TAMPA, Florida -- It took two weeks, traveling thousands of miles, but officials confirm radiation from Japan's nuclear disaster has now reached our area.
Similar findings have been reported at all three nuclear power plants in Florida. Each is equipped with super-sensitive monitoring equipment.
"Progress Energy has detected some extremely low levels of Iodine 131 at our Crystal River nuclear plant" north of Tampa, said Progress Energy spokesperson Cherie Jacobs.
Progress Energy wants residents to know that the increased radiation levels being detected at the power plant are not dangerous and did not originate from them.
"The Iodine 131 is from the Japanese plants, which has drifted across the United States and reached the east coast," said Jacobs.
Energy officials have concluded that radiation from the earthquake and tsunami-ravaged Fukushima nuclear plant has now made it here.
Sensitive monitoring stations at all three of the state's nuclear plants have been picking-up the radioactive "fingerprint" from radiation leaked there.
"If this were coming out of our plant, there would be other radioactive isotopes present," said Jacobs.
Officials say it's only a trace amount of radiation, less than .1 millirems.
To put that in perspective, the average U.S. citizen is exposed to about 360 millirems per year.
You could get twice that much radiation exposure using a gas lamp, and 10 times more from a dental x-ray, watching TV, playing video games, or just eating a banana (yes, some foods produce their own radiation).
Here are some other factors from Hubpages.com:
Where do you live?
Cosmic Radiation exposure depends on your elevation from outer space. The elevation tells you how much air is between you and the radiation above.
• at sea level: 26 mrem
• 0- 1,000 feet: 28 mrem
• 1- 2,000 feet: 31 mrem
• 2- 3,000 feet: 35 mrem
• 3-4,000 feet: 41 mrem
• 4-5,000 feet: 47 mrem
• 5-6,000 feet: 52 mrem
• 6-7,000 feet: 66 mrem
• 7-8,000 feet: 79 mrem
• 8-9,000 feet: 96 mrem
Terestrial Radiation
• States that border the Gulf or Atlantic coasts: 16 mrem
• The Colorado Plateau area (around Denver): 63 mrem
• Anywhere else in the United States: 30 mrem
House Construction
• House made out of adobe, stone, brick, or concrete: 7 mrem
Power Plants
• Live within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant: 0.01 mrem
• Live within 50 miles of a coal- fired power plant: 0.03 mrem
Food, Water, Air
Internal Radiation
• Food (carbon and Potassium) and water (radon dissolved in water): 40 mrem
• From air (radon): 200 mrem
How You Live
• Weapons test fallout (less than 1 mrem): 1 mrem
• Jet plane travel per hour: 0.5 mrem/hr
• Porcelain crowns or false teeth: 0.07 mrem (radiation only to the mouth)
• Been through luggage inspection at the airport: 0.002 mrem
• Watch TV: 1 mrem
• Play video games on a console or computer: 1 mrem
• Have a smoke detector: 0.008 mrem
• Use a gas camping lantern: 0.2 mrem
• Wear a plutonium-powered pacemaker: 100 mrem
Medical Diagnostic Tests
The number of mrems are estimated to the closest value. Multiple the mrem count by the number of times each test has been preformed.
• X-Ray in an Extremity (arm, hand, foot, leg): 1 mrem
• X-Ray: Dental: 1 mrem
• X-Ray of the Chest: 6 mrem
• X-Ray of the Pelvis or Hip: 65 mrem
• X-Ray of the Skull or Neck: 20 mrem
• X-Ray of the Barium Enema: 405 mrem
• X-Ray of the Upper GI: 245 mrem
• CAT Scan of the head and body: 110 mrem
• Nuclear Medicine (thyroid scan, etc): 14 mrem
Enrique Urrutia, M.D., a doctor of radiology and nuclear medicine in the Tampa Bay area, says Iodine 131 can be linked to thyroid cancer, but in this concentration, there's nothing to be worried about.
The isotope has a half-life -- or stays radioactive -- for only eight days. That, said Dr. Urrutia, makes it almost impossible to accumulate in the body of a person living along the U.S. east coast.
"Again, the isotopes that get released dissipate very quickly in the atmosphere and in the salt water and they get diluted," he says, "so there's really no fear for exposure to this amount of radiation."
Florida Power and Light, which operates the other two nuclear plants in Florida, says they registered similar trace amounts of Iodine 131 this past week, and like Progress Energy, voluntarily reported the findings to state officials even though the levels fell below the threshold for mandatory reporting.
If you'd like to see a chart showing more levels of radiation produced by normal activities and at what point the levels can become a health hazard, check out this Radiation Chart.