I know I know some or many of you might already shake their heads "not again!" - but let me finish. I am not even talking about Fukushima more I am asking questions about the topic in general.
Today it is really not easy to trust any source of information out there - a lot could be behind a story - people of get something out of it etc.. so what is true and what isn't?
I wasn't thinking about it for a very long time - in fact didn't even care. The reason for a newly "thought about it-situation" was an order from Russia, Moscow I did some weeks ago.
I found a really awesome tea shop called moychay - a lot of people recommended it via Instagram so I checked it out and I was instantly amazed by the massive range they offer and in this case quality stuff. And in fact until now everything really is quality what I tested so far.
So where is the actual "problem"? In fact I am not sure if there really is one. Within this order there was one sample of an actual Russian yellow Oolong from a very known tea region called Krasnodar. Some days ago I saw a documentary about Chernobyl and just for "fun" I thought "lets see if their is anything about Krasnodar and Radiation on the net" - and the freaking first thing that pop up was a youtube video about a "radiation hunter" in Russia who found an abandoned camp or what ever it was somewhere in the Krasnodar mountains. It seems that the radiation was massive. But within the comments below some people didn't really believed if the actual measurement was acuate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLZD3RwwcYk
But if or if not I was wondering how safe this tea could be. I mean this region is big and I am sure those tea gardens are protected and not contaminated but it left a bit of a bad vibe behind if you know what I mean.
Do you thing it is really necessary to be put off by a maybe situation or what do you think? Would you worry to drink this very tea? And because it was transported with all the other teas in the same box are those safe? I hate it to worry about such crap but it really bothers me somehow.
Mar 21st, '17, 17:04
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Re: Tea and Radiation!?
Is this tea stored in a lead box until you gather opinions? If you bought 200 grams or more; then, you can send me some & I'll have a friend at MIT test it. Waste of time to guess.
Re: Tea and Radiation!?
I suppose it would be faster to ask a local technical university whether they can check your stuff.
Mar 21st, '17, 18:02
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Re: Tea and Radiation!?
Sure, but if Van must pay for the test, the cost would be > the value of the tea perhaps. Even the cost of mailing me 20 grams to have my friend test it (for free) does not make sense if he does not own much.Xeractha wrote: I suppose it would be faster to ask a local technical university whether they can check your stuff.
Mar 21st, '17, 18:16
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Re: Tea and Radiation!?
Since your location says Vienna and you have an excellent university in town I'd pay a visit to the 'Atominstitut". Shouldn't be too difficult to find a nice soul there and have the tea checked for free.
Re: Tea and Radiation!?
I'd even drink polonium if I had any.VanFersen wrote: But generally talking would you worry about it or don't care?
Mar 21st, '17, 18:53
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Re: Tea and Radiation!?
SureVanFersen wrote: I mean this region is big and I am sure those tea gardens are protected ...
Rest see above (just in case ...)
Re: Tea and Radiation!?
As I see it's 40 mSv/hr. Even if the tea was contaminated I highly doubt it would radiate 40 mSv. If the daily dose of radiation is between 0 and 250 mSv there shouldn't be any problem. Though I might be wrong. I'd still mail your local uni. I don't think they would charge anything for such test. Well, if it's just a question then you can mail anyone.
I didn't think about drinking the tea. The radiation absorption is usually measured on the whole body. I have no idea how small quantity of radiation is harmful if you eat something that's contaminated. But it's not matcha and you don't drink the leaves so I still think there shouldn't be any problem.
Anyway, If you are worried then you shouldn't drink it. There are plenty of good teas out there.
I didn't think about drinking the tea. The radiation absorption is usually measured on the whole body. I have no idea how small quantity of radiation is harmful if you eat something that's contaminated. But it's not matcha and you don't drink the leaves so I still think there shouldn't be any problem.
Anyway, If you are worried then you shouldn't drink it. There are plenty of good teas out there.
Re: Tea and Radiation!?
I read something in an article about radiation last week and it made me wonder. Because the article says that everyone is exposed to radiation with every airplane flight you take. And this amount of radiation was nearly the same as eating something with radiation in it to a certain lower level - but I am not a physicist so sorry for the bad explanation.
But if that is really the case what about our food, tea or anything else drink or eatable which is delivered by airplanes which is most of the stuff we eat or drink except local produced products. Are all those stuff effected by radiation to a certain degree? Those this mean radiation is nearly in everything?
Because if that's the case how precisely could such a radiation test can be in the end? Because if the tea was exposed to radiation just only at its flight how do we know if this was the outcome of a certain radiation level or the place this tea or product was produced aka harvested?
But if that is really the case what about our food, tea or anything else drink or eatable which is delivered by airplanes which is most of the stuff we eat or drink except local produced products. Are all those stuff effected by radiation to a certain degree? Those this mean radiation is nearly in everything?
Because if that's the case how precisely could such a radiation test can be in the end? Because if the tea was exposed to radiation just only at its flight how do we know if this was the outcome of a certain radiation level or the place this tea or product was produced aka harvested?
Re: Tea and Radiation!?
In an aeroplane you're exposed to cosmic rays (at ground level too but less). These rays do damage to your body but this is minimal and your body can repair the damage. If you bring tea on a flight, the radiation will do damage which leads to radicals. Again, limited and with the antioxidative qualities of tea nothing I would worry about. It won't make the tea radioactive, it's just a chemical change.
What happens in a contaminated area is that plants suck up radioactive material, not radiation. Only when this material 'decays' is the radiation released. If that happens when the tea is in front of you on the table that's comparable to what goes on in the plane but if you have swallowed it, the radiation is released inside your body which is more harmful. Besides, many radioactive materials are heavy metals and so poisonous even without considering radiation.
I hope it's a bit clear. Don't let it stop you enjoying good tea.
What happens in a contaminated area is that plants suck up radioactive material, not radiation. Only when this material 'decays' is the radiation released. If that happens when the tea is in front of you on the table that's comparable to what goes on in the plane but if you have swallowed it, the radiation is released inside your body which is more harmful. Besides, many radioactive materials are heavy metals and so poisonous even without considering radiation.
I hope it's a bit clear. Don't let it stop you enjoying good tea.
Mar 29th, '17, 11:54
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Re: Tea and Radiation!?
And then, how toxic is a drink made w/ leaves that have poison (radiation or pesticides) in them? Measurement of leaves themselves & measurement of water infused w/ them may show that intoxicated leaves don't always make a significantly toxic beverage.
Re: Tea and Radiation!?
from what I understand, a single hit from a gamma ray could damage DNA and cause life-ending cancer... there is always a risk, but increased REMS simply increases the probability, in general. So flight crews actually have higher cancer rates than the general population.
Although, I seem to recall there are some regions in the world with very high REMs naturally occurring from geographical features, and the natives of such areas don't exhibit higher cancer rates, due to perhaps the constant as opposed to intermittent exposure, and perhaps evolutionary defenses.
In any case, good luck with your tea.
Although, I seem to recall there are some regions in the world with very high REMs naturally occurring from geographical features, and the natives of such areas don't exhibit higher cancer rates, due to perhaps the constant as opposed to intermittent exposure, and perhaps evolutionary defenses.
In any case, good luck with your tea.
Re: Tea and Radiation!?
Went to the nuclear university today - They kindly offered me to check this very tea. The outcome? It was clean as white piece of paper! There wasn't even the sightliest hint of radiation to it. I hoped this would be the result and I am glad it was 