A new scientific report suggests that a radioactive element has caused more contamination in the northern Marshall Islands than has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The study by three Columbia University scientists says that the radioactive element strontium-90 has been largely ignored by government scientists.
Their focus in decades of studies has been on cesium-137 as the main contributor to radiation exposure for Marshallese living on contaminated islands.
Radio New Zealand reports the study finds there has been significant examination of the after-effects of the nearly 70 U.S. nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands.
But little has been reported about contamination from strontium-90.
The authors note that the radioactive element is recognized as a major health risk at other sites. This includes Fukushima, Japan, the site of a nuclear power plant disaster in 2011.
They add that “future work to assess the level of strontium-90 contamination in sediment, soil, and fruit from the Marshall Islands is of paramount importance."
They say their work is preliminary and urged follow-up.
The study was published this month in the Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences.
