Food Standards Agency – Radioactivity Report Published.

The FSA has published the 12th annual Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) report, which shows that the level of man-made radioactivity to which people in the UK are exposed, remained below the EU legal limit during 2013. No food safety concerns were identified.

The report combines FSA’s monitoring results with those of the Environment Agency, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. It also combines the FSA’s data on food with data on environmental sources of radioactivity to provide a comprehensive picture for people who live close to nuclear sites and eat locally produced food.

The key findings:

The total radiation dose to members of the public in the UK is significantly below the EU annual dose limit of 1 millisievert for all exposures and the exposure of consumers to radioactivity in 2013 was similar to or lower than in 2012 for the majority of nuclear sites.

The site where the public received the highest dose in 2013 was Amersham with a dose of 0.22 mSv. This is below the legal limit and remains unchanged from levels recorded the previous year. Concentrations of radioactivity in food samples remained low and there is no radiological food safety concern.

Sellafield, which in previous years has shown the highest UK dose, has reduced in 2013.

The science behind the story:

Radioactivity has been around since the Earth began and it exists naturally in the atmosphere, soil, seas and rivers. It is also created by human activity during energy production and military operations, and very small amounts get into the food and drink we consume. However, the vast majority of radioactivity found in food results from natural rather than man-made sources.

The main purpose of the FSA’s monitoring programme is to make sure that levels of radionuclides in food and drink from discharges from nuclear sites do not cause unacceptable exposure to radioactivity through our food.

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