Buy your Canned Tuna, Now?
April 13, 2011, Submitted by: Ken TweetLong term radiation effects, in Tuna?
With many of the long term effects from the Japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster still ahead of us, a serious consideration should be made regarding the food chain and the possible radioactive contamination thereof. In this example, let’s look at Tuna fish. Is it safer to buy canned tuna now, before possible contamination into its food chain? Or, won’t it really matter.
People in Japan consume a tremendous amount of seafood. Japan is the worlds largest consumer and importer of fish. Tuna not only is fished and consumed by the Japanese, but tuna is widely consumed around the globe.
Many of us are most familiar with tuna in its canned form. Apart from those that enjoy their tuna sashimi style (raw fresh fish served in thin slices), most people will get their tuna pre-cooked and packaged in a small can.
The question is, will tuna that has swum off the coast of Japan, become contaminated with enough radioactive contamination such that we as humans will be affected negatively?
Lets look at a few facts first, like, which types of tuna will swim off the coast of Japan, and what is it that these tuna fish eat themselves?
Tuna that is caught near Japan
Pacific Bluefin tuna are caught in the seas off Kochi (Shikoku Island), Miyagi, and Hokkaido Prefectures in Japan.
They spawn in the Western Pacific between Okinawa and the Philippines and the Sea of Japan and they migrate over 6,000 nautical miles to the Eastern Pacific, eventually returning back to their birth waters to spawn again.
Southern Bluefin tuna can be caught off the coasts of Shizuoka, Kochi, Kagoshima, and Miyagi Prefectures in Japan.
Albacore tuna is caught off the coasts of Miyagi, Kochi, Mie, and Miyazaki Prefectures in Japan.
Yellowfin tuna is caught off the coasts of Shizuoka, Miyagi, and Kochi Prefectures in Japan.
Big-eyed tuna is caught off the shores of Miyagi, Kagoshima, Kochi, Shizuoka, Kanagawa, and Hokkaido Prefectures in Japan.
What do Tuna eat?
Tuna mostly eat small fish ranging from 1.5 inches up to 6 inches. Tuna will also eat squid, and very occasionally will consume crustaceans.
The small fish that tuna will eat include skipjack herring, flying fish, lancetfish, puffer fish, triggerfish and rabbitfish.
60% fish
20% squid
15% crustaceans
If tuna eat smaller fish like Herring, then what do the Herring eat?
Herring (a.k.a. trash fish) eat mostly plankton, as well as algae and some kelp.
If tuna eat squid, then what do squid eat?
Squids are carnivorous. The smaller species of squid mostly eat shrimp, and other small fish.
How could radiation enter the fish food-chain?
So now that we have an idea of what type of tuna is caught off Japan, and what it is that the tuna eat, lets hypothesize how radioactive particles could be ingested into this food chain.
We know that they have been dumping tremendous amounts of radioactive water into the Pacific ocean. This is the water that they have been spraying onto the reactors, fuel rods, and fuel pools while trying to keep them from entirely melting down. The problem is, there has been partial meltdown and the radiation is traveling with the water runoff, which is currently being dumped into the ocean (some water is being diverted into storage tanks).
Of the types of radiation involved, Iodine-131 is of least concern (in the context of this post subject) because it’s half-life is only 8 days. After 80 days, its affect is considered entirely gone.
Of much higher concern is Cesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years (considered gone after 300 years). Of even higher concern is Plutonium-239 which has an unimaginable half-life of 24,000 years (considered gone after 240,000 years).
We know that both of these radioactive substances are present at the Fukushima plant, and have been found in the soil all over the region around Fukushima – in high quantities. We don’t know how much has been flowing into the Pacific ocean – we’ve heard a lot of numbers regarding Iodine-131, but scarcely a mention of Cesium or Plutonium. Perhaps this is because in the same sentence the reports can say, “but Iodine-131 only has a half-life of 8 days”. Most of the Sheeple may forget about the words, Cesium and Plutonium, since the main-stream-media rarely mentions them.
The radiation in the seawater is surely getting diluted, however fish are swimming in the water, and the diluted particles of Cesium and Plutonium will remain somewhere in the oceans for 300 to 240,000 years. Do you know how fish stay alive? They constantly are passing water through their mouths into their gills – never ending. Some of the radiation will ‘stick’ and enter their little fish bodies.
Not only do little fish stay alive this way, but also big fish. So, not only will big fish get their own radiation through water injection through their gills, etc… but the big fish also eat the small fish. Effectively then, they are getting a double-whammy. More radiation.
