放射能「新」基準 食の不安の拡大防止策が先だ

今朝、いつものように英字紙をチェックしていて唖然とした。
なんと本日１２月２５日より、朝日新聞の英語版は有料となっていた。
外国人向けに支払いはペイパルでなされる仕組みだ。

で、これ以降ですが、朝日関連の掲載はできません。
スラチャイ愛読の米国紙、タイの英字紙、全部無料です。
英文の質は朝日より、当然ですが、格段に高い。
あえて朝日英字紙を購入する人がいるのでしょうか＾＾。

（スラチャイ）

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Dec. 25, 2011)
New food safety rules require time for explanations, preparation
放射能「新」基準　食の不安の拡大防止策が先だ（12月24日付・読売社説）

Stricter limits on radiation in food are meant to make the public feel safe and secure--but what if they have the opposite effect?
　安心のための基準がかえって不安をあおることにならないか。

The government must be circumspect in its moves in this area.
政府は、慎重に対応すべきだ。

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has worked out a set of proposals for new limits on radioactive cesium in food. Following exchanges of views within the government on the proposed standards, the ministry plans to put the new criteria into practice in April 2012.
　厚生労働省が、食品中に含まれる放射性セシウムの新たな規制値案をまとめた。政府内で調整後に、来年４月の導入を目指している。

Currently, "provisional regulatory ceilings" are in place as yardsticks for safe levels of radiation in food. The provisional ceilings were set immediately after the outbreak of the nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 power plant. The new ceilings proposed by the ministry are far stricter.
　今は、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の事故直後に定められた「暫定規制値」を食品の安全確認の目安としている。新たな規制値案は、これより大幅に厳しい。

For instance, the proposal calls for a ceiling of 50 becquerels per kilogram for milk and baby food items, including baby formula. This is one-fourth the current 200-becquerel limit. The planned limit for general food items such as rice, meat and vegetables is 100 becquerels per kilogram, or one-fifth the current ceiling. The proposed limit on drinking water is 10 becquerels, which is one-twentieth the current 200-becquerel limit.
　例えば、粉ミルクなどの「乳児用食品」や「牛乳」は、暫定規制値の４分の１である１キロ・グラム当たり５０ベクレルだ。その他の一般食品は５分の１の同１００ベクレル、飲料水は２０分の１の同１０ベクレルとなる。

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Risk of worsening anxiety

The ministry says the tightening of the limits is for the sake of "ensuring a sense of safety among the public." Specifically, the risk of "internal exposure to radiation affecting human bodies" would be reduced to less than one-fifth the risk under the provisional ceilings, according to the ministry.
　厚労省は、規制値を厳格化するのは「安心確保」のためと説明している。具体的には、食品を通じた「内部被曝(ひばく)」のリスクが今の５分の１以下になるという。

If the new ceilings proposed by the ministry are introduced, decisions on such matters as banning shipments of food would be made on the basis of the toughened criteria.
　導入後は、これに基づき出荷停止などが判断される。

Careful attention should be paid, however, to the possibility of stricter limits instead heightening the risk of social unease.
　しかし、規制値を厳しくすることで社会不安が高まるリスクも注意深く見極める必要があろう。

If the new criteria are enforced, there may be many cases in which food items with "safe" radiation levels under the current limits would be found to contain "excessive" levels of radioactive cesium. It is therefore feared that shipments of foodstuffs could be suspended one after another.
　暫定規制値で十分「安全」の範囲なのに、新規制値で「超過」と判定される例が想定される。出荷停止が続発しはしないか。

The current provisional ceilings are already markedly strict as they are one-half to one-fourth the regulatory limits in the United States and European countries. Because of this, the government and many experts have said in explaining the provisional ceilings that eating foods whose radiation readings are slightly above the provisional limits does not mean they are "dangerous" to health. Instead, they say, people can eat them without fear.
　現行の暫定規制値も、欧米の規制値の２分の１から４分の１程度と厳格だ。だから政府や専門家の多くは、規制値を多少超えた食品を口にしても、「危険」の域に入るのではなく心配は無用、と「解説」してきた経緯がある。

The health ministry, before implementation of the new ceilings, is set to seek understanding and cooperation from local governments and industries concerned about toughening the limits. For some categories of food, the ministry is considering taking "tentative steps," or measures to delay the application of new ceilings.
　厚労省は、新規制値導入に際して関係自治体、業界にも理解と協力を求める方針だ。食品によっては、新規制値の適用時期を遅らせる「経過措置」も検討する。

To measure radiation levels in accordance with the new ceilings, high-precision instruments capable of detecting radioactive cesium at a single-digit level of becquerels will be needed. Some industries may be unable to obtain such instruments immediately. The switch from the current ceilings to new ones, therefore, should be preceded by sufficient time to make preparations.
　新規制値に対応するには、微量のセシウムも測れる精密測定装置が要るが、直ちに準備できない業界もあるだろう。規制切り替えは時間をかけて進めるべきだ。

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Cesium levels dwindling

In its studies of the advisability of introducing the new criteria, the ministry has conducted a series of sampling examinations of a wide range of foodstuffs to find how much radioactive cesium they contain.
　新規制値を検討するに当たり、厚労省は様々な食品にセシウムがどの程度含まれているか、抜き取り調査をしている。

According to the investigations, less than 1 percent of food items examined nationwide were found to contain radioactive cesium in excess of the provisional ceilings. Any foodstuffs with radioactive cesium exceeding the ceilings have been prohibited, in principle, from being put on the market.
　調査によれば、全国で、暫定規制値を超えた食品は全体の１％未満に過ぎない。暫定規制値を超過した食品は原則、流通しない。

Moreover, the number of cases in which radioactive cesium has been detected at levels below the provisional ceilings has been gradually shrinking, the ministry says. A fact that should be taken into account is that, due to the characteristics of radioactive material, the quantity of radioactive cesium in food is certain to decline by a wide margin in the year to come.
　それ以下の食品でも検出例は減る傾向にある。放射性物質の特質として、セシウム量が１年後に大幅に減ることも考慮したい。

It is very important for the government to provide detailed explanations of such matters to spread accurate information about food safety among the public.
　こうした状況を国民に丁寧に説明し、食の安全への正しい理解を広めることが、まず重要だ。

Government efforts to ensure the safety of foodstuffs in the process of their distribution must continue to be undertaken in a reliable way.
流通過程での安全確認も、確実に継続しなければならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 24, 2011)
（2011年12月24日01時16分 読売新聞）