No Health Threat For U.S. West Coast From Low Concentration Radioactive Particles From Japan
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reports that “All the available information continues to indicate Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. Territories, and the U.S. West Coast are not expected to experience any harmful levels of radioactivity,” despite the reports of low concentrations of radioactive particles heading eastward from Japan.
On April 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there are no radiation related health risks to individuals outside of Japan. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control remains confident that there will be no serious health consequences here in the U.S.
The U.S. continues to monitor the situation through Radnet, a system of 100 radiation monitors overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Pepperdine University officials are also following developments for any changes. Additional information is available from the resources below:
- The California Department of Public Health has opened a phone hotline to address concerns regarding local radiation exposure. The hotline is (916) 341-3947.
- The Centers for Disease Control has also opened a line for those with questions (800) CDC-INFO or (800) 232-4696. Additional information is available on their web site http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/.
- The World Health Organization www.who.int
- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission http://www.nrc.gov/
- The Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/radiation/
- Southern California Air Quality Management District http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/2011/Radiationmonitoring.htm
- EPA link to common sources of radiation exposure in everyday life (please scroll to the bottom of the page) http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/perspective.html
Pepperdine Emergency Information 