Japan - Danger to the Public - Part II

In order to complete my earlier comment on danger to
the people of Japan by radioactivity emerging from that
damaged plant of Fukushima, I have to stress again the
importance of photon energy when it comes to the impact
on human health.

Any radiation characterized by a low energy of photons
(which is comparable to a high wavelength) is especially
hazardous to human health. That will mean a very high
risk of developing different types of cancer for all those
who get in direct contact with or incorporate particles
emitting low-energy beta-radiation. This is the case for
some most important nuclids of Iodine and Caesium now
emitted from the power plant.

It should be noted that biological effects are triggered off
rather by the exposure to such "soft" beta-radiation which
is very common in the reaction chain of nuclear fission than
by short-time exposure to "hard" gamma-radiation or X-
rays. This might be due to a greater absorbance efficiency
for low-energy particles or X-rays with a rather long wave-
length while any high-energy radiation like fast neutron
bombardment or gamma-rays simply passes through the
human body without being absorbed by human tissue if the
time of exposure remains relatively short and the intensity
of such radiation within certain bounds.

Therefore, the Japanese government recently launched
restrictions for the shipping of raw milk and vegetables
like spinach from Fukushima prefecture to other parts of
the country.