->PConnect(script.ftech.net,mi2gl,m4d2e,mi2gl)
 

Japan: Food and Water Contamination

London, UK - 21st March 2011, 8:55 GMT

Dear ATCA Open & Philanthropia Friends

[Please note that the views presented by individual contributors are not necessarily representative of the views of ATCA, which is neutral. ATCA conducts collective Socratic dialogue on global opportunities and threats.]

Food and Water Safety

Japan faces food and water contamination concerns on top of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. The cascading catastrophe has clearly entered a second phase. The concerns about tainted food and water may add extra psychological, sociological and economic dimensions on top of the severe assaults the Japanese people have recently endured. Multiple tragedies have left tens of thousands of people, dead, injured and missing in Japan.


Wounded Japan: Stay Strong!

Drinking Water, Rain Water and Dust

Drinking water, rain water and dust are showing signs of being radioactively tainted. The Health Ministry has advised a village in Fukushima prefecture not to drink tap water because of radioactive iodine in its supply. Tests also show traces of radioactivity in Tokyo’s drinking water although the measurement is still significantly below the legal safe limit. Tokyo's tap water, where radioactive iodine turned up a few days ago, now has radioactive caesium in it.

Milk, Spinach and Leafy Vegetables

Tests have found levels of radioactive iodine up to 17 to 20 times the legal limit in samples of raw milk, spinach and two leaf vegetables as far away from the damaged nuclear plant as 75 miles or 120 km. Contamination was also found on canola and chrysanthemum greens in three more prefectures. While tainted milk was found 20 miles or 30 km from the nuclear plant, spinach was collected from farms up to 75 miles or 120 km south of the plant. Testing at some locations also found levels of radioactive caesium 4 times the legal limit, the Health Ministry has just reported.

Half Life: Iodine & Caesium

Iodine and caesium radioactive isotopes are by-products of nuclear reactors like the ones that were damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and ended up releasing radioactive contamination into the atmosphere. While iodine-131 has a radioactive half-life of eight days, caesium-137's half-life is about 30 years. After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, tons of food had to be destroyed when radioactive debris fell on crops in large areas of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.

International Dimensions

The Japanese food safety concern is acquiring international dimensions. Taiwan's Atomic Energy Council said radiation was detected on fava beans imported from Japan, although the radiation was declared to be below the threshold that could harm human health. It is increasingly likely that food product imported from Japan would test positive for radioactive isotopes in other countries as well. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in Rome and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva are devising the appropriate methodology to monitor and to control this rising risk of radioactive food contamination.

Bans and Halts

As a precaution, Japan has slapped shipping restrictions on food products produced in two provinces so far: Fukushima and Ibaraki. Both prefectures are close to the dysfunctional nuclear power plant. The Japanese government may decide to widen the freeze on contaminated water and food products in the near future. The search is being hampered by a shortage of equipment and facilities necessary for accurately measuring radioactivity in food. What is slowing the process even further is the absence of a central authority that can oversee the far-reaching investigation to decide what steps ought to be taken.

IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirms radiation in some Japanese milk and vegetables was "significantly higher" than levels normally allowed for consumption.

No Threat

International experts and the Japanese government have said the levels of radioactivity recorded in water, milk and spinach, amongst other food products, do not pose an immediate threat to human health. It will be difficult to convince Japanese citizens that this is the case. The danger is that they may shy away from Japanese food products significantly.

Cascading Effects

Farmers and merchants have expressed fears that public anxiety might hurt even those producers of food products and goods that are entirely free of contamination. If the government outlaws all the produce from specific regions, that may be equivalent to putting the stamp of death on those farmers and merchants. They may not be able to sell any produce to anybody for some time to come. Farmers and prefectural governments are now concerned that consumers may start avoiding all domestically grown farm products completely.

Food Export

The Japanese government is taking steps to test food products and monitor exports for radiation contamination. Thankfully, Japan's food exports are worth about $3.3 billion a year, which is less than 0.5% of its total exports. Japan imports far more food than it exports, and even some of the most basic ingredients in Japanese cuisine are primarily imported. In 2009, the total value of the country's food imports stood at around $53 billion.

Conclusion

As it is, fuel, food and water continue to remain scarce in Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Now there is the fear of radioactive contamination. Given that radiation is invisible, there is something about the fear generated by any level of radioactivity in food products and tap water that no amount of official reassurance is likely to overcome. This fear and scarcity could exercise real constraints on economic growth for Japan in the future, spark an exodus of talented people and might stoke inflation.

[STOPS]

We are hosting an Expert roundtable on this issue at ATCA 24/7 on Yammer.

