Earthworms collected in Kawauchi, a village near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, have cesium levels averaging some 20,000 becquerels per kilogram, government researchers said.
The finding indicates the radioactive substance "may accumulate in other animals through the food chain," Motohiro Hasegawa, senior researcher at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, said Monday, noting earthworms are eaten by birds, boars and other wild animals.
Last August and September, Hasegawa and other researchers collected earthworms in Kawauchi, 20 km from the crippled power plant; Otama, 60 km from the plant; and Tadami, 150 km away. (Japan Times)
↧