THE FOOD LAB

Helping to protect children and the community, by testing for radioactive contamination in food, and the environment.

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Listed here, are the latest International food detection reports for radioactive isotope contamination.

This  is a community based testing lab, and run as a free service to SCCC Inc., members. The computer based testing is running 24/7, so as new discoveries are made, the results will be posted here. All care is taken to produce as accurate results as possible, but take into account that this service is run by non professional volunteers. To improve the content provided on this page any constructive comments, suggestions, or corrections are welcome. The information on this site can be freely copied, and distributed. Why test food for radioactive contamination?

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Testing Results	Tools
Local Food Lab testing results	Free handy geiger counter use guide
Latest International food detection reports	Free DIY food testing lab guide
Local soil, water, and rain testing results	Local background radiation level monitoring site
Miscellaneous Items testing Results	To be placed on the food detection alert list simply click on  alertregister@sccc.org.au address, and send.
Spectrometry charts, Radium clock dial, Uraninite and Euxenite	Radio show,  after a bit of an introduction on synchronicity explains in detail why this site is so important
Equipment used in the local community testing lab

Why test food for radioactive contamination?

Because governments have deceived the public about food safety radiation levels worldwide.

 

They first release an article like the one below. I am using the EU as an example here.

 

“EU boosts food import controls after Japanese nuclear disaster. The European Union is to step up controls on food imports from Japan in the wake of the nuclear accident at Fukushima – but stressed there was no evidence that consumers in the region were at risk from radiation-contaminated food.

 

The EU ruling insists that all products from these prefectures are tested before leaving Japan and said they will be subject to random testing in the bloc. Japanese authorities will have to provide a declaration confirming products do not contain radioactive elements – called radionuclides – that exceed EU maximum levels. The Commission highlighted radionuclides iodine-131, caesium-134 and caesium-137.”

 

http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/EU-boosts-food-import-controls-after-Japanese-nuclear-disaster

 

This makes you feel warm and cosy inside, because you think your government is looking after you and your family. This article “EU boosts food import controls after Japanese nuclear disaster” is a clever deception because they then proceed to quietly raise the EU maximum safety levels by 20x for cesium-134 and cesium-137. Governments worldwide have used this same tactic.

 

http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/eu-secretly-ups-cesium-safety-level-in-food-20-fold/

 

They then tell the public everything is testing below safety levels, nothing to worry about!

Here is another example, Japan this time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc6FPIK1VaY

 

If you do purchase good food testing radiation contamination equipment, look at the old pre Fukushima radioactive food contamination safety levels, as a possible guide. If you can purchase a none contaminated food item do so, as any level of radioactive food contamination poses a risk.

 

So what does this mean?

Radiation contamination bio-accumulates over time, particularly in meat, dairy and seafood grown and harvested in radiation contaminated areas. Ingested radiation from contaminated food radiates body cells with high doses of radiation for long periods of time.

 

You can’t rely on governments, so it is important for your family’s health and safety that you take the time and effort to research this subject. In summary, for your family’s safety, only purchase food and goods that are not from contaminated areas. Also, research dietary systems that help remove or protect your body from radioactive contamination.

 

An Oncologist in Japan has been doing ongoing research on the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster site workers, and found he is getting very good results with Liposomal Vitamin C. It appears to be healing a lot of radiation damage to their bodies. Liposomal Vitamin C is a combination of vitamin C and lecithin. This combination seems to improve the up take of vitamin C by 80%! It maybe a good idea for you and your family to research taking this to fortify against the effects of radiation. He has been trying to encourage the Japanese government to educate their people about this treatment.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbm_MH3nSdM&feature=channel&list=UL

 

Making your own Liposomal Vitamin C,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2eqfiTxDwg&feature=related

 

The general suggestion at the present time is to eat locally grown Australian food. No detections have been made in any locally grown food that has been tested so far. Be careful of food products labelled “Made from Australian and imported ingredients”.

 

Further Reading

Even low-level radioactivity is damaging, http://www.sc.edu/news/newsarticle.php?nid=5214#.UKlCJYbAHov“

“Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment” Alexey Yablokov, Vasily Nesterenko and AlexeyNesterenko. Contributing Editor, Janette Sherman NY Academy of Sciences, Volume 1181, 2009. 5,000 Slavic language studies reviews, over 1,400 cited.Yablokov Chernobyl book.pdf

According to the Petkau Effect long term low level radiation can potentially be more dangerous than a short high dose.

