FORBES
Milk from Little Rock and drinking water from Philadelphia contained the highest levels of Iodine-131 from Japan yet detected by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to data released by EPA Saturday.
The Philadelphia sample is below the EPA’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) for iodine-131, but the Little Rock sample is almost three times higher.
Nonetheless, the EPA does not consider the milk dangerous because the MCL is set for long-term exposure, and the iodine-131 from Japan’s Fukushima-Daichi nuclear accident is expected to be temporary and deteriorate rapidly.
The EPA’s MCL for iodine-131 is 3 picoCuries per liter.
The Little Rock milk sample contained 8.9 picoCuries per liter. It was collected on March 30.
Three drinking water samples collected in Philadelphia on April 4 contained Iodine-131, according to Saturday’s data release: