|
 This
illustration is created from data run through NOAA's Ocean Surface
Current Simulation (OSCURS). The different colors are a prediction of
the movement of debris from the Japanese tsunami over five years. Year
1= red; Year 2= orange; Year 3= yellow; Year 4= light blue; Year 5=
violet
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It's been just over a year since a
9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan. The ensuing
tsunami
devastated Japan's
coastline and killed nearly 16,000 people. While Japan
continues to recover from the disaster, debris has started to
show up on U.S.
shores. Earlier
this month debris was reported on Sitka's
shores and some was found on Kodiak's beaches last December. Researchers
say people should not be concerned about overexposure to radiation.
Kathryn
Higley is the head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation
Health Physics at Oregon
State University.
Higley says she and other researchers feel confident that while debris found on
shore might set off your Geiger counter, the level of radiation will be
negligible.
"One
the tsunami and the earthquake happened a couple of days really before any
release from the plant occurred, so this material was offshore. That's the
first thing; it wasn't right up against the plant. The second thing is that a
lot of these contaminants are very water soluble. Even with the release from
the air that deposited on the debris field which is floating in the ocean and
also some of the releases out from the plant, it's going to get diluted because
of salt water, rain, waves and the like that are going to wash it off the
debris. So it's possible that we can detect it because we have really, really
sensitive equipment, but in terms of threat and hazard to people it's not
radiation. I would personally be more concerned because it's debris coming from
industrialized areas where you have the equivalent of Home Depot, you have
petroleum processing facilities, agricultural areas with pesticides and
herbicides and things like that, you know, I'm not concerned about the
radiation effects. I'm more concerned about the fact that this is debris from
an industrialized area and you have to be aware that there may be hazardous
chemicals and other things in it so you treat it with caution."
Unopened
bottles containing chemicals or other compounds likely pose the most danger to
beachcombers. Higley says people need to treat all debris with caution, though
not because of risk of radiation exposure. Below we've linked to several resources
available or coastal community residents who are concerned about
how to deal with tsunami debris.
NOAA Marine Debris Program FAQs
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NOAA Marine Debris Tracker App
International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawai'i
Marine Conservation Alliance Debris Monitoring Program
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