Authors: Karim Moutchou Institution: Medical Student, Fez Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy Editor: Akihiko Ozaki, M.D., Yuki Senoo Students around the Arabic world are taught during high school geography classes that Japan is a unique East Asian country. At my school, the lessons about Japan always started and ended with the same sentences: “Japan is a country that faced and is still facing a lot of natural challenges. However, they are always overcoming these challenges and

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 121. Tritium’s Radiation Level is Very Low A radioactive substance called “tritium” often appears in articles covering the issues of contaminated water released from the nuclear plant. Tritium is not only an artificial substance that was released from the accident this time but also one naturally generated in our environment. As previous articles have explained, the health effects of radiation are determined b

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 119. Cesium is rarely found in water Cesium is usually tightly bound to soil particles and is hardly detected in water. When radioactive cesium is detected in water, it is generally due to mud floating at the surface that had accumulated at the bottom; almost no contamination has been found in water from ponds or dams. On the other hand, soil-bound radioactive cesium is sometimes present at the bottom of a pon

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 117. Cultivation leads to reduction of contamination When radioactive cesium is present in the soil, plants absorb it instead of nutrients, and this process results in contamination. Moreover, the extent of absorption of radioactive cesium could vary depending on the types of plants and the soil. On the other hand, numerous countermeasures and efforts have been made to reduce the level of contamination in agri

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 115. Soil bound cesium is not absorbed by plants When radioactive cesium is present in the ground, plants absorb it instead of nutrients, and this results in contamination. However, plants do not actively absorb cesium present in the soil. Most cesium is bound to soil particles or fully captured within soil particles, so plants cannot absorb it. For plants to absorb cesium, it must be dissolved in water; howev

Author: Masaharu Tsubokura Editors: Akihiko Ozaki M.D., Yuki Senoo 113. Cesium is absorbed differently by each plant Plants grow by absorbing minerals and water from the soil through their roots. When radioactive cesium is present in the soil, the plant will absorb it along with nutrients, and this results in contamination. Previous investigations have revealed that the extent of contamination differs by plant type. In detail, the rate of absorbed radioactive cesium compared