Nuclear a financial and environmental assessment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YdelLRdI4w&feature=player_embedded

 

Latest International reports of radioactive isotope contamination of food items

This is by no means a complete list. If you know of a reported detection that is not on this list please lets us know by posting a comment.

 

NOTE: A lot of food and environmental detection reports tend to concentrate on Cesium detection. This is because it is relatively easy to test for, and detect. If Cesium is present in a test result, there is a possibility that other types of radioactive isotopes are also present  but not reported. Fallout is a dirty mixture of isotopes. It is not just Cesium. Some of the other isotope contaminants particularly the dangerous Alpha emitters, need more specialized and expensive equipment  to detect their presence.

Ingested radiation from contaminated food or water, can radiate body cells with high doses of radiation for long periods of time. This means any ingestion of radioactive isotopes increases the risk to ones well being. Children and pregnant women are far more sensitive to the effects of radiation. This very informative video, that is just 10 minutes long, discusses the damage very small amounts Cesium can do to children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9d3I3S99Dc&feature=player_embedded

Click on country name to see country location report

This will make it easier to find the latest reports. The most recent reports will also be added to the

comments section, as well as the country lists. Why test food for radioactive contamination?

Japan	USA	Canada	South Korea	Australia	New Zealand	Thailand	China	England	Europe	Romania
Switzerland	Pacific Ocean

 

Computer equipment used in the local community testing lab

This is what the testing equipment looks like set up on a computer, with the Beeresearch bias box “Gamma Spectacular” unit, plus scintillator. The scintillator is the tall silver tube. It is the scintillator that does the detection. They are very delicate and need to be handled with care.

 

more info here,

http://www.gammaspectacular.com/

 

To get the best testing results a scintillator needs to be set up in a lead shielded testing chamber. The unit used for testing is a 2′ x 2′ NaI  crystal scintillator, set up in a 15 mm thick lead shielded container.

Spectrometry Charts

For those interested in Spectrometry, here are some charted results using this equipment to test radioactive items, and mineral samples.

 

Americium in smoke detector  If you use an ionizing smoke detector for this type of test for safety reasons don’t pull it apart. Watch this very informative video on why the fire safety experts consider Ionization Smoke Alarms in the home to be DEADLY, and an environmental hazard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbymErJBw9c

 

Black fungus material from Japan test chart I was sent this resin encapsulated sample of black fungus like material. It has reportedly come from somewhere in the Minamisoma area Japan. A contact in Japan sent a friend this sample. This is my test chart of it. For those of you who have not looked at a chart like this before. The position of the peaks in a the chart indicate what isotopes are present. This fungus started growing on the concrete, and rock surfaces in Japan after the Fukushima Nuclear disaster. It appears to be bio-accumulating Cesium.

 

Radon washout chart from a local rain event, this was captured on a paper towel swab off a car surface, after a storm had passed by.

 

Potassium (K40) in 430 grams of almost pure Potassium Chloride using PRA software. Here is an interesting comparison using Theremino MCA  software versions 3.8 and 4.5  to test 100 grams of pure Potassium Chloride.

Theremino MCA V3.8

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Potassium-Cholide-100-grams-010513-TV38-22c-855546-text.png

Theremino MCA V4.5

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Potassium-Cholide-100-grams-010513-TV45-22c-89647-text.png

 

Radium clock dial chart This spectra was recorded in a lead shield chamber without a copper liner, or proper calibration,  hence the large secondary X-ray peak at approx 80 keV. The chart is of half a Radium clock dial. This is to demonstrate what the equipment can do, plus to show how radioactive this small piece of fashionable jewelry was. A lot of people who used it as jewelry, or who were employed to paint these dials, died from the exposer to this highly radioactive substance.

 

The Radium clock Dail, Uraninite, and Euxenite, samples were kindly loaned by enenews member, Spectrometising.

 

Uraninite sample Chart Spectra recorded with a copper liner. Uraninite is a Uranium rich mineral, it is most commonly known as pitchblende. It is very radioactive.  It was used here to calibrate the equipment.

 

Euxenite Y Chart  Spectra recorded in a lead shield chamber without a copper liner, hence the large secondary X-ray peak at approx 80 Kev.

 

Food Testing Results

Lots of food items have been tested. Only food items that have had radioactive isotope detections in them are listed here.
Spirulina Detection  (24/03/2013)

Possibly a small amount of radioactive iodine 1-129 has been detected in 200 grams of Spirulina, purchased at the local super market. It was tested twice. The other candidate is lead isotope Pb-210. I am leaning towards iodine because the  X-ray peak at 30 Kev fits its profile.  It is a small amount and is close to the limits of what the equipment here can detect. It is possibly a false positive detection. At this point Spirulina products should be tested by others to confirm if there is  any contamination with fallout isotopes.

