It’s been two-years since an earthquake and tsunami hit the coastline of Northern Japan causing widespread destruction, loss of life, and a triple meltdown of a nuclear power plant. While the West Coast has been prepared for debris washing across the Pacific Ocean, it’s the concern over increased radioactive levels in seafood that is now showing up with consumers. Scientists at Oregon State University say the released radioactivity in Japan is nowhere close to being a food safety impact. The radioactive level in fish is far too low to even register on a Geiger counter. Despite the scientific reassurance, the director of Oregon State’s Seafood Research and Education Center in Astoria says she has noticed public concerns. A slight fingerprint of radioactive particles have been found in Albacore Tuna, but OSU Health Physicists Delvan Neville says the average person would need to consume 4,000 lbs. of tuna a year to increase their average annual dose of radiation by one-percent. Fish actually tested back in the 1950s and 1990s contained more radiation due to the fallout from nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific following World War II.
