The government will begin tritium monitoring for domestically produced and imported marine products starting next week.
Song Myeong-dal, Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said at a briefing on the discharge of Fukushima contaminated water held at the Seoul Government Complex on the morning of the 18th, “Starting next week, we will begin tritium monitoring for domestically produced and imported marine products, and the results will be submitted to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, respectively. “We plan to make it public on the Ministry of Safety and Security website,” he said.
Previously, the government announced in a briefing in October last year that it would establish standards and testing methods for tritium in marine products. Accordingly, a test method that can accurately detect tritium in marine products at low concentrations was developed and made public on the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety website on December 20 last year.
Vice Minister Song said, “We have conducted tritium analysis training for personnel in charge of analysis agencies since early January of this year, and we have also thoroughly prepared work procedures such as equipment stabilization.” He added, “In the case of domestic marine products, mackerel, cutlassfish, oysters, seaweed, etc. “We plan to conduct monitoring focusing on items that people consume a lot,” he said.
He continued, “We plan to monitor imported marine products focusing on items that are frequently imported from Pacific coastal countries, such as pollack, flounder, tuna, and saury,” and added, “Through this, we plan to conduct tritium monitoring of more than 400 marine products this year, and will continue to conduct inspections in the future.” “We will continue to review the expansion of items and number of cases,” he said.
Vice Minister Song said, “For your information, the scientific fact is already known that the concentration of tritium in marine products is at the same level as the concentration in seawater, and as a result of the government’s constant monitoring of tritium in our waters and the waters near Fukushima, Japan, the WHO drinking water standard “It has been confirmed to be at a much lower level than expected,” he said. “The tritium concentration in domestic and imported marine products is estimated to be at a safe level.”
At the same time, “the government will provide detailed information on the results of directly monitoring tritium in domestic and imported fishery products based on the tritium test method prepared this time, so that the public can confirm once again that the fishery products they consume are safe.” revealed.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.