(CBS NEWS) NEW YORK -- Japan's tsunami last year sent an estimated five tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean. Experts say roughly a ton-and-a-half of debris is still afloat, heading toward Western U.S. shores. Some has already washed up in Alaska.
The earthquake-spurred tsunami resulted in an emergency at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which sent untold amounts of radioactivity into the air.
Radiation Detected 400 Miles off Japanese Coast
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Radioactive contamination from the Fukushima power plant disaster has been detected as far as almost 400 miles off Japan in the Pacific Ocean, with water showing readings of up to 1,000 times more than prior levels, scientists reported Tuesday.
But those results for the substance cesium-137 are far below the levels that are generally considered harmful, either to marine animals or people who eat seafood, said Ken Buesseler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
Read MoreWest Oakland & Berkerley Children to be Tested for Heavy Metals
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Residents who live near two industrial factories in West Oakland and West Berkeley may suspect that the air they breathe contains higher than average levels of lead and other heavy metals.
Now a new pilot study sponsored by the nonprofit Global Community Monitor will help them find out.
The study involves testing the blood of children ages 1-5 who live within a mile of Custom Alloy Scrap Sales, or CASS, on Poplar Street in West Oakland, and Pacific Steel Casting on Second Street in West Berkeley. The companies have been targeted by environmental groups for pollution issues that are compounded by their proximity to residential neighborhoods.
Read More6 Risky Chemicals You're Carrying in Your Body
/In the most comprehensive testing to date, the CDC finds Americans are exposed to 212 chemicals. Here's how to avoid six of the riskiest.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released its latest assessment of the chemicals we're all carrying around in our bodies. The biomonitoring study is the most comprehensive in the world, measuring 212 chemicals in the blood and urine of 8,000 Americans. That's more than 40% more chemicals than have ever been tested for before
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