Slightly elevated radiation levels detected in Iowa

DES MOINES – Iowa monitors are detecting slightly elevated radiation levels but a state official said Monday there is no concern regarding any negative health effects linked to Japan's nuclear crisis.

Melanie Rasmusson, chief of the state Department of Public Health's bureau of radiological health, said the miniscule readings generally reflected normal fluctuations in background radiation levels present in soil and the environment that pose “no cause for concern.” She noted that slightly elevated readings were expected following the release of radioactive particles into the air at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, but there is no way to pinpoint readings taken in Iowa specifically with that event.

Information at Iowa's two permanent RadNet radiation monitors (www.epa.gov) in Des Moines and Mason City that relay data to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lab indicates that “to date levels recorded at the monitors have been thousands of times below any conservative level of concern.” Rasmusson said the key message she would like to relay to Iowans is “to know that they're safe right now.”

EPA officials reported last week that Colorado and Oregon had joined several other Western states in reporting trace amounts of radioactive particles that had likely drifted about 5,000 miles from a quake and tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan.

Since Iowa is thousands of miles from Japan, Rasmusson said it is unlikely Iowa will detect fluctuations other than miniscule radiation readings given that radioactive particles disperse in the air – especially when traveling long distances.

Health officials have indicated there is no need for anyone as a precautionary measure to take potassium iodide, a medication that can counter the harmful effects of iodine-131.