The big fish are then caught for processing, distribution and consumption by humans. Logical thinking suggests that the closer these fish are caught to Japan, the more likely they will have some amount of contamination.
Where does the ‘canned’ tuna come from?
About 68 percent are caught from the Pacific Ocean, 22 percent from the Indian Ocean, and the remaining 10 percent from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Regarding the U.S. tuna market,
“Solid White Tuna” as stated on the can is ‘Albacore only’ and is regulated by the FDA.
“Chunk Light Tuna” is mostly from the species, Skipjack, but it can include others such as Bigeye and Yellowfin, in any combination.
When you open a can of tuna, you don’t know where the actual tuna was caught. The canned tuna supply chain surely varies depending on deals made, the companies involved, etc…
Odds are of course, that the tuna in that particular can may not have been caught off the shore of Japan – it could have been caught in any other number of places in the Pacific. Lots of these tuna migrate their way to the west coast U.S., but it takes awhile – years in some cases.
No doubt the food supply chain will be examined further as time goes on, particularly if the situation continues to worsen at the Fukushima nuclear plant (It’s already a level-7, the highest on the nuke disaster scale). True results may not be measured for many years to come while looking back at cancer rates.
No amount of radiation ingestion is ‘OK’ though. A single Cesium-137 particle stuck in your body could start the chain reaction that leads to cancer – it’s all about ‘odds’. Some people get it, and some people don’t.
After all, during the 1950′s they were blowing up atomic bombs in the ocean… We’re still here – except one wonders how many more would still be here…
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Just a question, would it be crazy to have a kitchen geiger counter? I feel like we will need to monitor the rad levels of anything from milk to canned tuna from here on out….. I dont see any other practical way to know for sure what we put in ourselves and our children. Right?
@Heather, Now that sounds like a new business opportunity
In all seriousness though – If I lived in Japan I would definitely be purchasing a Geiger counter, as I would not trust the integrity of the government and all companies involved in the food supply chain to be looking out for me – as we all know very well (or should know) it’s all about profits. Perhaps the Japanese culture contains less of this greedy nature, but…
Here in the U.S., we know for sure that most companies – especially the corporate giants, will do whatever they can to improve the bottom line – without getting caught. Despite what some people say about the FDA, at least we have ‘some’ level of inspection. However, my biggest general concern on this general subject is the long term effect – the one where ‘small’ dosages of radiation (where they often compare to medical x-rays or airplane flights) could ‘be the one’ that gets you. It only takes one dose to potentially start the process of cancer. It may take years to develop – but it will – if you are one of the unlucky ones.
The problem is, a typical Geiger counter does not tell you which type of radiation particle it is (Cesium, Iodine, Plutonium, etc…). Some are worse than others. Plus, it may be impossible to measure the small amounts that may be present (which is why so many say that it’s ‘OK’ – which it is not). There really is hardly any practical information out there on this subject, at least the type of information that clearly spells out risks and probabilities of consumption versus various types of radioactive particles, time frames, etc…
In addition, this type of information will not be provided in the main stream, because the system needs you to not worry about anything except going to work and spending your money.
In the mean time, just keep doing your own research on the subject if you remain concerned.
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All geiger counters will measure gamma radiations. Some will also catch beta radiations and very few will catch alpha radiations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_dosimeters has an incomplete list to get an idea. The problem with beta and especially alpha is that their radiations are easily stopped, so unless the particles are on the surface of the fish, you won’t be able to detect them.
But all is not lost. Iodine-131 and Caesium-137 both provide gamma emissions. A geiger counter should at least provide a mean to know if a fish is radioactive.
Plutonium-239 is really nasty as it only decays as alpha radiations so this is more difficult to detect. On the other hand it would be surprising to find a significant quantity of plutonium without caesium as well.
Also what about the ZEOLITE therapy in case we find plutonium or cesium in our bodies. Its that honeycomb shaped thingy that is suppossed to aid in getting heavy metals to exit your body when you go to the restroom. i guess the metals bind to the zeolite, then you pee them out. I just dont know how safe it is. Has anyone here taken Zeolite before??
This link is from a “real” survival website and is directed to the inverse square crowd lurking here.
http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~tcanty/hysplit/
Our food futures have been weighing heavily on my mind. great article and very timely. im concerned about the lack of attention to contaminants in the food supply. ewg and some of the usual watchdogs havent even touched on the topic. im especially worried about wild pacific salmon. were not big tuna eaters because of the high mercury levels anyways. ‘they’ say that theres no cause for concern with the salmon. but they also said that seaweed would take years to show radioactive particles. now i131 and cesium are showing up in unexpected levels in west coast seaweeds in magnitudes of 100x’s safe levels. im writing my mla to demand ongoing testing of our ocean foods, stocking up on what i can and planning to eat from other waters.
