Trace amounts of radiation from Japan's nuclear disaster have been found in New York, state health officials said Tuesday.
"The amounts detected are slightly higher than what we are exposed to on a daily basis," said New York State Health Department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton. "It's so slight, it is not considered a health risk," she said.
State officials said it was expected that the wind would carry some amounts of radiation overseas as radioactive material spewed from the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, Japan.
Several states, including Washington, Pennsylvania, California and Massachusetts have detected trace amounts of radioiodine-131 in rain water.
New York State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah said water and air in New York remains safe.
"Our most recent testing has detected extremely low levels of radioactive iodine. We use sophisticated equipment that can detect minute amounts of radiation. We continue to advise New Yorkers that they do not need to take any precautions because of the radioactive emissions from Japan’s nuclear plants," Shah said in a statement.
Health department officials said the results in New York are based on the testing of air and water samples at 12 different sites around state.
"This is much less radiation that one would be exposed to when getting a dental X-ray," said Hutton.
Officials say no elevated radiation was found in milk, only tiny traces in the air and precipitation.
