Radiation scare sparks run on bottled water in Tokyo

Reuters ^ | 03/24/11 | Chizu Nomiyama and Kazunori Takada

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Radiation scare sparks run on bottled water in Tokyo

By Chizu Nomiyama and Kazunori Takada

Thu Mar 24, 3:43 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Stores in Tokyo were running out of bottled water on Thursday after radiation from a damaged nuclear complex briefly made tap water unsafe for babies, while more nations curbed imports of Japanese food.

Engineers are trying to stabilize a six-reactor nuclear plant in Fukushima, 250 km (150 miles) north of the capital, nearly two weeks after an earthquake and tsunami battered the plant and devastated northeastern Japan, leaving nearly 26,000 people dead or missing.

Tokyo's 13 million residents were told not to give tap water to babies under 1 year old after contamination hit twice the safety level this week. But it dropped back to allowable amounts on Thursday.

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P!

[Ronin]

At the Seiyu (local supermarket) there was NO bottled water, but on the empty shelve there was an urgent notice telling people that the iodine-131 level we are currently experiencing was ONLY dangerous to children under 12 months old and that adults were in NO DANGER so PLEASE leave the water for the families with children.

On that line, I changed the filter in my Toray MK340MX with MK 600 cartridges on the theory that the iodine-131 is not free floating, but is rather (for the most part) adhering to other particles (dust) that the filter can and will remove.

It certainly will not hurt to use the new filter and might provide significant benefit. Does anyone know any different?

Additionally, my wife who works on Yokota AB had eight tabs of Pottassium Iodide (KI) issued to her by the 374 Medical Group, with the understanding that we are not to take it unless instructed to by competent medical authority. But I sure feel a bit better having it on hand.

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But I sure feel a bit better having it on hand.

I am sure you do. Stay safe.