 

This raises a lot of questions, because a lot of people are taking this to protect themselves against radiation exposure. I take it myself. I can only say that the Spirulina product container we purchased showed very small trace amounts of contamination, other batches could be fine. We will test other batches over time.

 

If this is a I-129 detection, why would it appear by itself?

One theory put forward is that the Spirulina organism is bio-accumlulating Iodine.

Here is some information that has already been put forward in discussions on this subject.

“If you are detecting it, it isn’t probably natural …. but will be Fukushima – and I-129 is probably at levels to be a health concern.”

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine-129

“I-129 is one of the 7 long-lived fission products that are produced in significant amounts. Its yield is 0.706% per fission (U-235).^[8] Larger proportions of other iodine isotopes like ¹³¹I are produced, but because these all have short half-lives, iodine in cooled spent nuclear fuel consists of about 5/6 ¹²⁹I and 1/6 the only stable iodine isotope, ¹²⁷I.”

 

Spirulina update

The batch off Spirulina I tested had on the packaging, “Made in Australia from Imported ingredients”. I was under the impression all Spirulina was produced in the Northern Hemisphere.  It has since been informed that an Australian company also produces Spirulina.

http://www.australianspirulina.com.au/

 

Cinnamon Detection (05/02/2013)

An 80 gram packet of Cinnamon imported from India, that was purchased in Australia, was found to have traces of Uranium isotope decay daughters in it. This is the second sample of Cinnamon that we have detected with isotope contamination. The other sample purchased last year was imported from Europe, and only had trace amounts of a single isotope.

 

This sample from India has multiple isotope peak signatures in it. This is probably from soil contamination during harvesting, processing, or root uptake. K40 is radioactive Potassium which is in every living thing, Pb-214 is radioactive lead, Bi-214 is radioactive Bismuth, and Ra-226 is Radium.

Test chart

 

Bentonite Clay Chart

This is a test of imported Bentonite clay. People are consuming Bentonite clay to remove radioactive contamination from their bodies, and for other health benefits.

 

The chart is of a 625 gram sample of Bentonite Clay. The peaks on the far left in this chart up to the 88 keV mark, are not from the Bentonite clay, but secondary X-ray artifacts created from background Gamma radiation passing through the lead shielding of the testing chamber.

 

The peak on the far right at 1460 keV is radioactive Potassium, referred to as K40. This is caused from the radiative K40 in the wooden building I did the testing in. A very small amount of K40 is in Potassium Chloride which is in pretty much every living thing.

 

If you look at the red highlighted peaks in this chart, the peaks indicate the presence of radioactive Radium Ra-226, Lead Pb-214 and Bi-214. Also on testing, Zeolite, also has be found to contain radioactive isotopes.

Zeolite Chart

1 kg of Zeolite was tested in a lead and copper lined test chamber. The Zeolite test showed that it had radioactive Lead and Bismuth Isotopes in it as well. It was not as radioactive as the Bentonite clay.

All soils have radioactive isotopes in them. This is what creates a lot of normal background radiation. These isotopes are created from Uranium and Thorium decay, which are present in soils. Most clays will have some radioactivity in them. That is why background radiation levels in a brick and tile house, are greater than a wooden one.

The second green marker in the Zeolite chart marks the largest peak for radioactive Lead Pb-214, and the second blue marker is Bismuth Bi-214, found in the Zeolite test.

People are taking Zeolite and Bentonite clay to remove radioactivity from their bodies, when they already have radioactive isotopes in them. OK, they only take a small amount at a time, so maybe it doesn’t matter? The benefits may out way the risks?

There is a big difference between using these items for environmental clean up or as a mud pack, to ingesting them. After testing and getting these results the big question are.

Is it a risk or an advantage to take these substances internally?

Do they actually remove radioactive contamination from a persons body as claimed?

 

Are the radioactive isotopes in them being absorbed when they pass through the digestive system?

 

It is generally agreed that consuming radioactive, or stable lead is not a good thing!

 

This type of testing only shows the radioactive isotopes that emit Gamma radiation in the samples. There may be stable lead and other heavy metal contamination also present.

After testing, I personally would not ingest these substances without a lot of further research, showing that they are actually doing something positive.

Bentonite Clay and Zeolite need further testing by others with this sort of equipment, to verify this. Note, samples mined from other locations may test differently.

