Officials Insists Radiation Levels Pose No Threat to Southland

Trace amounts of radioactive material from the nuclear-reactor crisis in Japan have been detected in California, but experts say residents need not be concerned.

According to a CNN report, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization says a radiation monitor in Sacramento has found trace amounts of radioactive material from Japan's Fukushima reactors. But Tibor Toth, the organization’s executive secretary, points out that the measurements are below what's considered harmful to humans, CNN reports.

Locally, radiation levels measured today at three regional sites operated by the South Coast Air Quality Management District have not been higher than typical levels seen before the earthquake-tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, acording to district officials.

"I want to assure everybody that we do not expect to see harmful levels of radiation in the United States" or Los Angeles, county health director Dr. Jonathan Fielding said.

AQMD -- the air pollution control agency for all of Orange County and the urban portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties -- operates three radiation monitors in Southern California for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Levels at these sites are monitored hourly and the information is sent immediately to the U.S. E.P.A.

Despite these assurances, residents across the Southland have been racing to local pharmacies seeking potassium iodide pills, which is believed to prevent the body’s absorption of radiation.

“There actually is no recommendation from the government to have it or take it,” a Cerritos pharmacist said, adding that people have been making inquiries for the pills.

“What I can tell you is that there is a shortage (of the pills) throughout the area, but it’s not generally provided to customers,” she said.

Fielding and other health experts have cautioned residents against taking potassium iodide as a precautionary measure.

“Not only is this ineffective, it can also cause side effects,” Fielding said in a statement. “If a need should ever arise for residents to start taking potassium iodide to guard against effects of radiation exposure, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department - along with other local, state and federal agencies - will inform the public. We do not anticipate this need.”

Fielding also noted that any airborne radioactive material that reaches Southern California would be “well-diluted by the time it reaches the West Coast,” given the more than 5,000 miles that separates Japan and Los Angeles.

With concerns over radiation exposure spanning across the West Coast, President Barack Obama also addressed the issue during a White House news conference.

“We do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach the United
States, whether it's the West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska or U.S. territories in the Pacific,'' he said. ". . . That is the judgment of our Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and many other experts.

"Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health experts do not recommend that people in the United States take precautionary measures beyond staying informed,'' he said.

For more information on radiation protection, visit the EPA’s website. You can also resgister to receive daily email updates about radiation levels in the Southland, by visiting the AQMDs website.

Editor's Note: City News Service and Nancy Wride contributed to this report.