During the Tokyo Olympics, there were many reports about the dangers of Fukushima radiation. There are dozens of searches like this on YouTube. Most of them were about the dangers of radiation from the Tokyo Olympics. Naturally, I am concerned about the safety of our players who have worked hard for over two weeks.
It was fact-checked based on science to see if the players were safe during their stay in Tokyo.
● Food radiation dose fact check It
is important to eat first.
Our players shouldn't eat radioactively contaminated food.
The Korean Sports Council prepared a Korean lunch box.
Because there is a fear that the players will eat ingredients from Fukushima, they only buy ingredients from places except Fukushima and eight neighboring prefectures, and the rest are tested with a radioactive cesium meter.
Still, our players didn't just solve their meals with a lunch box.
If you want, you can go to the Olympic Village canteen, so it is possible that you ate ingredients from Fukushima.
Start fact-checking.
First, we investigated how radioactively contaminated food materials from Fukushima were.
After the radiation accident, Fukushima Prefecture periodically inspects vegetables, fruits, grains, meat, seafood, and processed foods, and the results are made public.
It is listed on the Fukushima Prefecture website (https://www.new-fukushima.jp/top).
In the last 3 years (from September 1, 2018 to 2021), we checked all 45,411 cases.
In the case of cesium-137 (Cs-137), there were 10 foods that exceeded the standard value of 100 becquerels per kg (Bq).
The highest among them was 'Gondeulmaegi', a fish tested in March 2019, with 337Bq per 1kg.
It is more than three times the standard value (100Bq/kg).
Fukushima food ingredients inspection results for the past 3 years
Now let's make an extreme assumption. What if our players ate these gorillas, 200g per meal, or 600g per day, for the entire 20 days of their stay? I made this assumption because the safety issue should be approached conservatively. There is no reality.
However, to find out how it affects our body, it is difficult to know in terms of becquerel (Bq). A becquerel is a simple unit of measure for how many radiations are emitted per second. To find out how dangerous it is to our body, we need to convert it into sieverts (Sv), which is how much energy is. It can be calculated through the 'dose conversion factor'.
What if our team ate 600g per day, 200g per meal, for the entire 20 days of our stay?
337Bq/kg X 0.6kg X 20 days X 1.3E-5mSv/Bq (dose conversion factor) = 0.053mSv
0.053mSv A single chest X-ray receives a radiation dose of about 0.1 mSv. It was found that the radiation dose was about 0.5 x-rays.
Again, eating three times the limit of fish throughout the Olympics is a very extreme prerequisite.
● Space radiation dose fact check The
following is the radiation dose you will receive just by being in Tokyo.
As of the last 6 days, the radiation dose in Tokyo was 0.036 μSv per hour.
Not millisieverts (mSv), but microsieverts (μSv).
μSv is 1/1000 of an mSv.
It is published daily on the website of the Japanese Embassy in Korea.
On the same day, the radiation dose level in Gangnam, Seoul was 0.133 μSv.
Generally, the radiation dose in Japan is about 1/3 lower than ours.
Source: Japanese Embassy in Korea website (https://www.kr.emb-japan.go.jp/itprtop_en/index.html)
It may be hard to believe.
So, our fact-finding team is going to Tokyo local coverage and trying to use the numbers we measured ourselves.
In September 2019, I personally covered the so-called 'hot spots' in Tokyo, which are highly radioactive areas.
Based on domestic and foreign media reports, I tried to use the highest measured number as a standard, but most of it was lower than what I measured, and most of the messages or interviews were like "it came out up to 1μSv".
As a fact-checker reporter, you can't assume the facts by listening to what others say.
At that time, when the meter was brought close to the ground, 0.52 μSv was obtained.
Source: SBS8 News 'Is Tokyo for the Japanese Olympics a radiation-free zone?', September 23, 2019
However, for the effect on our body, measurements must be taken from 1 meter above the ground.
This is because the effect of radiation on the legs is not large, and the effect on the genitals and abdomen is relatively large.
So I measured it again from a height of 1 meter.
0.32 μSv came out.
Source: SBS8 News 'Is Tokyo for the Japanese Olympics a radiation-free zone?', September 23, 2019
In any case, it far exceeds the standard value of 0.23 μSv made by Japan.
Again, let's make an extreme assumption. The assumption is that for all 20 days, our players were lying close to the ground, not standing in this area.
What if our players were lying on the ground, not standing, for 20 days, 24 hours a day, in an area emitting 0.52 μSv per hour?
0.52 μSv X 24 hours X 20 days = 250
μSv
250 μSv came out. Converting to millisieverts (mSv) gives 0.25 mSv. It came out that he was exposed to about 2.5 chest X-rays.
● 'X-ray 3 times' under extreme conditions In the
end, assuming that you eat only the most contaminated food known so far and stay only in the most contaminated area known so far, when you combine the two and take 3 X-rays It was concluded that exposure to the same level was reached. It's an unrealistic assumption, and it's very likely below that.
In fact, unless you stay for a long time in a radioactively contaminated area, it is safe to say that there are very few cases of exposure to the extent of harm to our body. Unless it's a really special case, we can say that there is no problem with the safety of our players.
For reference, Koreans receive a natural radiation dose of 3.1 mSv, equivalent to 31 X-rays per year. At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, our athletes will receive a radiation dose of 0.1 mSv, equivalent to one X-ray, only in a round trip plane.
<Fact Reference>
Choo Choon-Woo and Park Se-Yong, 「Radioactive Fact Check」, Bookshill,
Fukushima Prefecture Food Ingredients Inspection Results for
2021
( https://www.new-fukushima.jp/top)
Japanese Embassy in Korea ( https://www. kr.emb-japan.go.jp/itprtop_en/index.html)
SBS8 News 'Tokyo to host the Japanese Olympics, is it a radiation-free zone?', September 23, 2019.
(Source: Kim Jeong-yeon, Yang Bo-won)