Peaks in these charts are relative to the quantity of the samples used, plus the length of time the testing took. You will need to get an understanding of this to fully interpret the testing results from this equipment.

For instance, the peaks in the chart from the sample of radium on the clock dial that weighs a fraction of a gram, were very large. The Bentonite clay and Zeolite samples were 625 grams and 1 Kg. These are much larger test samples of material. They were also tested over a longer period of time. You need to take into account, time, distance and quantity, to make a proper assessment of the results. The radioactivity detected in the Bentonite clay and Zeolite samples were very much smaller than the radium clock dial!

Brazil Nuts Chart

Radioactive isotopes were found in Brazil nuts purchased at the local supermarket. See attached chart. The chart shows radioactive lead isotopes are present. The second green peak marker in the chart is at 241 keV and other peaks at 295, 351, are the markers for radioactive lead. Then the other largest peak is for Bismuth 214 at 609 etc. The large blue coloured peak is the secondary X-rays, a product of a test chamber not being lined with copper, and the smaller blue coloured peak is Potassium K40 in my natural background. These results suggest this contamination is not from Fukushima because of the presents of Bismuth 214.

 

Information on Brazil nuts.,

1. Brazil nut trees produce fruit almost exclusively in pristine forests.

2. The fruit takes 14 months to mature after pollination of the flowers.

3. Around 20,000 tons of Brazil nuts are harvested each year, of which Bolivia accounts for about 50%, Brazil 40% and Peru 10% (2000 estimates).

If I can detect radioactive Lead and Bismuth in Brazil nuts at these levels, it  suggests there must also be levels of stable lead present. I have taken Brazil nuts off my diet. If I had detected this in any other food, I would do the same.

 

It has been known for a long time that Brazil nut trees are bio-accumulating radium that can be found in most soils, because of their very deep root systems.

 

I was under the impression until I tested them, that the higher radioactivity in Brazil nuts was just caused by the extra concentration of natural occurring K40 in them like a Banana. It appears that it has been known for a long time that they also contained radioactive Lead and Bismuth.

 

Link provided by enenews member aigeezer in reference to this subject.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5382624_dangers-brazil-nuts.html

 

Quote,

“It’s believed Brazil nuts have 1,000 times more radium than the next most radioactive food. While extensive studies have yet to be conducted, the amount of radiation in a Brazil nut is still small when compared to radiation encountered in everyday life, and it’s not believed to pose any serious health risk, regardless of the quantities ingested.”

 

If I can detect radioactive Lead and Bismuth in Brazil nuts it also suggests there must also be levels of stable lead also present. Personal choice, I have taken Brazil nuts off my diet. If I had detected this isotopes at these levels in any other food I would do the same.

 

Brazil nuts need further testing by others with this sort of equipment, to verify this. Note, samples harvested from different locations may test differently.

 

Soil, Water, and Rain Testing Results

Scintillator rain swabs test chart, for the 2nd and 11th May alert level rain event, at Nimbin Australia. It appears to be another very large Radon washout. The levels  of Lead Pb-210 and Beryllium Be7 detected in these rain swabs, is much less than the Nimbin late January and early February 2013 rain swabs.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Nimbin-rain-swabs-180513-TV38-18c-47659.jpg

 

Caloundra 14th May 2013, Rained this morning, so I did a  rain swab test, 0.69 uSv/hr. Longer testing with a sensitive Geiger counter showed the normal decay of Radon daughters in the washout.

 

Rainwater capture test 13th April, 2013. Detected traces of Beryllium Be-7, Lead Pb-210, and Uranium U-235 in local rain test, Australia. If the large amounts of Beryllium Be-7 being detected in this, and previous tests, has not been created in the upper atmosphere, this means Fukushima is still very unstable, and the molten underground coriums could be still fissioning.

 

See rain test chart

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Down-pipe-polyester-filter-130413-TV45-22c-85700-with-text.jpg

 

Roof down pipe filter design.

http://sccc.org.au/down-pipe-filter-design

 

This is not a test of the activated charcoal in this rainwater roof down pipe filter design, (see link), but the polyester particulate filter I placed before it. The polyester particulate filter was placed in front of the activated charcoal, to trap course material that may get flushed down off the 36 sqm tin roof.

 

Just thought I would also test the polyester particulate filter, as I usually just test the activated charcoal in this roof down pipe filter experiment. It had been in place for a couple weeks before testing. There had not been much rain through it until recently.

 

To get better accuracy I placed an Aluminum beta shield in front of the scintillator, during this test. This was to help stop peak position shift caused by a test chambers artifact at 511 keV, and Be-7 being a strong beta emitter.

