The Little Rad Book, Cesium-137, Part 1

By Marti LeRoux

Imagine the world as we know it, full of harmful radiation.

Man made radioactive isotopes are particles or rays that are given off from a radioactive element as it decays.

Even though radiation is invisible, it’s damage is very real. Scientific research proves that radioactive isotopes, such as cesium-137 are accumulating in the foundation of the Pacific Ocean's food chain. They are concentrating and moving up the food chain, which spells disaster for the Pacific and Arctic marine and mammal populations, as well as the world’s human population.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marti LeRoux
• Release date: May 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311513304

Marti LeRoux

Marti LeRoux, a licensed acupuncturist for over two decades and a certified teacher for over 30 years, has been researching the effects of radiation on health and the environment since 1986, when Chernobyl brought the world's attention to the dangers of nuclear power. Marti has dedicated her adult life to educating others about the harmful effects of radioactive contamination. She was the chapter president of the Florida Coalition to Stop Food Irradiation in the 1980s and has conducted classes on how to utilize proper nutrition to counter the effects of low-level radiation in our food.

Book preview

Introduction

I’ve been interested in how radiation affects the body since Chernobyl's wind blew across the United States back in 1986. I remember sitting in a recliner as the waves gently splashed over my body and looking up into the sky and asking myself, Is it up there now? Is it safe to be outside? Sadly, there was no one to answer my questions. As I surveyed the busy beach, families were picnicking, and people were playing catch with their dogs; all appeared to be well with the world.

Regardless of the idyllic setting, the knowledge that an invisible radioactive cloud was passing directly overhead left a nagging feeling behind—a feeling that I kept to myself and hid away in my heart. I did not forget.

A few years later, I became the president of the Florida Chapter of the National Coalition to Stop Food Irradiation. Food irradiation is a process in which a growing lists of foods are exposed to ionizing radiation. On April 18, 1986, the FDA arrogantly ruled that Foods irradiated at doses below 100,000 rads [can] be considered safe for...consumption without toxicological testing.

The purpose of food irradiation is to extend a product’s shelf life, but at higher doses it kills insects, moulds, bacteria and microorganisms. In my opinion, it appears as if the FDA is suppressing studies that prove that eating irradiated food is harmful, as evidenced by the fact that animal studies have proven that consuming irradiated food was the chief cause of reproductive failures, kidney damage and tumors. The only study conducted on humans lasted 15 weeks. The long term effects of consuming irradiated food for humans has not been undertaken, but as it stands now, if a prepackaged product is sold today in the United States, it is a pretty safe bet that one or more ingredients have been irradiated. This includes most individual spices sold in little cans and jars. Legally, irradiated ingredients and spices do not have to be labeled—and this also applies to items prepared in restaurants.

However, despite my best efforts in Florida to bring public attention to the harmful effect of food irradiation, it amounted to nothing more than a brief appearance on public access TV and a picture in the local paper. I just couldn’t get anyone interested in the cause no matter how hard I tried. People just didn't care. The bill was defeated, and Congress just kept adding more and more items approved for food irradiation, as well as increasing the maximum radiation dose.

I’ll be honest. The defeat was a bit disheartening. But soon I got married, gave birth to my son and was divorced a decade later. I never forgot about my passion for educating others about how to protect themselves from the dangers of low-level radiation. I recall at one point, I even gave a class on how to calculate radioactive isotope half-lives and taught about the radioprotective properties of miso in a church basement.

Eventually, I moved to China with my grown son. He was eighteen by then. I had toyed with the idea of going to China when he was an infant, but I was too concerned about his welfare to follow through on it. However, at age eighteen, I had no qualms about his safety. He agreed to come with me and enroll in Mandarin at a local university while I worked as a teacher at a school that catered to Korean nationals on the tip of Shandong province. So we boarded a flight and moved to Weihai, a beautiful little city situated where the Bohai and Yellow Sea meet on the tip of Shandong peninsula. Aside from the harsh reality of culture shock, I have many fond memories of my time there, as well as lifelong friends, but on Friday, March 11, 2011, the unthinkable happened: Fukushima.

The students in my school went into action over the weekend and immediately started