Wakame and radiation

[Vegan Joe]

So being that WAKAME, some or all is harvested off the north coast of Japan, who knows about radiation pollution from Fukijima, and the Japanese current, which travels north?

[lastx]

The Japanese confirmed that Iodine 131 has been released into the ocean. It's true that Wakame absorbs Iodine readily but any Iodine 131 from Fukushima absorbed by the plant should have mostly decayed by the time you eat the Wakame as it has a half life of just over 8 days. There are however other Isotopes which have been detected in the vicinity (and much farther afield) such as Caesium 134 and 137. It is suspected by the IAEA that Technetium 99 and Iodine 129 may have also have been released and these have much longer half lives (in the millions of years). Whether Wakame would absorb significant quantities of these? Has anyone seen any research?

[Vegan Joe]

I spoke to Eden Foods over the phone yesterday and they say they test the incoming products from Japan with giger counters. When I asked about testing they said they found a lab that does this kind of testing, But when I gave them the lot # on my package of Wakame they where unable to find any information. The working day ended and they didn't return the call they had promised. I e-mailed them and today they asked if I could take a picture of the package with the lot number on it, because they could not find it in there system. So I just sent them a picture of the package with the lot # visible and the receipt of the store when and where I bought it. I was inquiring as to when it was harvested. So we will hopefully find out more tomorrow.

[Vegan Joe]

The Japanese confirmed that Iodine 131 has been released into the ocean. It's true that Wakame absorbs Iodine readily but any Iodine 131 from Fukushima absorbed by the plant should have mostly decayed by the time you eat the Wakame as it has a half life of just over 8 days. There are however other Isotopes which have been detected in the vicinity (and much farther afield) such as Caesium 134 and 137. It is suspected by the IAEA that Technetium 99 and Iodine 129 may have also have been released and these have much longer half lives (in the millions of years). Whether Wakame would absorb significant quantities of these? Has anyone seen any research?

Sorry but I love those "significant quantities" BS like the "parts per billion" spiel scientist are always giving us. My take on references like these are just remember it only took that guy 1 part per universe to kill his ass. Nothing personal or directed at you lastx, just trying to be real.

[Vegan Joe]

PS lastx thanks for the great information on the subject in helping me/us understand more about it.

[Vegan Joe]

OK so this is as far as I pursued this:
EDEN told me the lot #'s on the WAKAME package are 4 digits, the first one is the year, the next three numbers are the Julian calender date of packaging. So day numbers are 001 to 365. I stocked up on several packages of Lot # 1005 which would be January 5th of 2011. So that's my short term solution to WAKAME consumption.