 

Beryllium Be-7 has a theoretical back scatter peak at around 166 keV, very close to the 185 kev for Uranium U-235. There is the possibility that it is contributing to the size of the peak at that location. It may also explain the width, and rounding of that peak at around 185 keV. Please feel free to comment on the test analysis.  In the next couple days I will air dry the activated charcoal filter, and test it.

 

Rain capture test February 25th 2013. Beryllium Be-7 and traces of Uranium U-235, found in latest rain washout capture test.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Down-pipe-capture-sample-minus-reference-250213-TV45-plus-text.jpg

 

The other very small peaks showing in this chart could possibly be trace detections of other isotopes. At these small detections levels, they could also be created by a bit of random variation in counts in the background level over the time of the tests, showing up in the tests results. A lot of water flowed through this charcoal, in the down pipe, to get these detections. (Down pipe activated charcoal filter design)

 

Alert level late January 2013 rain swab tests report, (09/02/2013). Tested the Alert level +++ rain swabs collected at a private monitoring station on the east coast of northern New South Wales Australia. They were collected in late January, during a flooding rain event that had come down the east coast of Australia, from the tropics. Here is the test chart results of these rain swabs.  There were small traces of Uranium U-235 detected in this test result, plus the signature of the fallout isotope/isotopes, at around 492 keV.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/East-Coast-Northern-New-South-Walles-rain-swabs-96-+-69-test-070213-TV38.png

 

Here is a theory put forward by the people running the Nimbin monitoring Station, for the large Radon washout events detected in the Nimbin and Mullumbimby areas during January 2013.  The area had been in a dry period, and the underground aquifers were low. A flooding rain event came through and quickly forced a large amount of radioactive Radon gas into the atmosphere, that had built up during the dry period, in the aquifer layers.

 

The Radon daughter isotopes were then washed out of the atmosphere during the rain event, and detected on the rain swabs. It is not uncommon to get large radon washout events happening anywhere in the world during rain events. Radon is in small amounts is in the air we all breath.   Radon daughter isotopes decay very quickly. Even so, in an event like this, with such high multi uSv/hr levels of detection, it would advisable to stay out of the rain.

 

Report at the time.

“Well, today I broke the record for high detections in rain samples. 2700cpm or ~10uSv/h (LND 7317) off an area the size of a Corolla bonnet. I’m logging its decay…”

Photo: http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Nimbin-Rain-swab-2013-01-27-11.42.12.jpg

http://nimbinmonitor.info/#"

 

This is the third test sample tested here, that found the signature of the fallout isotope/isotopes, at around 492 keV.

1. It was detected in a local soil sample last year, on the Sunshine Coast. Here is that test chart of that soil sample using PRA scintillator software. (In the test above Theremino MCA software was used.)

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Unusual-soil-sample-040812-64-13.jpg

2. It was detected in the activated charcoal down pipe capture test.

3. Detected in the cloth rain swabs.

UPDATE to mystery isotope detection:  Mystery isotope in the above test chart may be Beryllium Be-7 at 477 keV.
PavewayIII suggestion, “Can you try this sample again with a beta shield?”

 

I put a extra Aluminum beta shield directly in front of the Scintillator crystal, with these rain swabs behind it. This shifted the gamma peak to around 477 keV, which is the marker for Beryllium Be-7. Beryllium puts out 10% gamma to around 90% beta. Beryllium beta energies are 11% at 384 keV, and 89% at 862 keV. There must be an interaction of these beta energy’s with the scintillator crystal, that was creating the slight gamma peak shift to around 490 keV. Berylllium also has a 53 day half life.

 

Fukushima Corium, plus Liquid Nitrogen Injections, produces Beryllium Be-7, from what I have been reading. It can also be created by a solar coronal mass ejection hitting the earth’s atmosphere.

 

Traces of U-235 in Rain Water Test (28/01/2013)

Traces of U-235, and mystery Isotope found in local rain water test, on the Australian east coast. Around 880 grams of activated charcoal was placed in the down pipe from a tin roof, just before the major flooding weather event passed over the area in late January 2013.
A reference test chart of the charcoal was made, so it could be compared with the down pipe charcoal capture test. The activated charcoal came from China, and already had some isotope contamination. It was used anyway.  After this weather event had passed, the down pipe charcoal was then dried in the Sun. The charts here are a comparison between the reference, and the down pipe test. As you can see, the charcoal filter did capture some significant isotope markers.

 

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Down-pipe-rain-test-three-280113-to-030213-TV42-with-text.jpg
A lot of water went through this filter to get these results, so in overall terms, they are small detections. I think this proves we are getting fallout, but not as much as we expected.

