Radiation Contamination In Japan Is Resulting In Birth Defects

Jun 10 2011           Jump To Discussion

TOKYO – The first signs of the negative side effects of the massive radiation leak that has continued to contaminate Japan since the 9.0 earthquake on March 11 2011 are becoming visible.

Experts have predicted since the onset of the nuclear disaster that unless Japan manages to contain the radiation leakage, an array of health problems for its population, including animals and plant life would be unavoidable.

Birth defects and  long term health concerns were on top of the danger list as a result of continuous contamination of Japan’s environment.

Now, the first evidence that these warnings were well founded, is beginning to show its ugly face.

Rare birth defects, contributed directly to excessive radiation exposure, are being witnessed in Japan.

A baby bunny, born without ears, is the first reported animal birth defect as a result of the parent rabbit eating radioactive contaminated food,  breathing toxic air or roaming on contaminated grounds.

The bunny was born near the Fukushima plant, where nuclear fallout has been the strongest since the facility was destroyed by the Tsunami earlier this year.

The local public is in agony over possibly having many children in the region being born with mild to severe birth defects because of radiation exposure.

The radioactivity levels around the nuclear plant have continuously measured much higher than what is considered safe for humans.

Radioactive cooling water has been seeping into the grounds, leaked into the ocean and radioactive mist continues to blast into the atmosphere.

Despite Japan’s best effort, the leakage is still not contained and several engineers working at the highly damaged plant have been exposed to excessive levels of radiation.

Tepco, the company that operates the Fukushima facility, announced earlier this week that the radiation levels in reactor #1 have been measured to reach 4,000 milli-sievert per hour; the highest level of radiation in the air since the reactor was first damaged.

The radiation contamination is visible elsewhere in Japan as well. Recent reports reveal that entire green tea farms are no longer fit for human consumption and will have to be destroyed.

Authorities have disclosed that the region of Shizuoka, which contains Japan’s largest tea farms, has been contaminated with levels of radiation that are unsafe.

Thousands of hectares of lush green tea fields must be destroyed, resulting in millions of dollars of lost revenue for the farms, which could have devastating long term consequences.

In 2009, Japan exported 86,000 tons of dried tea. 46 percent of that was produced in the Shizuoka region.

Experts say that there is no doubt that Japan’s landscape, its people, its environment and its economy are undergoing tremendous changes, resulting in hundreds of thousands of lives lost, land patches that will remain forever unsafe for human, agricultural and livestock population and have a negative impact on its economy that over time, will be much further reaching than the billions of dollars in lost revenue.

 

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