🔗 Share this article

A significant industrial zone located on the outskirts of Jakarta is dealing with radioactive contamination following a government team found presence of the dangerous element Caesium-137 at twenty-two production facilities within the area, which includes companies shipping frozen marine products.

Emergency Measures and Goods Withdrawal

The finding has led to emergency cleanup operations and the moving of local residents, following a similar contamination scare in the US that was traced back to the Jakarta facilities.

A major multinational retailer is one of the companies that have recalled products from their stores after the finding.

Investigation and Detection of Pollution

The country's officials launched an investigation when the US Food and Drug Administration identified Caesium-137, a nuclear substance, in a consignment of frozen coated shrimp exported by a local company.

The FDA released an warning instructing distributors and sellers to discard the product and not sell it, even though the detected level was well under the authority's intervention limit. They noted that the quantity of Caesium-137 it had detected would not present an acute hazard to consumers.

The FDA stated: “The main impact on health of worry after longer term, repeated low dose contact (eg through eating of polluted food or water over time) is an elevated risk of the disease, caused by damage to DNA within body cells.”

Extensive Contamination and Medical Examinations

Radiation tests showed at least 22 plants in the industrial zone were affected. The Indonesian taskforce did not identify the 21 other production sites, but said they would immediately receive cleanup processes conducted by the country's nuclear agency.

The environment minister stated that residents living in highly contaminated zones would be relocated until the location was cleaned, adding that the safety of the residents was the “top priority”.

Medical authorities also performed checks on nearby workers and people living close to the industrial zone, finding nine people who showed signs for contact to Caesium-137. They were referred to a hospital before being allowed to return home.

Decontamination and Isolation Measures

The contaminated locations will immediately undergo decontamination procedures by Indonesia's nuclear agency. Authorities have also selected the area of a recycled metal factory as an isolation facility for contaminated goods.

Indonesia, which has no nuclear energy facilities or weapons programme, suspects that Caesium-137 may have entered the nation from abroad.

Origin of Pollution and Import Limits

A taskforce representative told reporters that scrap metal imports were the likely source of contamination and confirmed the government would promptly impose limits on metal waste arrivals. He said that vehicles were also being checked for possible exposure as they moved through the area.

Regarding Caesium-137 and Public Concerns

Caesium-137 is a hazardous radioactive element that typically enters the environment as a consequence of nuclear experiments or accidents, like Fukushima or Chernobyl. Trace quantities are found in earth, food and air.

The level detected in the frozen prawns was much less than FDA intervention levels, but the authority explained prolonged exposure to even small amounts of caesium was associated to an higher risk of the disease.

Withdrawal Details

The withdrawn shrimp was available at major retail locations across at least a 12 American states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.