Traces of radioactive iodine were detected Saturday in China's Heilongjiang province, a Chinese government agency told state-run media. The slight rise in radiation, which authorities determined had emanated from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, was a minuscule fraction -- one-hundred-thousandth, to be exact -- beyond normal background radiation levels, China's National Nuclear Emergency Coordination Committee said, according to Xinhua.
Because of the low level, the government agency said there was no harm to public health in China and said there was no need for any extra precautions.
Previously, similar trace levels of radiation from the embattled Japanese nuclear plant had been reported as far away as Sweden and the United States.
In addition, other nations are acting to ensure that their citizens in Japan don't suffer any ill effects from nuclear fall-out.
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, for instance, noted on its website Saturday that it would continue "to make potassium iodide tablets available to private U.S. citizens who have not been able to obtain it from their physician, employer or other sources." This medication that can counter the harmful effects of radioactive iodine when it gets into the body through the air, water or other means, health officials say.
While Japanese authorities have distributed some such pills to people who lived closed to the embattled power plant, they have not been made available to the general public. (read more)
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