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doi:10.1093/rpd/ncu150
NOTE
Even though many studies have shown that radioactive caesium levels in fish caught outside of Japan were below experimental
detection limits of a few Bq kg21, significant public concern has been expressed about the safety of consuming seafood from the
Pacific Ocean following the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident. To address the public concerns, samples of commonly consumed salmon and groundfish harvested from the Canadian west coast in 2013 were analysed for radioactive caesium. None of
the fish samples analysed in this study contained any detectable levels of 134Cs and 137Cs under given experimental setting with
the average detection limit of 2 Bq kg21. Using a conservative worst-case scenario where all fish samples would contain 137Cs
exactly at the detection limit level and 134Cs at half of the detection limit level (to account for much shorter half-life of 134Cs),
the resulting radiation dose for people from consumption of this fish would be a very small fraction of the annual dose from exposure to natural background radiation in Canada. Therefore, fish, such as salmon and groundfish, from the Canadian west coast
are of no radiological health concern.
INTRODUCTION
Releases of radioactive contaminants, especially the
long-lived radioactive caesium-137 (137Cs), into the
Pacific Ocean following the Fukushima-Daiichi
nuclear accident in 2011 have raised public concerns
about seafood safety. The contaminated ocean water
plume propagates eastward towards the west coast of
North America(1, 2). There were simulations projecting that the contaminated water plume will reach the
northwestern American coast by early 2014, and
137
Cs in shelf waters north of 458N will reach a peak
concentration of a few tens of Bq kg21 (1). It is well
known that many fish species can migrate long distances in the ocean. Therefore, public concerns about
the safety of consuming seafood have extended to
seafood caught off the west coast of Canada far away
from the east coast of Japan.
Radiation surveillance in Canada has been significantly enhanced since the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant accident by virtue of Canadas participation in, and access to the International Monitoring
System of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty Organisation (CTBTO)(3), the expansion of
Health Canadas Canadian Radiological Monitoring
Network (CRMN)(4) monitoring stations and the
creation of a nationwide real-time Fixed Point
J. CHEN ET AL.
Page 2 of 6
Page 3 of 6
J. CHEN ET AL.
Table 1. Results of radioactivity measurements of fish samples from Canadian west coast.
Fish
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
July 2013
July 2013
July 2013
July 2013
July 2013
July 2013
July 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
November 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
134
Cs activity
(Bq kg21)
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
134
Cs MDC
(Bq kg21)
137
0.6
2.1
2.2
2.1
2.2
2.2
0.6
2.0
2.0
2.2
2.3
2.2
2.2
0.6
2.3
7.3
2.7
6.1
3.3
2.7
2.8
2.6
2.5
2.3
2.3
2.2
2.2
2.5
2.7
2.6
2.4
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.6
0.5
0.3
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.9
0.7
0.6
0.4
0.5
0.7
0.4
1.0
0.4
0.3
0.3
2.7
2.5
3.0
5.2
4.9
2.4
Cs activity
(Bq kg21)
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
137
Cs MDC
(Bq kg21)
0.6
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
2.2
0.6
2.0
2.0
2.1
2.3
2.1
2.1
0.6
2.2
6.2
2.6
5.5
3.1
2.4
2.5
2.2
2.3
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.3
2.4
2.2
2.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.5
0.6
1.0
1.0
0.4
0.4
1.0
0.3
0.4
0.8
0.4
0.4
0.3
2.5
2.2
2.5
4.7
4.1
2.1
210
Po activity
(Bq kg21)
1.2
0.5
1.2
1.0
1.2
0.7
0.7
0.8
0.6
1.4
,MDC
1.2
0.3
,MDC
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
0.6
0.2
0.3
,MDC
0.3
0.4
3.5
0.4
,MDC
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.6
0.9
0.3
0.4
,MDC
0.2
,MDC
0.3
x
x
x
x
x
x
210
Po MDC
(Bq kg21)
0.3
0.2
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.6
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.7
0.2
0.2
0.2
Continued
Page 4 of 6
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Chum
Coho
Coho
Halibut
Halibut
Halibut
Halibut
Halibut
Halibut
Halibut
Halibut
Halibut
Halibut
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Sablefish
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Harvested
Harvested
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Spiny dogfish
Average
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
June 2013
134
Cs activity
(Bq kg21)
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,1.9
134
Cs MDC
(Bq kg21)
137
Cs activity
(Bq kg21)
2.6
2.5
2.6
2.3
2.5
1.9
137
210
Cs MDC
(Bq kg21)
2.2
2.3
2.3
2.2
0.8
1.8
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,MDC
,1.8
Po activity
(Bq kg21)
210
Po MDC
(Bq kg21)
x
x
x
x
x
0.63
134
Cs
Cs
210
Po
137
0.95
1.8
0.6
DC (nSv Bq21)
Children
Adults
Children
Adults
Children
Adults
13
9.6
4400
19
13
1200
0.0019
0.0026
0.42
0.0027
0.0035
0.11
0.012
0.017
2.77
0.018
0.023
0.76
CONCLUSIONS
None of the fish samples analysed in this study contained any detectable levels of 134Cs and 137Cs under
given experimental setting with a detection limit of
2 Bq kg21. Fish (such as salmon and groundfish)
from the Canadian west coast are of no health
concern for both radiation contaminants and naturally occurring radionuclides.
As simulations predicted, in the near future, the
radioactive water plume could reach the areas where
these fish are rearing(1). Even in this case, it is expected
that levels of radioactive contaminants in fish will
remain well below Health Canada guidelines for food
and likely still below the detection limit of a few Bq
kg21. Nonetheless, further monitoring of 134Cs and
137
Cs, especially the long-lived 137Cs, in ocean water
and seafood will help confirm these assessments and
ensure public safety.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Les Clint and Darcy Miller for
providing Pacific salmon from the Big Qualicum
Hatchery and the Puntledge Hatchery, respectively.
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Page 5 of 6
Table 2. The assumed worst-case radiation doses for children (5 y old) and adults due to intake of one fish meal (150 g) and
several fish meals up to 1 kg.
J. CHEN ET AL.
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