Honey Contains Traces Of Radioactive Chemicals From Nuclear Bomb Test

 (Photo by INTI OCON/AFP via Getty Images)

If you're a fan of honey, this is information you might want to know.

According to a new study lead by geologist Jim Kaste of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, it's been found that honey produced in the U.S. contains traces of radioactive fallout from nuclear bomb testing during the Cold War.

“There was a period in which we tested hundreds of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere,” Kaste says. “What that did was put a blanket of these isotopes into the environment during a very narrow time window.”

The study shows the honey is from much of the eastern US shows traces of a cesium-137, a radioactive element and of the 122 honey samples tested, 68 showed detectable traces of the radioactive cesium, Science Alert reported.

The case also explains how there's no risk to human health, but the honey can help locate "hot spots" of soil contamination. However, it is surprising to the scientists, as the half-life of cesium-137 is 30 years, meaning that after so long most of the radioactivity ought to have dissipated.

To learn and read about this new study, click here.


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