 

U-238 produces a small amount of gamma at 50 (0.06%) & 114 (0.01%) keV and X-rays at 16 & 12 Kev. U-235 puts out a lot more gamma at 186 (57%), 144 (11%) and 163 (5%) kev and X-rays at 89 and 93 keV.  This is probably the reason I was unable to detect U-238 directly at these low levels, when it has such a low gamma output? This brings us back to increasing Radon levels, as the biggest contributor to increasing background levels here.

 

Interestingly, I also detected this mystery isotope in a soil sample I collected around 15 km west of my location last year.  Here is that test chart of that soil sample using PRA scintillator software. (In the test above Theremino MCA software was used.)

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Unusual-soil-sample-040812-64-13.jpg

 

Open to positive suggestions, feedback or corrections, plus any suggestions as to what the isotope or isotopes, might be, at around 492 kev.

 

“Unusual soil sample chart has a radioactive isotope in it, at approximately 490 keV, which has not been identified yet. It is the second blue peak in the chart. There have been lots of suggestions as to what it could be, but no positive identification yet. If you think you know what it is, leave your suggestion in the comment section.”

 

In nature, uranium is found as Uranium-238 99%, Uranium-235 0.72%, and a very small amount of Uranium-234 0.005%. In a nuclear reactor using enriched refined Uranium, the percentage of U-235 is significantly increased. Enriched Uranium in light water reactors has concentrations of around 3% to 5% of U-235.  The small amount of U-235 in the rain wash out means there is a lot more U-238 in the atmosphere with it, if it is purified Uranium.

 

Here is a test chart of Uranium ore, Uraninite. This sample was kindly loaned to me by enenews member Spectrometising. This chart has text peak markers to help you. As you can see,if it was Uranium contamination from a mine, you would expect to see significant peaks of radioactive Lead Pb-214 and Bismith Bi-214 showing up.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Uraninite-Calibration-050812-61.752-21.jpg

 

Radon washout detection test chart, (24/09/2012) Used a much better system to capture Radon decay isotopes in the hot rain from another storm that came through on the evening of the 24th. Using surgical gloves as the sample was hot. Wiped a paper towel over the bonnet of a car and kept turning it over and folding the paper towel swab on itself after each wipe .  Then squeezed out as much water as possible.

 

This was then put into a zip lock plastic bag, and put into the testing chamber. It was 4x more radioactive than the last storm radon washout test sample used on the 21st. This allowed for a much more detailed spectrum to be recorded.

 

The first storm radioactive washout test chart in my post on the 25th ran for 2.75 hours. Radon decay chain isotopes decay quickly and the chart peaks get overwhelmed by background, so the test was stopped after 2.75 hours, and the test results saved.

 

Using the same swab a new test was immediately started. This time for a longer duration test. It ran for an extra 9.39 hours. So at this point the original sample had been decaying for 12.4 hours when this test was stopped and the results saved.

 

The short period chart shows the type of peaks you expect from Lead Pb-214 decay in Radon washout.

Short period chart minus background,

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Rain-swab-test-2.75-hours-B-240912-71-10.jpg

 

That is because Lead Pb-214 decay gives out gammas in this ratio of 242 keV (7.25%), 295 kev (18%), and 352 keV (35.6%). So the highest peak should be at 352 keV. Which it is.

 

The longer period chart shows a prominent peak develop at 242 keV. This was unexpected and is under investigation.

Longer period chart minus background,

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Rain-swab-test-9.39-hours-B-240912-71-10.jpg

 

Conducted a longer term test on a rain swab sample taken from another rain event on the 11th October. Left it sit for a longer period of time to allow the short term Radon daugthers to decay away, and tested it again.  What was detected was the longer life isotope signature of Radon decay, Lead Pb-210 at 47 keV.

 

What has been detected at present is a significant increase in radioactive Radon gas in the atmosphere when Northerly air arrives in the area.  Other radioactive isotopes that could be atributed to the Fukushima nuclear disaster have not been detected in this series of tests.

 

Radon washout detection test chart, (21/09/2012)  The first storm of the season came through late on the afternoon of the 21st. The wind was coming from the North / North east, and the storm came in from the South West, over the top of this northerly surface air flow.

 

I did a paper towel swab off the top of two wheelie bin lids. This is the first time I have done any swabs here, and actually got a hot detection with the GS (Gamma Scout Geiger Counter). The swab test GS visual peak was 0.28 uSv/hr and the data log peak was 0.35 uSv/hr.