Good quality article, there is much in this that I truly did not know. I tell you, each day I learn something new from Modern Survival site. I personally do not eat raw sushi because of the possibility of parasities, but I do eat cooked Pacific salmon and on occasion tuna and this does make you think. I am thousands of times more concerned about food chain of the ocean than something deadly floating the great distance over here to the United States, and this article might make me rethink about eating Pacific fish. Fine coverage of this.
Does anyone have any information on radiation making landfall on the West Coast? I’ve been hearing people saying not to drink milk from cows in California/Oregon or eat fruits and vegetables grown there to avoid radiation.
Are any of you on the West Coast already taking Potassium Iodide for protection? Are you taking the full 130 MG dose that is recommended during a disaster or some fraction thereof? I know you’re not supposed to take that much for too long, but I am curious to see what you all are doing? Seems to be a knowledgeable group here.
@J, rather than starting a new thread, please refer to the following post, which will give you an idea about what people are thinking along these lines… more than 1,000 comments so far… http://modernsurvivalblog.com/nuclear/west-coast-usa-danger-if-japan-nuclear-reactor-meltdown/
In short, there is no need to take 130 mg Potassium Iodide tabs here in the U.S. at this time. If you were withing the evacuation zone of Fukushima – yes, for sure.
For the most part, taking a multivitamin will ensure a proper dose of iodine into your system (150 mcg) to offset any effects of small amounts of radioactive Iodine-131 that may be floating around at the moment, this far away. Having said that, there are other ‘nasty’ particles which Potassium Iodide will not protect against…
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J, you might find that Ken’s advice about the inverse square law was telling people there was nothing to worry about from the Japanese radiation which is fatally flawed. DO NOT take his advice unless he can produce a doctorate in physics or nuclear science as he knows not what he talks about.
@ Chiller. This section is about tuna, not the inverse square law, and besides Ken knows a lot about the basic principles of how things work and has experience in fields related to physics. Why don’t you offer a formula to disprove the inverse square law. Offer some workable theory in which someone can plug in numbers to why we are all doomed to radiation poisoning in the United States.
Thanks guys. I’ll check it out.
Ah, yes. It was that post that originally led me to your site. I do check out the updates almost daily, I just haven’t gotten into the comments section.
I just happen to like the subject matter of your blog so I think I’ll stay awhile if you don’t mind.
when radioactive particles are ingested or inhaled the inverse square law is particularly chilling. in that case we are measuring distances in mere microns with the effects of the radiation increasing exponentially. this is why comparing fallout to xrays/flights is like comparing sunshine to the sun. i think that ken ‘gets’ it and i’m especially glad for articles like this one about tuna. we have to be very careful of what we are eating now, where it came from and what kind of radiation it contains.
No kitchen geiger counter.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-12/geiger-counters-to-find-radiation-in-meals-may-be-meaningless-.html
the radiation network gives a quick and dirty tute on using geiger counters to measure background x10 minutes and then comparing that measurement to food/drink x10 minutes. it looks pretty sketchy but some people may need to ‘do something’ even if its not totally accurate. i think its a good idea to use common sense, track radioactive contamination data where its available, demand testing and release of timely information and to do research to figure out where contamination is going to bioaccumulate. there is a lot of data available from chernobyl. we can make somewhat educated predictions of where contamination will rear its ugly head in the food supply.
I avoid tuna because of the risk of mercury. I have several dozen cases of salmon and mackerel, though. I realize a lot of people don’t like the stronger “fishy” taste with salmon or mackerel, but it’s amazing what you can “cover up” with spices.
A lot of tuna for the Japanese markets comes from Ocean Fish farms based in the oceans south of Australia
How long does the process take for the tuna to be caught and canned? Is there a way to know when the tuna on the store shelves now was caught? Do you think some of the canned fish in the store now was caught before the radiation started entering the ocean? If not, does anyone know how long it will be before potentially contaminated fish will could be on the shelves?
I bought some frozen salmon last week and noticed that were caught in the North East pacific Ocean. It is now 6 weeks since the disaster in Tokyo. My gut feeling is to return these packages of salmon to the shop. I need to know roughly when they were caught. How can I get this info? Thanks.
Some are posting their “safe food” lists on the Berkley website if you’re interested: http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/node/3361