🔗 Share this article

A significant manufacturing zone located on the outskirts of the capital is dealing with radioactive pollution after an official taskforce detected traces of the dangerous element Caesium-137 at twenty-two manufacturing plants within the area, that includes companies that export chilled marine products.

Urgent Measures and Goods Recall

The finding has triggered immediate cleanup operations and the moving of nearby residents, coming after a similar contamination alert in the United States that was traced back to the Indonesian plants.

An important multinational store chain is among the companies that have withdrawn products from their shelves following the finding.

Investigation and Detection of Contamination

The country's authorities initiated an inquiry after the US Food and Drug Administration identified Caesium-137, a radioactive isotope, in a consignment of frozen coated prawns sent by a local company.

The FDA issued an advisory advising suppliers and sellers to discard the goods and not sell it, although the detected amount was far below the authority's action threshold. It added that the amount of Caesium-137 it had found would not present an acute risk to the public.

The authority stated: “The primary health effect of concern following extended, repeated low dose exposure (eg through eating of polluted food or liquid over time) is an elevated risk of the disease, resulting from harm to DNA within body cells.”

Extensive Pollution and Medical Checks

Radioactivity tests showed at least twenty-two factories in the industrial zone were contaminated. The official taskforce did not name the twenty-one additional manufacturing facilities, but confirmed they would immediately receive decontamination processes conducted by the country's nuclear authority.

A senior official stated that residents living in highly contaminated areas would be relocated until the location was cleaned, emphasizing that the well-being of the inhabitants was the “top priority”.

Health officials also conducted checks on local employees and people located close to the industrial estate, finding nine individuals who showed signs for exposure to Caesium-137. These individuals were sent to a medical facility before being cleared to go back.

Decontamination and Containment Plans

The contaminated locations will immediately undergo decontamination procedures by the national nuclear agency. Authorities have also designated the site of a recycled metal plant as an containment facility for contaminated materials.

The country, which has no nuclear energy facilities or weapons program, suspects that Caesium-137 may have entered the country from abroad.

Origin of Contamination and Import Restrictions

An official spokesperson told the media that recycled metal imports were the probable source of contamination and confirmed the government would immediately enforce limits on scrap metal imports. He said that vehicles were additionally being checked for possible contamination as they moved through the region.

About Caesium-137 and Public Concerns

Caesium-137 is a dangerous radioactive isotope that typically appears in the environment as a result of atomic experiments or accidents, like Fukushima or Chernobyl. Small amounts are present in earth, food and the atmosphere.

The level found in the chilled shrimp was far lower than FDA intervention levels, but the agency stated long-term exposure to even low doses of the element was associated to an elevated risk of cancer.

Withdrawal Details

The recalled shrimp was sold at large retail outlets across at least a dozen US states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.