found. The chances of us discovering that kind of contamination and coincidentally having found it all immediately just isn’t plausible. It’s almost always some sort of larger primary contamination like this steel plant.
Why do you think a tiny bit of that is somehow relevant in steel? People usually should not eat steel. Ah the same time, it shields from the radiation, so the steel itself is safe, since only the surface fraction can radiate into the environment. And that not inside your body, unless you ignore part 1.
Because I gave a couple years of my life to the most stressful school in America so the US government could spend well over six figures teaching me about nuclear energy and radiation damage…
You could just read a textbook or even Wikipedia and have you’re questions answered tho.
But to answer you main question:
Something with a 30 year half life will make the steel itself radioactive overtime. If it is in low enough quantities and deep enough to initially read safe, that’s even worse cause it’s hard to find, but a decade from now not only will it still have most of the CS 137 in it, it will have made the steel itself radioactive. And by that point will likely read as radioactive, but who tests a decade old piece of metal to see if it’s now radioactive?
Like, just because you don’t understand why this is a big deal, doesn’t make it ok
While the discovered source is bad, its not as bad as where my mind went initially for the source of the Cs137:
I had wondered if it was Fukishima contaminated water discharge:
"TEPCO anticipates that the ongoing release of wastewater, currently exceeding 1.3 million metric tonnes, will span approximately 30 years. "