People living near Japan - Are you ok?

[Avaible]

They measured 210Becquerel of some radioactive stuff per liter in the water; that's about five kilo tobacco, isn't it?
So, basically, a smoker would die within a very short time frame if 210Becquerel per liter was all that much as the news make it sound like.

I'm glad I'm no smoker, I would probably die of radiation ...

Not necessary I think. Smoking person's life time of course will be shortened, but not too much as most part of smoke isn't going in his lungs. BTW, we too have NPP near, so I have more chanses to die from radiation than from smoking. Lol.

That last sentence of mine wasn't to be taken serious
I just wanted to point out that there is no reason nor the need for the media to make a big deal of the radiation levels in Tokyos water. It's not anywhere serious yet.

Complete control of a risk... what exactly do you mean? Knowing the odds down to a complete art? Knowing the signs of something turning bad in advance long enough to do something about it?

I'm not as much talking about knowing the risks or seeing through them; simply controlling them would be enough for me. If I could control risks it wouldn't matter what and how big those risks are.
But that's not really the topic anymore, so let's leave it at that;)

In the end, however, the hysteria over energy is not one of my major concerns. I am known to not have an opinion on things, so I try to push myself when I see these sorts of discussions to actually think and form one, but even now, I know that I waffle a lot. Yet, if I do not practice, how can I get anywhere?

Then try it: If not hysteria over energy, then what is a major concern for you (in regards to Japans current problems)?

For me, an important thing to worry about is how well Japan will recover from the current situation. That's also because I'm planning to live there for some time in the future - viz a pretty selfish reason in my case.
On the other hand, in my opinion it are the selfish reasons that bring forth the most effort to reach their goal.

[Junker-Kun]

For me, an important thing to worry about is how well Japan will recover from the current situation. That's also because I'm planning to live there for some time in the future - viz a pretty selfish reason in my case.
On the other hand, in my opinion it are the selfish reasons that bring forth the most effort to reach their goal.

Don't want to be rude, but IMO, almost everyone who's saying that they want to help people in Japan (I'm not talking about anybody in particular!) is just hypocrite. It's just a pretty words they saying. Yes, they do need help but... what WE possibly can do beside just look and hope that they'll be okay? Except for very rare situations we can do nothing. Sad but true.
Again it wasn't my intent to offend somebody with this post.

[LVUER]

That last sentence of mine wasn't to be taken serious
I just wanted to point out that there is no reason nor the need for the media to make a big deal of the radiation levels in Tokyos water. It's not anywhere serious yet.

Actually, it is a big deal. And it's pretty serious too... People have right to know. Imagine if suddenly there's a news/announcement: "Tokyo water have been contaminated by radiation, from one month ago. But we didn't tell you people because we think it's nothing serious yet. But now it is, so don't drink the water..."

And from what I heard, although it's harmless for adult, it's harmful for babies and children (so government tell their people to use packaged water instead of tap water when making milks).

[papillon]

Don't want to be rude, but IMO, almost everyone who's saying that they want to help people in Japan (I'm not talking about anybody in particular!) is just hypocrite. It's just a pretty words they saying. Yes, they do need help but... what WE possibly can do beside just look and hope that they'll be okay? Except for very rare situations we can do nothing. Sad but true.

Well, actually, no, quite a lot of people have actually done something. Many people have donated funds, if nothing else.

Actually, it is a big deal. And it's pretty serious too... People have right to know. Imagine if suddenly there's a news/announcement: "Tokyo water have been contaminated by radiation, from one month ago. But we didn't tell you people because we think it's nothing serious yet. But now it is, so don't drink the water..."

People have the right to know when there's a problem. However, if the problem is currrently (according to all known science) an incredibly tiny chance of anyone suffering any ill effects at all, so little that people are at far more risk from things that are already in the water, then reporting it is NOT a good thing. Not only would it cause needless panic (and that can have real health repercussions) but it would unfairly play up the spectre of how scary radiation is while downplaying other risks.

Simply the act of panicking can cause people to suffer negative health consequences. Worrying that there are invisible poisons in the air makes you sick, even if there is nothing in the air at all.

Panicking can also cause people to do stupid things that have their own negative consequences. People have been known to decide that the drinking water is tainted and therefore they will only drink bottled soda and alcohol. THAT can cause health problems of its own!

Even if you decide to drink only bottled water, bottled water often contains more impurities than tap water and some of those impurities can carry their own (very small) health risks.

If the water is actually safe, then scaring everyone into drinking nothing but bottled water will not improve their health, might actually lower their health, and the only benefit to it is putting a lot more money in the hands of people selling bottled water.

Now, of course, this depends on whether the water IS actually safe. Which requires looking at the data properly and knowing something about the subject, instead of panicking.

[Avaible]

Even if you decide to drink only bottled water, bottled water often contains more impurities than tap water and some of those impurities can carry their own (very small) health risks.

This actually depends on the region even in developed countries. As an example, I'm living in Berlin (Germany, the big city there) and here tap water is cleaner and better than bottled water, but already 50km away it's almost the other way round.

Aside from that I completely agree with the statements in your post.

