Levels of Iodine-131 spike to highest levels yet in Philadelphia water supply — Almost double permissible limit

Levels of Iodine-131 spike to highest levels yet in Philadelphia water supply — Almost double permissible limit

Published: December 7th, 2012 at 1:21 pm ET By ENENews Email Article 7 comments

Title: Spike in iodine-131 found in city water
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Author: Sandy Bauers
Date: December 7, 2012
h/t Anonymous tip

Levels of radioactive iodine-131 in a city drinking-water intake rose to their highest level yet [...]
“The biggest message is that it’s not a health issue,” said David Allard, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Radiation Protection.
Still, they continue to watch as they have since the issue surfaced in 2011 with more monitoring after an earthquake and tsunami severely damaged Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Officials then found that a little-known sampling program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had been detecting spikes of iodine-131 in Philadelphia and other places that get drinking water from rivers and streams.
[...] agencies traced the scattered spikes to excretions by thyroid patients [...]
On Oct. 17, the latest date for which readings are available, the level of one sample at the Belmont water plant, on the Schuylkill, reached a record 5.46 picocuries per liter. [...]
A national drinking-water standard sets the permissible limit at 3 picocuries per liter, but that figure is for a yearly average, not a single sample. [...]

See also: FOX: Is Iodine-131 Killing Babies In Philadelphia? Deaths up 48 percent since radiation levels spiked in tap water (VIDEO)

Published: December 7th, 2012 at 1:21 pm ET By ENENews Email Article 7 comments Like ENENews on Facebook Follow ENENews on Twitter Subscribe to the ENENews RSS Feed Sign up for daily email updates

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