Minute levels of radiation detected in breast milk & Cesium found in sludge

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/30_22.html

apan's Health Ministry says it has detected a minute amount of radioactive materials in breast milk in 7 mothers in central and northeastern Japan. The ministry says the amount does not pose a danger to their babies' health. The ministry on Saturday released the results of a study conducted in Fukushima, Tokyo and other 3 prefectures in Kanto region from last Sunday through Thursday. The ministry says breast milk samples from a mother in Iwaki City of Fukushima Prefecture contained 3.5 becquerels of radioactive iodine per kilogram and 2.4 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram. Up to 2.8 becquerels of radioactive materials per kilogram were also detected in 6 mothers in 2 other prefectures. Japan has no regulatory levels to determine the health risk from radioactive substances in breast milk. But it sets the safety levels for babies' consumption of milk and drinking water at 100 becquerels of radioactive iodine per kilogram and 200 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram. The detected amount in the samples was much lower than the regulatory levels and the ministry says it is too minute to have any impact on babies' health. It also says mothers who are breast-feeding should not be overly concerned. Professor Nobuya Unno of Kitasato University says it is necessary to carefully analyze how and for how long radioactive materials will affect breast milk when mothers drink water and eat food that contain such substances.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_25.html

Relatively high levels of radioactive cesium have been detected in the sludge from a waste water treatment plant in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture. The prefectural government is tracking some of the sludge that has been shipped out of the prefecture to be used in making cement. The prefecture's investigation found that the sludge contained 26,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram. The solidified slag made from it contained 334,000 becquerels per kilogram, which is 1,300 times the level before the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The prefecture says rain likely washed radioactive substances from the surface of the ground into the sewer, and they became concentrated through processing.

The sludge from the facility is transported out of the prefecture and used to produce cement. The prefectural government will suspend the recycling and track the sludge that has been shipped since the accident to determine how it has been used. The land and transport ministry says it will report the incident to the Nuclear Safety Agency, and coordinate with the Environment Ministry and other relevant organizations to find ways to process the sludge safely. The sludge must be kept at the facility until a solution is found. The ministry says there is no precedent for this, but that it will decide soon what to do.