Update: Chiba and Gunma tea radioactive

[a.serrao]

Radioactive substances detected in tea leaves
Radioactive contamination has been found in tea leaves in Chiba and Gunma prefectures, about 200 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Similar contamination has been found over a wide area around Tokyo including Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama and Shizuoka prefectures.

Chiba authorities say up to 763 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium were detected in tea leaves picked on Tuesday in Narita and 3 other cities.

The provisional state limit is 500 becquerels per kilogram.

The Chiba government on Wednesday requested tea growers in the 4 cities to voluntarily halt shipments, and asked dealers not to sell the tea produced in the areas.

But 2 tea growers in Narita City reportedly shipped their tea leaves, and dealers sold some processed tea to local consumers.

Radioactive materials in tea leaves exceeding the legal limit was earlier detected in other areas in the prefecture.

In Gunma Prefecture, 780 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium were detected in tea leaves picked on Tuesday in Shibukawa City.

The Gunma government on Wednesday asked farm cooperatives to halt shipment of tea leaves.

This is the first tea contamination case reported in Gunma Prefecture.

Thursday, May 26, 2011 07:45 +0900 (JST)

Top Stories World Politics & Business Society & Others

source: NHK (http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/26_06.html)

[edkrueger]

Both Chiba are Narita are about 200 km from Fukushima. Shizuoka is approx. 350km away. Uji, 500km. Kagoshima is over 1100km away. Just FYI.

[bagua7]

Think about China and Taiwan:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/ ... =eurad5000

That radioactive cloud is going to move all along the northern hemisphere.

We all know how bad that incident was. How bad this is going to affect tea plantations in mountain areas is uncertain since this nasty stuff (radioactivity) will bond to where positive ions have a higher count (major urban areas)

[a.serrao]

Think about China and Taiwan:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/ ... =eurad5000

That radioactive cloud is going to move all along the northern hemisphere.

We all know how bad that incident was. How bad this is going to affect tea plantations in mountain areas is uncertain since this nasty stuff (radioactivity) will bond to where positive ions have a higher count (major urban areas)

The graph you showed is very interesting. Though it's for radiation at 5000mt altitude and the maximum radiation dispersal il 1beq/mt3 which is virtually nothing I think. I may err.

[fire_snake]

How would the situation be in Yame and Ureshino?

I'm getting more paranoid as the news trickles in.

Christian

[Chip]

How would the situation be in Yame and Ureshino?

I'm getting more paranoid as the news trickles in.

Yame and Ureshino are about as far away, south and west, as you can get from Fukushima. No need to worry about teas from Southwest Japan.

[SlientSipper]

That's horrible news.
I hope those two places recover quickly.
At least there is still Kagoshima and Uji.
I hope it won't spread any further.

[a.serrao]

http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/topics/2011eq/index.html

[Kevangogh]

Does anyone sell Chiba or Gunma green tea abroad? I've never seen either of these for sale anywhere, they are not major green tea growing regions. Let's all just panic!

[a.serrao]

Does anyone sell Chiba or Gunma green tea abroad? I've never seen either of these for sale anywhere, they are not major green tea growing regions. Let's all just panic!

I feel that at this point it's extremely important to know as many news as possible about the situation. The news have to be taken from reputable sources of course. There's no point in panicking. But good and reliable infos have to be spread. People will make his/her own decisions accordingly.
For example Hibiki-an and Ippodo includes copies of the radiation tests certificates with tea shipped. It's great I think. This boosts the customer confidence.

[Xell]

That's horrible news.
I hope those two places recover quickly.
At least there is still Kagoshima and Uji.
I hope it won't spread any further.

Yame and Ureshino are also ~1000km away from Fukushima power plant.
But it's true, even inside Japan people think about radiation, i was told that this year demand for Yame and Ureshino shincha is a lot higher than usual.

[Kevangogh]

Looking at Hibikian's results (and I have no doubt his tea is safe), I notice it does not show the results for either cesium or iodine - they are not listed. I have a similar paper from the Uji Green Tea Growers Assoc which basically looks just like this. I'm not going to paste it on my website to appease people when it is not yet clear what the actual standard is. The results I have seen from Shizuoka teas show both cesium and iodine levels listed for each growing area within that prefecture. So while it may make you feel better to see this piece of paper, there is no agreement yet in Japan what is acceptable and what isn't. There is an ongoing dispute between two government agencies, MAFF(Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) vs MHLW(Ministry of Health, labour and Walfare) over whether the results should be taken from fresh leaf and infusion, or from aracha. This is supposed to be ruled on sometime this week. The bottom line is, at this time there are no prohibitions on Shizuoka tea. My guess is that if it is ruled that the tests are to be taken on aracha, then some areas of Shizuoka will be banned.

[mlafranc]

I feel safe buying teas from Uji and Kagoshima. Given the excellent choices available from those areas, for now I will bypass teas from areas closer to Fukushima. During my annual August trip to Tokyo, I usually stock up on sencha and gyokuro at my favorite tea shop. I wish I could ask them where their teas are from, but they don't speak much English, and my Japanese isn't good enough to ask the question, let alone understand their answer. I am a little concerned that their suppliers might be from some of the affected areas. Perhaps I'll visit the store anyway, and see if they have posted any signs for their gaijin customers. At any rate, this year I'm especially glad that I can buy my tea online.

[Merrill]

Think about China and Taiwan:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/ ... =eurad5000

That radioactive cloud is going to move all along the northern hemisphere.

We all know how bad that incident was. How bad this is going to affect tea plantations in mountain areas is uncertain since this nasty stuff (radioactivity) will bond to where positive ions have a higher count (major urban areas)

That's a great infographic but the radiation just skims Taiwan and Southern China and leaves Africa and India untouched. So the rest of the big tea countries will be okay, I'd say judging from I should be more worried as I live in North America.

[a.serrao]

Looking at Hibikian's results (and I have no doubt his tea is safe), I notice it does not show the results for either cesium or iodine - they are not listed. I have a similar paper from the Uji Green Tea Growers Assoc which basically looks just like this. I'm not going to paste it on my website to appease people when it is not yet clear what the actual standard is.

I've received from Hibiki-an the complete tests. I don't know if I'm supposed to attach them here but they lists no radiation for either Cesium 134, 137 and Iodine 131.