Radiation, Japan Nuclear Crisis | featured news

Parents in Tokyo have been told that the city's tap water is not safe for babies to drink after radiation from Japan's earthquake-hit nuclear plant affected the capital's water supply.

In the wake of Japan's nuclear disaster, all milk, milk products, fresh vegetables and fruit from one of four prefectures closest to the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will be prevented from entering the United States, a spokesperson for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday.

Health risks to Japanese from eating foods contaminated with elevated levels of radiation are fairly low, scientists say.

A diplomat who has access to radiation tracking by the U.N.'s Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization told The Associated Press in Vienna that initial readings show tiny amounts of radiation have reached California. But it's not dangerous in any way – "about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the organization does not make its findings public.

A clamor for iodine salt leads to long lines and mob scenes at stores across China after rumors spread of a radioactive cloud from Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant. The hordes are under the false impression that consuming the seasoning would protect against radiation poisoning.

Fears of radiation sickness stemming from the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan prompt a surge in US sales of potassium iodide, a preventative drug.

Aviation authorities across the globe are closely monitoring the radiation levels at  a Japanese nuclear power plant damaged in last week's earthquake and tsunami.