 

I immediately put the swab into the scintillator test chamber, in a zip lock plastic bag. It was decaying quickly, so the chart is a bit rough. The screen shot  was the test chart after 3 hours of testing. The longer I left it in the test chamber, the more the chart data was overwhelmed by background. This is because it was decaying quickly.

 

A rough estimate is that it was half as active after 3 hours. Seems to be a Radon decay chain as Pb-214 and Bi-214 are the main peaks, and there is no indication of any radium. The good news is that I did not detect any fallout isotopes. The peak in the chart between 352 and 609 keV is a test chamber artifact.

 

 

Byron Bay Black Mineral Sand (14/09/2012) This is a sample of 194 grams of black mineral sand from Byron Bay in Norhtern New South Wales. It is around 35x times more radioactive than our local soil samples. Wave action and sand mining can concentrate naturally occuring radioactive minerals in sand.

 

Glenview Soil test chart (06/09/2012) This 24 hour test was of  616 grams of soil sourced from a local semi rural area. It has the largest radioactive isotopic peak at 242keV for Lead Pb-214. Most soil tests will show this type of radioactive peak signatures it them. It is natural for peak heights to very for soil samples taken from different locations. See the other local soil test chart below for comparison, and for more detailed peak descriptions.

 

Under sink activated charcoal based water filter test chart (03/09/2012) (Local background radiation was subtracted from the 24 hour test chart information to get better detail.)

 

An under kitchen sink water filter was pulled apart to get to the carbon core. This 600 gram carbon core was dried, and ground, into smaller pieces, and then placed around the scintillator to test it. It had been in use for the last 8 months, or longer.

 

It would appear there is a very small amount of soil contamination in the water supply. It is being filtered out by the water filter. Hence the peaks for the isotopes of Radium Ra-186 keV, Lead Pb-242, 295, 352 keV and Bismuth Bi-609 keV that can be found in most soil tests.  The suggestion is that the peaks around, 83 and 92 Kev are from Thorium. Some local soil probably contaminates, in varing amounts, all town water supplies. There are very tiny amounts here.

 

Local soil sample chart has the largest radioactive isotopic peak at 242keV for Lead Pb-214. Most soil tests will show this type of radioactive peak signatures it them. It is natural for peak heights to very for soil samples taken from different locations.

 

Unusual soil sample chart has a radioactive isotope in it at approximately 490 keV which has not been identified yet. It is the second blue peak in the chart. There have been lots of suggestions as to what it could be, but no positive identification yet. If you think you know what it is, leave your suggestion in the comment section. The 490 keV peak in this test has since been identified as Beryllium Be-7. The beta radiation from the Be-7 and the test chamber artifact at 511 keV, caused a slight peak shift from the ideal of 477 keV for Be-7.

 

Miscellaneous Item Testing Reports

 

Black fungus material from Japan test chart I was sent this resin encapsulated sample of black fungus like material. It has reportedly come from somewhere in the Minamisoma area Japan. A contact in Japan sent a friend this sample. This is my test chart of it. For those of you who have not looked at a chart like this before. The position of the peaks in a the chart indicate what isotopes are present. This fungus started growing on the concrete, and rock surfaces in Japan after the Fukushima Nuclear disaster. It appears to be bio-accumulating Cesium.

 

Scintillators are less sensitive as you go to higher energy keV. The Theremino MCA software allows you to increase the magnification of the higher energy peaks. The peaks in this Theremino MCA V4.5 software chart have been energy compensated, to bring out the smaller details at higher energies. The sample very small, grams or less.

 

A professional lab reported test results 117 Bg Cs-137 and 58 Bq Cs-134. This black fungus material sample from Japan, contaminated with Cesium Cs-137 & Cs-134, is encapsulated in resin for safety reasons. So we don’t know how much it weighs. We are trying to find out. It may not have been weighed when it was collected. Visually, looking at the encased sample, it would be a few grams if that.
Here is a pen tip placed next to the sample, to give you and idea how small the sample is. The black center is the sample. Also, the sample does not fill up the small sample container, that is in the center of the resin encasement. The sample container is only around two thirds full.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Japanese-black-fungus-material-sample-with-pen-tip.jpg

 

Update on the possible weight of the Black Fungus sample from Japan. This comment was posted on a forum discussing this test.

“I’m an expert on weighing objects (sell scales, use different ones daily, some precise to .01g). Fungus in that form does not appear to hold too much water weight and would likely weigh less than a gram given the scale. If it jis thin and flakey type fungus, it may be under .25-.5g. Is it thick like a mushroom cap or more like lichen? I’ve only observed extremely thin fungi growing on concrete, and I would err on the very low side. My best guess is .3g.”