[ENDS]

Expert Roundtables

Expert roundtables are the newly launched ATCA 24/7 Q&A private exclusive club service. They seek to become the killer application in strategic intelligence by delivering an unprecedented competitive advantage to our distinguished members. They can only be accessed online at https://www.yammer.com/atca

Q1: How to become a privileged member of ATCA 24/7 to participate in the expert roundtables?

A1: i. If you are a distinguished member of ATCA 5000, ATCA Open, The Philanthropia or HQR affiliated groups you may be allowed to become a privileged member of this new and exclusive private club.

ii. If you are pre-invited, visit the private intelligence network -- PIN -- by going to https://www.yammer.com/atca [Note: In https:// 's' is for security and encryption]

iii. If you don't have membership of the PIN yet, email the mi2g Intelligence Unit at intelligence.unit at mi2g dot com for an exclusive invitation.

Q2: How to participate in the expert roundtables and get domain-specific strategic intelligence questions answered?

A2: Access the ATCA 24/7 Private Intelligence Network -- PIN -- online and ask or answer a strategic intelligence question, no matter how complex. Receive expert answers within 24 hours or get pointers from:

i. ATCA 5000 experts who are online;
ii. ATCA Research and Analysis Wing; and
iii. mi2g Intelligence Unit.

Q3: Why is the ATCA 24/7 Q&A Exclusive Club special?

A3: ATCA 24/7 has now created an exclusive private intelligence watering hole and expert roundtable at the highest level where interesting and sophisticated questions are being asked from around the world, and intelligent answers are being provided, almost always by experts who have deep domain-specific knowledge. Come and check out the exclusive club, take it for a strategic test drive, which sign-of-intelligent life are you waiting for?

To learn more about "The Expert Roundtable: ATCA 24/7 Q&A Club" email: intelligence.unit at mi2g.com and if you are already a member visit https://www.yammer.com/atca

We welcome your thoughts, observations and views. To reflect further on this subject and others, please respond within Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn's ATCA Open and related discussion platform of HQR. Should you wish to connect directly with real time Twitter feeds, please click as appropriate:

. ATCA Open

. @G140

. mi2g Intelligence Unit

. Open HQR

. DK Matai

Best wishes


ATCA: The Asymmetric Threats Contingency Alliance is a philanthropic expert initiative founded in 2001 to resolve complex global challenges through collective Socratic dialogue and joint executive action to build a wisdom based global economy. Adhering to the doctrine of non-violence, ATCA addresses asymmetric threats and social opportunities arising from climate chaos and the environment; radical poverty and microfinance; geo-politics and energy; organised crime & extremism; advanced technologies -- bio, info, nano, robo & AI; demographic skews and resource shortages; pandemics; financial systems and systemic risk; as well as transhumanism and ethics. Present membership of ATCA is by invitation only and has over 5,000 distinguished members from over 120 countries: including 1,000 Parliamentarians; 1,500 Chairmen and CEOs of corporations; 1,000 Heads of NGOs; 750 Directors at Academic Centres of Excellence; 500 Inventors and Original thinkers; as well as 250 Editors-in-Chief of major media.

The Philanthropia, founded in 2005, brings together over 1,000 leading individual and private philanthropists, family offices, foundations, private banks, non-governmental organisations and specialist advisors to address complex global challenges such as countering climate chaos, reducing radical poverty and developing global leadership for the younger generation through the appliance of science and technology, leveraging acumen and finance, as well as encouraging collaboration with a strong commitment to ethics. Philanthropia emphasises multi-faith spiritual values: introspection, healthy living and ecology. Philanthropia Targets: Countering climate chaos and carbon neutrality; Eliminating radical poverty -- through micro-credit schemes, empowerment of women and more responsible capitalism; Leadership for the Younger Generation; and Corporate and social responsibility.



Intelligence Unit | mi2g | tel +44 (0) 20 7712 1782 fax +44 (0) 20 7712 1501 | internet www.mi2g.net
mi2g: Winner of the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the category of Innovation

mi2g is at the leading edge of building secure on-line banking, broking and trading architectures. The principal applications of its technology are: 1. D2-Banking; 2. Digital Risk Management; and 3. Bespoke Security Architecture. For more information about mi2g, please visit: www.mi2g.net

Renowned worldwide for the ATCA Briefings. Subscribe now.
 
Home - Profile - Values - People - Careers - Partners - Contact Us
D2 Banking - Bespoke Security Architecture - Digital Risk Management - Tools

Intelligence Briefings - Brochures - Case Studies -
SIPS Methodology FAQ (pdf)
Keynote Speeches - Articles - News Feeds - Glossary (pdf)
Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy