Hysteria Mounts Over “Radioactive” Tokyo Water
- Categories: Japan, News
- Date: Mar 23, 2011 21:12 JST
- Tags: Bizarre, Earthquakes, Mass Media, Medical, Politics, Shopping, Tokyo
The Japanese government has warned that Tokyo tap-water is contaminated with radioactive materials and that babies should not be allowed to drink it, prompting an immediate health scare as flighty Tokyo residents rush to buy up all the mineral water they can lay hands on.
The government admits radioactive iodine has been detected in Tokyo at a level of 210 becquerels per kg, significantly above normal levels.
It subsequently warned against babies or pregnant or nursing women from drinking this, immediately leading to panic buying of mineral water, with empty mineral water shelves and huge queues soon evident.
Fruit and vegetables from several prefectures have also been banned from sale after some exceeded government set (and exceedingly low) radiation limits.
Unfortunately, neither the government nor the mass media is highlighting the minuscule scales of the contamination or the highly precautionary nature of the health warnings, creating an immediate mass panic amongst a populace highly attuned to media scares and with virtually no ability to comprehend measurements of radiation.
In fact, it would be almost impossible to suffer ill-effects at the levels subject to warnings – the government estimates for a baby to reach the acceptable limit for radiation exposure (itself extremely low), it would have to drink 1 litre of tap water each day for a year.
Even larger scales of consumption apply to the amounts of contaminated foodstuffs which would need to be eaten by an actual adult in order to exceed exposure guidelines, let alone reach a level damaging to health.
Meanwhile, more level-headed physicians have pointed to research indicating more radiation may be involved in smoking a packet of cigarettes than in the levels currently subject to hysteria.
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western baby milk has 350 more radiation than "contaminated" water in tokyo
Then why not make a pump for ground water then boil it or something
Breast milk from women living near coal plants operating without scrubbers can have so much mercury it would be classified as hazardous waste if it was in a different container the her breasts.
Better stock up on Rad-X and Rad-Away.
And watch out for super mutants! Haha...
Crap, forgot where I left my Pip-boy! Now how will I know how much radioactive water and food I can take before instant death!?!
How to sell more stuff:
1) Fake a radioactive leak.
2) Spread news about it.
3) ???
4) Profit!
/sarcasm
Capitalism ho!
*Ding Dong.
The price of Mineral Water Bottle has increased! The Japanese Government made a warning that vegies, fresh milk and seafood sold in the market are contaminated by uranium! Hirano Aya, Helmet-san is looking for you!
*End of announcement.
yea, i was just thinking that either the japanese government is extremely thick or they are trying to kick start the economy with mineral water
due to fear of radiation the price of bottled water has increased!
house wives have come in great numbers to buy the much saught after "water"!
sweet! I can totally sell this water for 270% of the base price. I love this game!
Capitalism Ho!
The Recettear references made me smile :D
hows the business bro?
great, selling water like in radioactive Tokyo
Dont drink too much! You'll go into ghoulification
Bottled "spring" water is one of the biggest money-making scams on the planet. 99.9% of the time, it's local water 'filtered' and bottled.
Why pay for something that you can get for (almost) free??
And besides, 1/3 of the planet is covered in water.
And out bodies are also composed of 1/3 water.
Funny isn't it?
Maybe I should sell some bottled spring water on [http://www.ebay.jp?]http://www.ebay.jp?
Japan is so rad
That's so cold, but soooo funny. Not to mention true.
I'd still go for coke
agree with @extrovertedotaku XD.
well, all that makes me sad anyway.
You play too much Fallout,don`t you?
It's just for laugh. Why so serious ?
Look at his avatar.. I don't really think he can be... that serious.
It was just a comment.
I think bottle cap PLANTS are my targets
That's some good Nuka-Cola
Now I'm in the mood to play FO3.
Be a ghoul then laugh at that rad water.
Becquerels?
Dammit Jade control your dog.
The water aisle is all dried up.
Well, that solves the problem of old stocks then :3
Why don't they drink holy water?
They just have to boil the hell out of it!
Odd. I thought for sure sankaku would have been outrageously hyping the threat as per the usual M.O. I can only guess that contrariness won out over sensationalism.
it's not germs, it's radiation dammit boiling is useless.
Fail once again. It's over the limit for infants (100 untis). The limit is higher for everyone else (300 units). And the japanese standard is really strict, the limit is much higher (up to 3k units) everywhere else.
Purify it with Aqua Benedicta + Empty Bottle :D
They would have to stand in that water though =D
Guess what I could sell radiation-free mineral water on these Japs and make millions!
Little do they know that mineral water is just filtered tap water and the radiation is still there. :)
Not if the water comes from a different area... -.-'
If it comes from an artesian spring it just may be slightly radioactive.
Though filters and exchange resins would remove uranium and cesium just as they do lead and mercury.
Yeah. Like from here where the water is naturally three times as radiating as Tokyo tap water. Been drinking it for over 20 years and haven't died yet.
That's... not how you test it. You should compare the number of cancer deaths per 1000 people in your area and an area with much lower average exposure to get a meaningful result.
what if the watered was already bottled up before being contaminated
I can already see the next Namco "Tales of" game Series after Xillia. "Tales of Hysteria".
Fuck yeah, Kirkland ftw. Not that water is a product I'd mention though haha.
lolz@ the stack in the first pic :D
Did everybody fail chemistry?
Everybody can calculate their radiation exposure, so there is no reason to be scared.you have to try really hard to increase your radiation exposure to levels that are actually dangerous for you unless you are dumb enough to bathe in toxic waste, in that case go ahead.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Xkcd_radiation_chart.png
Don't forget though that ingesting or breathing in radioactive material is much more harmful than having radiation exposed on your skin. Radioactive particles are not easily eliminated from the body.
Panic Buying in Japan,and watch out for Mutant X and the X-men