[Junker-Kun]

Well, actually, no, quite a lot of people have actually done something. Many people have donated funds, if nothing else.

Well, what I said may be true only for my country. So sorry if I actually insulted you.

Panicking can also cause people to do stupid things that have their own negative consequences. People have been known to decide that the drinking water is tainted and therefore they will only drink bottled soda and alcohol. THAT can cause health problems of its own!

Nah, I don't think THAT is possible. I still believe in the mankind you know =D

[papillon]

This actually depends on the region even in developed countries.

It also depends on the brand of bottled water and whether there have been any unforeseen problems in its distribution process. Like the Dasani mess. (Did people hear about that outside of the UK?)

Nah, I don't think THAT is possible. I still believe in the mankind you know =D

If you look around travel forums, you'll find a lot of Americans going to certain countries are afraid of something colloquially known as "Montezuma's Revenge" - getting sick from bacteria in the water. So if they go to those countries on vacation, they avoid tap water, they avoid ice. They drink booze and soda (and coffee, since they figure the water's safe if it's been boiled). They don't even trust the bottled water because they suspect the locals might have put tap water in a bottle.

Look at the wikipedia entry on the illness and you'll find instructions like: "Use only safe bottled water and avoid ice, which may not have been made with bottled water. In restaurants, insist that bottled water be unsealed in your presence. Reports of locals filling empty bottles with tap water and reselling them as purified water have come out of several countries.[2] When in doubt, a bottled carbonated beverage is the safest choice, since it is almost impossible to "fake" carbonation when refilling a used bottle."

Most places will warn you that you really SHOULDN'T try to drink just alcohol and avoid the water because, obviously, that will make you sick too.

[Junker-Kun]

I think, mankind has lost some points right now =(

[LVUER]

Actually, it is a big deal. And it's pretty serious too... People have right to know. Imagine if suddenly there's a news/announcement: "Tokyo water have been contaminated by radiation, from one month ago. But we didn't tell you people because we think it's nothing serious yet. But now it is, so don't drink the water..."

People have the right to know when there's a problem. However, if the problem is currrently (according to all known science) an incredibly tiny chance of anyone suffering any ill effects at all, so little that people are at far more risk from things that are already in the water, then reporting it is NOT a good thing. Not only would it cause needless panic (and that can have real health repercussions) but it would unfairly play up the spectre of how scary radiation is while downplaying other risks.

Simply the act of panicking can cause people to suffer negative health consequences. Worrying that there are invisible poisons in the air makes you sick, even if there is nothing in the air at all.

Panicking can also cause people to do stupid things that have their own negative consequences. People have been known to decide that the drinking water is tainted and therefore they will only drink bottled soda and alcohol. THAT can cause health problems of its own!

Even if you decide to drink only bottled water, bottled water often contains more impurities than tap water and some of those impurities can carry their own (very small) health risks.

If the water is actually safe, then scaring everyone into drinking nothing but bottled water will not improve their health, might actually lower their health, and the only benefit to it is putting a lot more money in the hands of people selling bottled water.

Now, of course, this depends on whether the water IS actually safe. Which requires looking at the data properly and knowing something about the subject, instead of panicking.

In this case, government have to report it to their citizen. There is something else in their water (and it's nuclear radiation!) so citizen have to know about it. It's like having a cockroach in your meal, and after you eat it all, your mom (who cook it for you) told you that there is a cockroach inside your meal and she didn't tell you since it have no negative impact eating a cockroach. How do you feel?

Besides, the Japanese government have clearly announced that it cause NO harm to adults. And perhaps the main reason why they have to announce it is that it WILL cause harm to baby and children (hence the instruction to use packaged water instead of tap water for baby and children).

Though yes, I also very agree for not telling citizen something so minuscule that doesn't have any impact on heath to avoid causing mass-panic (though not in this case since they are not something small). It's kinda like a case of some commercial chocolate brands that have lots of bugs inside it. They never tell it to their consumers but government are fully aware of this thing.

[Chrizine]

Like the Dasani mess. (Did people hear about that outside of the UK?)

I don't know if people have heard of it, but I haven't... Could you please tell about it? It sounds pretty interesting.

[papillon]

First it turned out that they were taking London's tap water and putting it in bottles and selling it (to be fair, they never SAID that it was spring water or anything like that, but people have certain expectations). Then they claimed to be using super-advanced space age technology to purify the water, and it turned out that they were just using standard reverse osmosis.

Then it turned out that somehow in their 'purification' and bottling procedures, they somehow contaminated the water they were using with a carcinogenic chemical. They had to recall all the bottles of that brand from the UK. (It was small amounts and not anything terribly likely to cause health risks unless you drank nothing but their water, but it was still over legal limits for safety, and it was a chemical that wasn't in the tap water when they started. So they took tap water and made it worse.)

I think they ended up not launching that brand in the rest of Europe because of all the bad publicity.

[Chrizine]

Wow. That's kind of real stupid. I can't understand how they managed to do this...
Thanks for explaining, papillon!

[Snowflower]

The place I work, the only local pet store that actually sells pets, we had people who were accepting donations for dogs who were affected by the tragedy. Many people have donated. I wish I had more money to give out then couple bucks...