Denmark | Final report released on soil contamination after 1968 nuke crash
Thule DK | The final report on the studies of soil contamination after the crash in 1968 in the Thule area has today been published.
Risø DTU and the National Institute of Radiation Hygiene (SIS) under the Health Protection Agency has been responsible for preparing reports.
Risø DTU’s research shows that the area around Narsaarsuk southeast of Thule Air Base (8 km south of the crash site) is a highly variable plutonium contamination. National Institute of Radiation Hygiene (SIS) has estimated the radiation doses associated with residence in the contaminated areas, including from inhalation of plutonium ejecta in the air. The estimated radiation doses are very small – less than the radiation doses from background radiation. National Institute of Radiation Protection considers therefore that there is no health risk by staying in the area, as well as from a radiation protection and health point of view is no need for purified measures with the current use of the area.
Pollution in the Thule area caused the crash of a U.S. bomber on the ice near the Thule base in Greenland in 1968. By accident, radioactive substances from the damaged nuclear weapons spread of smoke from the burning jet fuel. Already in connection with cleanup work in 1968 after the crash and the following year was made a number of studies of pollution in the area of Risø DTU. It was concluded that pollution levels were generally very low.
In 2003 as in 1968 found contamination on land at the fishing site Narsaarsuk. The government therefore decided in agreement with the Home Rule Government to finance studies of pollution on land in the Thule area.
Debriefing consists of two reports prepared by Risø DTU, one report prepared by the Board of Health, National Institute of Radiation Protection and a joint summary. Risø Report is based on studies by collecting soil samples and measurements in the Thule area in 2007 and 2008.
Reports can be found via the links below:
Risø DTU’s reports (pdf files):
Thule – 2007 – Investigation of Radioactive pollution on land, Risø-R-1781 (English)
Board of Health report (pdf files):
Report in Danish
Report on Greenland
Report in English
Common summary (pdf files):
Summary in Danish
Summary in Greenlandic
Summary in English
Denmark – Salmonella outbreak associated with imported tomatoes
During the recent weeks, Statens Serum Institut has been investigating a salmonella outbreak of a rare serotype not previously detected in Denmark. The outbreak is now thought to have stopped
During the recent weeks, Statens Serum Institut has been investigating a salmonella outbreak of a rare serotype, Salmonella Strathcona. This serotype has not previously been detected in Denmark, and it has never before been recognized as the source of an outbreak.
The outbreak included a total of 40 culture confirmed cases registered in the Danish National Laboratory Surveillance System. The cases, 24 females and 16 males, comprised children and grown-ups from all over the country. The first patient became ill on 4 September, and the last on 14 October. During the same period, 14 cases in Germany and one in Austria were reported.
Small, elongated tomatoes of the type datterino have been found to be the source of the infections. The tomatoes, deriving from a producer in Southern Italy, have primarily been sold from the supermarket chain, “Rema 1000”. The tomatoes are no longer available from the Supermarket chain, and the outbreak has most likely now stopped.
Further investigations are still ongoing, including looking into if the tomatoes have been delivered to other distributers.
Tomatoes have not before been recognised as the source of salmonella outbreaks in Denmark, however, the US has seen several food borne outbreaks associated with contaminated tomatoes .
Overall, tomato-associated outbreaks are rare, and there are no recommendations not to continue eating tomatoes. It is – however – recommended always to wash and rinse fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating them.
To detect the source of the outbreak, Statens Serum Institut carried out detailed patient interviews and collected data from electronic purchase records from “Rema 1000”. These showed that the majority of affected families had bought a specific brand of tomatoes. Based on these data a case-control study was then carried out; which found that eating small, elongated tomatoes sold in Rema 1000, was strongly associated with illness. The overall conclusion of the investigations was that the datterino tomatoes with a high probability were the source of the outbreak.