Radioactive traces found in Californian WINES after Fukushima disaster, experts warn
They tested 18 bottles of rosé and cabernet sauvignon from 2009 onward and found increasing levels of radioactive particles
RADIOACTIVE traces linked to the Fukushima nuclear disaster have been found in California wines, new research suggests.
When an earthquake sent a tsunami crashing into the Japan power plant in 2011 it caused one of the world's worst nuclear disasters.
Scientists have continued to uncover radioactive traces in the seven years since the disaster, and now they have found it in the most unlikely source.
French nuclear physicists claim they have found radioactive traces from Fukushima in Californian wine, but add, it's not thought to be dangerous for human consumption.
They tested 18 bottles of rosé and cabernet sauvignon from 2009 onward and found increasing levels of radioactive particles in the tipple produced after the nuclear accident.
Over the last few years the French team has tested wines across the world to correlate the level of radioactive material with when the grapes were picked and made into wine.
Wines made around the times of major nuclear events, including Chernobyl in 1986, usually show higher levels of radioactive materials called cesium-137, they found.
"The Fukushima incident, which took place on March 11, 2011, resulted in a radioactive cloud that has crossed the Pacific Ocean to reach the west coast of the United States," the study read.
"And in Northern California, there is the Nappa Valley.
"The idea was then to see if, as is the case in Europe following the Chernobyl accident, we could detect a variation in the cesium-137 level in these wines."
Wine isn't the only thing that's tested positive for radioactive traces.
At the time of the disaster the government warned of contaminated seafood, toxic water and sludge and there were even reports of radioactive boars roaming the town.
The levels found in wine are not high enough to cause concern for human health.
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Consuming cesium-137 has been linked to an elevated risk of cancer, but levels of radio active material outside the affected Fukushima area have been too low to cause concern, according to the World Health Organisation.
The Fukushima accident killed about 16,000 people but no one is believed to have fallen ill as a result of radiation exposure, according to the
There are no "health and safety concerns to California residents," the California Department of Public Health added.
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