Simon Fraser University chemistry professor Krysztof Starosta says further testing of soil is needed after small amounts of radioactivity was found in a recent sample.
Collected near Kilby Park in Agassiz, the soil was found to contain a radioactive metal known as Cesium 134 (134C), which Starosta says is from the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan three years ago.
The soil was provided to Starosta by a colleague in the School of Resource and Environmental Management, and he said in a release that the presence of radiation by itself does not indicate there is any danger to human health.
“It is the dose which determines the impact,” says Starosta. “At no point, we think, is there any risk to general public.”
READ MORE: Is Fukushima radiation posing a threat to fish caught off the B.C. coast?
Starosta has since followed up with other soil samples from Kilby and SFU, all collected in March, and did not find any evidence for the presence of 134Cs. He will continue to further investigate the presence of the metal in B.C. soil.
A 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan in 2011, triggering meltdowns at three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant
Comments