The Knowledge and Awareness for Radiocesium Food Monitoring after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture

Nobuaki Kunii, Maya Sophia Fujimura, Yukako Komasa, Akiko Kitamura, Hitoshi Sato, Toshihiro Takatsuji, Masamine Jimba and Shinzo Kimura
Additional contact information
Nobuaki Kunii: Laboratory of International Epidemiology, Fukushima Branch Office, Center for International Cooperation, Dokkyo Medical University, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
Maya Sophia Fujimura: Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Yukako Komasa: Laboratory of International Epidemiology, Fukushima Branch Office, Center for International Cooperation, Dokkyo Medical University, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
Akiko Kitamura: Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Hitoshi Sato: Department of Radiological Sciences, Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences, Ibaraki 300-0394, Japan
Toshihiro Takatsuji: Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki 852-8521, Japan
Masamine Jimba: Department of Community and Global Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Shinzo Kimura: Laboratory of International Epidemiology, Fukushima Branch Office, Center for International Cooperation, Dokkyo Medical University, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: On 11 March 2011, Japan experienced a massive earthquake and tsunami that triggered the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, resulting in the release of large amounts of cesium-134 and -137 into the atmosphere. In addition to the food radioactivity control in the markets throughout the country, radiocesium concentrations in locally grown foods were voluntarily inspected and the results were shown to the residents by the local government to raise their awareness of the internal radiation contamination risk from low knowledge in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture. In this longitudinal study, local food products for in-home consumption were evaluated by seven different food radioactivity measuring devices in Nihonmatsu City from 2011–2017. Radiocesium was detected in local foods in Nihonmatsu City even six years after the FDNPP accident. The highest number of products tested was in 2012, with the number steadily decreasing thereafter. Most foods had contamination levels that were within the provisional regulation limits. As edible wild plants and mushrooms continue to possess high radiocesium concentrations, new trends in radioactivity in foods like seeds were discovered. This study highlights that the increased risk of radiation exposure could possibly be due to declining radiation awareness among citizens and food distributors. We recommend the continuation of food monitoring procedures at various points in the food processing line under the responsibility of the government to raise awareness for the reduction of future risks of internal exposure.

Keywords: radiation; food monitoring; Fukushima (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/10/2289/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/10/2289/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:10:p:2289-:d:176672

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().