Fromt he Prince George Citizen – April 18, 2011

by Arthur Williams

Two B.C. organizations are calling for increased radiation testing, following the discovery of increased radiation levels

Testing done by Natural Resources
Canada and Health Canada showed slightly elevated levels of radiation in
March and April, following the disaster at the Fukushima reactor in
Japan following a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Better Radiation Testing B.C. and the
B.C. Environmental Network are calling for increased screening to ensure
British Columbians, particularly northern British Columbians, are safe.

“There is no monitoring in the northern
part of B.C. -and why?” Better Radiation Testing B.C. committee member
Rita Dawson said. “We’re concerned about the entire province, not just
the Lower Mainland and the island.”

Health Canada has conducted regular
testing in Vancouver, Victoria, Naniamo and Sydney since March. Natural
Resources Canada conducted a single test on Haida Gwaii on March 24,
which showed a radiation level of 0.73 microsieverts per day.

The average daily expose in Vancouver
in 2010 was 0.44 microsieverts. However, the average daily radiation
exposure in Halifax in 2010 was 0.80 microsieverts per day.

Fellow committee member Daniel Rubin said increased monitoring needs to be done of rainwater and at B.C.’s ports.

“I know they are testing port
facilities in Vancouver. I’m not certain… if they have the same kind
of quick scan in Prince Rupert,” he said. “The Chinese have already
refused a cargo ship already, so this is an issue. After Chernobyl they
found the major vector for radiation was their transportation system.”

The groups are calling for increased
testing of air samples across B.C., regular testing of drinking water,
spot checks of dairy products, seafood and leafy vegetables, and
increased disclosure of test results.

Researchers at the University of Southern California found rain with 181 times the normal level of radioactivity, he said.

“I’m not saying the sky is falling,”
Rubin said. “But this stuff is invisible, it’s tasteless and odourless.
The onus is on the government to do a minimum amount of spot checking
-just in case.”

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