Trace Amounts of Radiation Detected at O.C. Monitor

Trace amounts of radioactive elements consistent with the earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan were detected by monitors in Anaheim and Riverside, but at levels far below anything that could be considered harmful, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

Similar trace amounts of radioactive iodine, cesium and tellurium were also detected by monitors in San Francisco and Seattle. The material was detected Friday and analyzed over the weekend, according to the EPA.

“The radiation levels detected on the filters from California and Washington monitors are millions of times below levels of concern,” according to an EPA statement.

The agency noted that on a typical day, Americans receive doses of radiation from rocks, bricks and the sun that are 100,000 times higher than what has been detected in material coming from Japan.

According to the EPA, the amount of radioactive material detected by the filters were “minuscule” and posed “no health concern.”