Comment by moogly | Hacker News Reader

Comment by moogly | Hacker News Reader

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It's not entirely accurate, but it's not preposterous and you're whitewashing the whole thing.

During tests of felled wild boar in early 2019[0][1] showed that around 70% of the ones from Gästrikland (the region in Sweden that was hit hardest from the Chernobyl fallout) contained caesium-137 concentrations way above the 1500 Bq/kg guidelines, above which the animal is considered unsellable, ungiftable, and meat from such animals, for private use, should only be consumed at most a few times a month (up to 3000 Bq/kg), or not at all (>10 000 Bq/kg).

Several animals (unclear how many) had caesium concentrations of over 40 000 Bq/kg, so there's a huge variation. Cannot find more exact figures than that.

There are some interesting updated figures here, but not as big a study: https://krets.jagareforbundet.se/gavlesodra/cesiumrapport/

There's a debate[2][3] about who should pay for testing these animals, because any animal above 1500 Bq/kg should be destroyed, and radioactivity tests are really expensive. Hunters want the government to pay. The government wants none of it. As it looks right now, wild boar hunting in these regions for the purpose of selling the meat is not economically feasible. This might change [4] (taxpayers will foot the bill).

It's not only in Gävleborg/Gästrikland either. This map is from the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority's tests from 2018, mostly south of the really problematic areas: https://www.stralsakerhetsmyndigheten.se/contentassets/90ef7...

Sources: [0]: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/gavleborg/mer-an-vartannat... [1]: https://www.livsmedelsverket.se/livsmedel-och-innehall/oonsk... [2]https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/gavleborg/mer-an-vartannat... [3]: https://www.thelocal.se/20191222/should-sweden-foot-the-bill... [4]: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/gavleborg/staten-kan-bekos...

Sorry, yes, "a handful" was stretching it, but it's not a big issue. Wild boar meat is hunted and sold all over Sweden and the radioactivity is measured.

If you look at the sources more closely, you'll see the "70%" figure was the number of wild boars that have measurably higher levels of radioactivity. Not the number above the limit.

This has been a big thing for the Hunters association since the limits are very low and fallout was very localized, hunters in some areas are very much affected since they could not sell the meat.

It's a pity, since even Livsmedelsverket themselves say 1.5 kBq/kg is safe to eat several times a month[1]. The limits are set very low. Granted, they state above 10 kBq/kg should not be eaten, but there were very few animals above that value.

[1] https://www.livsmedelsverket.se/livsmedel-och-innehall/oonsk...

That link was in my sources. And no, 70% were over 1500 Bq/kg.

100% of animals (only 8, because of limited funding for testing) tested in 2020 by the Southern Hunter's Circle in Gävle (that embedded link in my post) in were over 1500 Bq/kg, with an average of 6263 Bq/kg.

SSI/Livsmedelsverkets's irradiation limits are "low" (your opinion) for a reason, because we just don't really know much about the long-term effects. These limits have not been changed since 1986 in Sweden, but what I do know is that they're 3 times higher than, for instance, in Germany, which sets the limit at 600 Bq/kg. The US: 370 Bq/kg. Japan (implemented in 2012 after the Fukushima incident, because there were no prior legal binding limits): 100 Bq/kg. Yeah, what a "pity", as you say.

The original post was not "preposterous".

I know that this is a big issue for some people, and I understand that. However, the limits are set way below the level considered dangerous and are political. Countries with lower problems or that want to be seen as taking the problem seriously set lower limits.

To put some perspective into it, an average banana contains about 150 Bq/kg from radioactive K-40[1]. K-40 is pretty comparable to Cs-137 biologically but nobody even considers limiting the amount of banana eaten. Bananas are regularly given to infants (which are the population most vulnerable to radiation damage) from six months of age, but nobody bats an eye, because 150 Bq/kg gives you such an extremely low dose.

Wild boar is safe to hunt and eat in the entire country, so yes I'd say your original statement was preposterous. If I was a very prolific hunter and my staple food was boar, I'd be concerned if I lived in one of those areas, but not otherwise.

But then again, in Sweden we live in houses built on granite bedrock with walls made from radioactive lightweight concrete. The radon gas emitted from them gives you a dose magnitudes larger than eating wild boar, mushrooms and berries your entire life.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose

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