More on topic, but leaving the realm of common knowledge that I feel ingestion vs external radiation should be contained within. The below explanation will make no sense unless you do some simple google research for yourself. If you are not willing to go that far, then all you need to know is the previously mentioned science.knot windy wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2018 6:04 pm@ Matteo V
.....There has to be an amount that causes damage. Do you or does anybody know how much that is? And what external environment/concentration and time frame might lead to that level? Is it known that the levels in the seas are safe or is it just a hope?
Also, I am new to kiting, should I just buy gear off eBay?
A good place to start getting deeper in this is by the reader looking up what LD50 means. And subsequently LD10, LD20, or LD100.
knotwindy's question could be answered by finding the LD100 level of a seawater borne contact radioactive level. The simple answer is there is no way to get an (immediate) LD100 less than (guessing, for an example) 100m away from the reactor core at Fukushima. However I would never get into water with a LD50. Nor would I get into water with a LD10. Nor would I get into water with an LD.01!. For me to get into water and go swimming, you need to get the LD(??) a few times less than the likelihood of being attacked, AND killed by a shark.
However, pinning down the LD(??) of swimming in the water on the Oregon coast is likely to be so small that no one could ever give you even a rough estimate. The primary effect of radiation exposure is the chromosomal damage that it causes, along with some shorter term effects on certain organs and glands in the human body. This is a long term issue very unlikely to result in near term death. However, what South Korea is concerned with regarding the importation of contaminated fish, is the increase in primarily cancer rates among those who ingest those fish. While many people may consume contaminated fish and never live long enough to die of cancer caused by this contaminated fish, there will be some who will. Thus the South Korean health care system will face a large future increase in expenditures on the treatment of these cancers.
In the end you are rolling the dice. Taking a chance when driving to work every morning sees you rolling a 13,000 sided dice (lifetime, not every trip). Being overweight sees you rolling a pretty high number sided dice too (dying of obesity related future health issues). Being an airline pilot has you rolling a dice on the additional radiation you get at altitude, and whether it eventually causes you to get cancer.
The dice is pretty big on swimming in the ocean that you get cancer from particles in skin contact, or via accidental ingestion.
The dice is much smaller than swimming, for getting cancer from ingestion of fish which concentrate those radioactive particles via the food chain.