Nuclear Meltdown

Radioactive Iodine found in US drinking water

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-05 13:09

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WASHINGTON - Trace amounts of radioactive iodine has been found in drinking water samples in two northwestern US states, but the levels detected have been far below levels of public-health concern, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said late Monday.

According the EPA, Drinking water samples from two locations, Boise, Idaho and Richland, Washington, showed trace amounts of Iodine-131 -- about 0.2 picocuries per liter in each case.

"An infant would have to drink almost 7,000 liters of this water to receive a radiation dose equivalent to a day's worth of the natural background radiation exposure we experience continuously from natural sources of radioactivity in our environment," the EPA said in a statement.

As a result of the incident with the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, several EPA air monitors have detected very low levels of radioactive material in the United States consistent with estimated releases from the damaged nuclear reactors. EPA has stepped up monitoring of precipitation, milk, and drinking water in response to the Fukushima events.