We had a light amount of cold drizzle this evening; we took a sample swipe from the truck and the reading returned 9x greater than background radiation. Post August 2011, this is a surprisingly low reading from the leading edge of the Northern Jetstream. Currently we have low level warm air and high level cold air, with drizzle that occasional contains a small amount of sleet.
Since the August down turn in Fukushima, we typically receive a MINIMUM of 20x background radiation from the Northerly Jetstream fallout. Hopefully this lower reading is a sign of improving conditions at Fukushima. The highest readings we have had to date were 276X greater-than-background radiation on 10/17/11 (see video below). By comparison today's readings are a great improvement, however 3x background is the maximum we would have expected pre-Fukushima.
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Funny how we've all lowered our standards as to what qualifies as good news. I so understand.
ReplyDeleteQuick question: you state that the 3xbackground pre-Fukushima was the maximum expected for a radon progeny wash-out. Do you base this upon actual measurements you have taken with a similar instrument/protocol, or have you based this a general standard as per the EPA 3x background HAZMAT level, or is this based upon another data source?
Thank you, Annette
Annette,
ReplyDeleteThe 3x is based on a few things:
(1) in the few times we tested pre-Fukushima, we never had a rainfall that registered hot enough for us to take the next step and swipe the car for contamination.
(2) We spent many months looking through research data to determine what detectable levels might be using our methodology and equipment.
(3) We had a recent case of a 2-3x detection where the precipitation was most likely not jetstream related, see http://pissinontheroses.blogspot.com/2012/01/930am-local-radon-washout-rain-at-2-3x.html
Dear Ms. X:
DeleteI am the director of the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) research group. Please visit us at www.radiation.org.
You may know that I and a colleague published a journal article in December on the "spike" in reported deaths from the CDC in spring 2010-spring 2011 - we estimated an "excess" of 14,000 U.S. deaths, and received lots of media coverage.
I am very, very interested in the St. Louis readings, and would like to learn a bit more about how you obtained your data. The sharp rises in fall 2011 is a great hidden secret from the public.
My phone number and email (odiejoe@aol.com) is one our web site "contact us." Please let me hear from you.
Joseph Mangano,
DeleteWe prefer to maintain our anonymity. The measurements are from typically from a paper towel used to wipe down parts our SUV. Pretty much all the questions are answered somewhere on the blog, but if you have any specific questions feel free to post them.
I don't think it is good news--sorry. EPA took Yuma readings down. They've been very high recently. They either took them down because they had risen even higher or because they know I'm tracking them.
ReplyDeleteToday Phoenix was over 400 cpm beta. We've not been that high for awhile.
So maybe the jet stream moved south a bit.
Interesting article today in my local paper: AZ Republic p. A2 3/5/2012 "Asian Air Pollution Linked to Air Violations in US." The article examines 2010 data using models and reports that the models showed "significant amounts of the contaminants rode the jet stream across the Pacific Ocean to the western US"