Traces of Iodine-131 from Japan Detected in Low-lying Foliage in Lebanon

Traces of Iodine-131 from Japan’s nuclear plant were found on low-lying foliage in Lebanon although they don’t pose a danger to human health, said the National Council for Scientific Research.

The small findings have now been confirmed in samples of rainwater and soaked foliage by rain that fell between April 4 and 6, according to CNRS.

Iodine-131, also called radioiodine, is an important radioisotope of iodine.

“There is no danger from the amount of Iodine that was registered so far,” CNRS Secretary-General Moeen Hamze told An Nahar daily in remarks published Friday.

The Iodine has a radioactive decay half life of about eight days, he said.

But he unveiled that the CNRS informed the International Atomic Energy Agency about the radioactive traces found from Japan’s Fukushima plant.

The Council said Thursday that the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission conducted the tests across the country earlier in the week.

The organization measured samples of air, soil and rain water and foliage using Gamma spectroscope technology and later analyzed the findings, which concur with similar results noted across Europe and the Middle East, it said.