 

My reply

That means the black fungus sample from Japan is very, very, hot.

Test results 117 Bg Cs-137 and 58 Bq Cs-134

117 + 58 = 175 Bq x (1000 grams/0.3 grams) = 583,333 Bq/Kg of Cesium

Even if it was 10 times greater in weight 3 grams, it would still be 58,333 Bq/Kg of Cesium.

 

The person who supplied this sample to me, went to a lot of trouble and expense, to make this sample available to researches in Australia. I would like to thank him for that. Any comments or suggestions, regarding the results of this test chart results are welcome. There is no copyright placed on the chart screen shot, so you can copy it, and make use of it where ever you like.

 

Hot Jewelry Detection Special Report (20/01/2013)

A pair of imported earrings from the USA, that were to be given as a gift to a friend, where tested with a Geiger counter. It was found that some of the gems embedded in this earring design were radioactive. From the front side, and with the earrings next to each other, they tested 0.90 uSv/hr.
Originally thought the radioactivity was coming from the blue Topaz looking centre stones in this design, because there have been reports of radioactive Topaz being detected in jewelry.After removing these blue stones, and retesting the earrings, the light yellowy green stones positioned around these blue stones, were found to be the main source of the radioactivity.  Here are the scintillator and Geiger test charts results for the earrings test. These earrings were purchased as a gift for a friend, from the USA. The main isotopes detected were Thorium Th-234 and Uranium U-235.

 

The Thorium Th-234 is from Uranium U-238 decay. U-238 puts out hardly any gamma, but the Thorium Th-234 puts out enough for the scintillator equipment to detect it. The presence of Thorium indicates the presence of Uranium U-238, as Thorium Th-234 is a decay daughter of Uranium U-238.

 

Scintillator test Chart of earrings

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/earrings-130113-T38-with-text.jpg

 

This explains why there was so much beta detection with the Geiger test. Couldn’t work out why at first. Thorium Th-234 puts out a lot of beta, and a small amount of gamma radiation.

 

Geiger Counter test chart using a Russian SBT-10 pancake tube.

http://sccc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/earrings-130113-b+y.jpg

 

Thorium Th-234 info

http://ie.lbl.gov/toi/nuclide.asp?iZA=900234

 

Conclusion:

The small yellowy/green stones on the earrings are Uranium glass made from purified Uranium ore, because there are no decay daughters of Lead Pb-214 or Bismuth Bi-214 isotopes present. It would appear that someone is supplying Uranium glass stones to the jewelry industry.

 

Most of the radiation is beta radiation with a small gamma component. This is manly from the Thorium 234 decay. Most of the beta radiation body exposure is blocked by the glass stone metal mountings, in this particular earring jewelry design.

 

Using the Geiger Counter with the SBT-10 tube I detected approximately an extra 0.06 uSv/hr, above background from the rear of the earrings, as opposed to 0.90 uSv/hr from the front.

 

The Alpha output by Uranium U-238 and U-235 isotopes would be locked into the glass.

 

Do these earrings pose a health hazard? Probably not in this design, as the wearer is protected from most of the radiation by the metal mountings during use. A resent commenter pointed out that when beta radiation hits metal it can produce bremsstrahlung secondary radiation. This also maybe a potential hazard that needs further investigation.

 

Do the stones themselves pose a health hazard? Maybe in these, or some other unforeseen circumstances.

 

Listed in order of possible risk

A. At a manufacturer site or jewelry store, where these stones could be stored in bulk. Being exposed to the dust from cutting or polishing this type of glass, in these environments, could pose the greatest health risk.

 

B. People spending long hours close up to the jewelry during assembly.

 

C. A person who had collected a lot of this type of jewelry, and stored it close to where they sleep.

 

D. Different types of jewelry design using these stones, could be potentially hazardous in these circumstances

1. The piece used larger stones, or more stones.

2. Thinner metal mountings were used.

3. If a piece was worn close to the body. The more proximity and surface area touching the body, means more radiation exposure.

It is suggested that those of you with Geiger Counters check everything that comes into your house.

 

Disclaimer: This is an amateur volunteer run service. Human error can provide incorrect information, and equipment malfunction can produce false readings. Do not rely on, or take action upon information presented on this web site, without further research. Views expressed in the pages or images on the SCCC Inc., site maybe the personal opinions of the relevant writers, and are not necessarily representative of those of SCCC Inc.