AP: Tokyo tap water not safe for infants
This new development is quickly making the rounds here:
TOKYO – Tap water in Tokyo tested two times above the limit for radioactive iodine considered safe for infants, officials said Wednesday amid burgeoning concerns about the safety of food and drink as a nuclear plant in the northeast continued to leak radiation.
Levels of radioactive iodine in tap water at a water treatment center in downtown Tokyo measured 210 becquerels per liter of iodine-131 — more than twice the recommended limit of 100 becquerels per liter for infants, officials from the Tokyo Water Bureau said at a news conference.
Infants are extremely vulnerable to radioactive iodine, which can cause thyroid cancer, experts say. The level found in Tokyo tap water does not pose an immediate health risk to adults, officials said.
“We advise against using the tap water for drinking and for making infant formula for babies under 1 year old,” said Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo’s governor.
The unsettling new development affecting Japan’s largest city, home to some 13 million in the city center and 39 million residents in the great Tokyo area, comes as nuclear officials struggle to stabilize the damaged power plant in Fukushima to the northeast.
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