Nuclear Meltdown

Small amounts of radiation detected in LA

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-23 15:42

LOS ANGELES - Small amounts of radioactive elements were detected in parts of Los Angeles, but posed no threat to public health, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Tuesday.

The levels of radiation detected in Anaheim and Riverside were consistent with an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan, EPA said.

The radioactive elements were at levels far below anything that could be considered harmful, according to EPA.

Related readings:  Radiation found in Japanese milk, spinach  Pressure rises again in Japan reactor  Death toll tops 9,000 from Japan disasters

Monitors also detected similar trace amounts of radioactive iodine, cesium and tellurium in San Francisco and Seattle.

The material was detected last week and analyzed over the weekend, according to EPA.

The amount of radioactive material detected by the filters were "miniscule" and posed "no health concern," EPA said in a statement.

"The radiation levels detected on the filters from California and Washington monitors are hundreds of thousands to millions of times below levels of concern," said the statement.

The agency noted that on a typical day, Americans receive doses of radiation from rocks, bricks and the sun that are 100,000 times higher than what has been detected in material coming from Japan.

EPA deploys 12 air monitors across California out of a total of 124 nationwide. These monitors provide hourly readings of radiation levels.

Any radiation emitted by the failing Japanese nuclear reactors would dissipate during the 5,000-mile (8,000-km) journey across the Pacific Ocean, health officials say.