• Question: what are the effects of radiation to the food chain and how far does it spread?

    Asked by Sundus to Andres, Catherine, Darren, Ellie, Samantha on 15 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Samantha Watson

      Samantha Watson answered on 15 Nov 2016:

      If a food type gets exposed to radiation (eg xrays) it won’t have nay effect. But if a food gets contaminated with radioactive material (material that gives out radiation) then that radioactive material may be transmitted up the food chain as far as mankind, unless the radioactive material is short lived and decays away before it gets eaten.

      So if radioactive material is released into the air and falls onto the grass, cows may eat the grass and the radioactive material is absorbed in their body. People who then eat the beef or drink the milk from those cows then take some of the radioactive material inside them.

    • Photo: Andres Olivares del Campo

      Andres Olivares del Campo answered on 15 Nov 2016:

      Yes! And that is, as I learned from Sam, why people at Chernobyl do still measure the radioactivity in their foods to make sure they are safe to eat!

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