Radiation From Japan Reaches West Coast
March 21, 2011 by Personal Liberty News Desk
Sources have confirmed that very low levels of radiation have been detected on the United States' west coast. It is believed that the particles are from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was severely damaged by the recent tsunami.
According to media reports, public health officials said that the radiation levels are far too low to cause any harm to humans. However, the latest news has prompted some Americans to fear the worst-case scenario and establish their own survival plans.
In a column for The Huffington Post, Dr. Hyla Cass, who worked for the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant from 1990 to 2002, said that people should be prepared for all possibilities when dealing with nuclear radiation. She suggested that families should have an adequate supply of potassium iodide tablets, which are designed to saturate the thyroid and block absorption of harmful radioactive iodine.
Cass said that a lack of remedies after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 led to the diagnosis of thyroid cancer for thousands of Ukrainian children.
The World Health Organization recommends that adults should take 150 milligrams (mg) of potassium iodide within three hours of radiation exposure, while adolescents between 12 and 18 years old should take either 130 mg or 65 mg depending on their weight. Infants up to 3 years old should take a half of a tablet, which equates to about 32 mg. A baby no older than a month should be given one-quarter of a capsule.
Foods and herbs that are high in antioxidants can also help people reduce the consequences of radiation exposure, according to a report from the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
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