Food and Water in Japan
The standards of maximum radiation in food of 1200/600/500 becquerels per kg, for the U.S./EU/Japan is for cesium 134 and cesium 137.
Caesium-137 is water soluble with a half-life of 70 days. When ingested it can be treated with Prussian Blue, which binds to it chemically and speeds up its expulsion from the body.
When there's a nuclear meltdown at a power plant, iodine-131 is one of the most cancer causing radioactive isotopes. Iodine-137 has a half-life of 8 days. When absorbed by the body it has a 100 day half-life.
In America, the federal maximum level of iodine-131 allowed in drinking water is 0.111 becquerels per litre. The standard for Japan is 300 becquerels per litre for adults and 100 becquerels for infants.
Following 3/11 it was discovered some Tokyo tap water contained 210 becquerels per liter of iodine-137, which was twice the recommended limit of 100 becquerels for infants, but below the 300 becquerels for adults. According to the WHO the international agreed operational level is 3000 becquerels per litre.
The American Environmental Protection Agency stated back in July,
"An infant would have to drink almost 7,000 liters of this water to receive a radiation dose equivalent to a day’s worth of the natural background radiation exposure we experience continuously from natural sources of radioactivity in our environment.”
But not all experts are in agreement with that statement. Physicians for Social Responsibility state there is no safe levels of exposure to radionuclides.
Most of the radioactive particles can be removed from water using reverse osmosis, but not iodine-137. When iodine-137 escapes from a nuclear power plant, it's in gas form which is captured by atmospheric water, it rains and falls to earth entering the water supply. Boiling water does not remove iodine-137.
All vegetables need to be washed before use, particularly leafy ones, like spinach.
In Sept. the WHO stated drinking tap water in Japan poses no immediate health risk.
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