Minuscule levels of radiation from Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant have been detected in Colorado.
The EPA has radiation monitoring stations in each state. Samples collected in the Denver area on Tuesday showed trace levels of the radioactive isotope iodine-131. Mark Salley is a spokesman with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. He says there’s no health risk from the levels which are similar to what’s been detected in other western states.
“The plume from Japan has traveled thousands of miles and taken some time to get here and we expect that other states – RadNet monitors – will begin picking up traces of this as well,” says Salley.
Federal health officials say Americans typically receive daily doses of radiation from natural sources, such as the sun, that are 100,000 times higher than the fallout from Japan. State health officials have sent samples to the Environmental Protection Agency for analysis but are confident in saying they are from Japan.