Radioactive metal at Indonesia industrial site may be linked to shrimp recall

Contaminated metal in an industrial site in Indonesia can be the source of radioactive materials which have led to massive reminders of imported frozen shrimp, according to officials of international nuclear security, while efforts are underway to interrupt more deliveries to the United States.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday that managers were in “constant contact” with Indonesian nuclear regulators who detected Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope, in a processing plant that sent millions of pounds of shrimp to the United States

“Preliminary information suggests that it can come from activities in a metal merger installation on the same industrial site or the elimination of scrap waste from other regions of the site,” said IAEA spokesperson Fredrik Dahl, in an email.

No American investigators were sent to the site in Serang, west of Jakarta, said federal officials.

Meanwhile, the company that exported the shrimp, PT Bahari Makmur Sejati, also known as BMS Foods, recalled more than 300 shipping containers who were already on the way to the United States, said Dahl.

The US Food and Drug Administration warned last month that CESIUM-137 was detected in shipping containers sent in four American ports and in a sample of imported frozen shrimp. This has prompted several shrimp reminders sold to Walmart, Kroger and other stores.

This week, additional reminders were published by Tampa Maid Foods LLC, Florida, for breaded butterfly shrimp sold under the admiral of the fleet, Portico Seafood Classic and other labels.

None of the shrimp that sparked positive alerts or tested for CESIUM-137 was published on sale, said the FDA. But other shipments sent to stores may have been manufactured under conditions that have enabled the products to contaminate, said the agency.

The risk seems to be low, but shrimps could pose a “potential health problem” for people exposed to low cesium-137 levels over time, said FDA officials.

The FDA has issued an import alert for BMS Foods shrimp to prevent products from entering the United States

The company sent around 12 million pounds of shrimp to the American ports in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and Savannah, in Georgia, in July and August, according to American customs and border protection files obtained by Import Genius, an analysis company for commercial data.

CPB officials alerted the FDA to the potential radioactive contamination of several shipping containers. The National Nuclear Security Administration has sent emergency teams to “multiple deployments” to “isolate and characterize the extent of contamination by Cesium-137,” said a spokesperson for the American energy department.

The level of cesium-137 detected in frozen shrimp was around 68 Becquerels per kilogram, a measurement of radioactivity. It is below the level of the FDA of 1,200 Becquerels per kilogram which could trigger the need for health protections.

However, it is unusual to see that the concentration of CESIUM-137 in shrimps, said Steve Biegalski, a nuclear medicine expert at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Contamination may come from the recycling of old medical equipment containing cesium-137, said Biegalski. The material has been used in medical devices to reduce blood contamination and treat cancer, for example.

When this equipment is no longer useful, it can be recycled. But if Cesium-137 is not properly removed, radioactive materials can be released in the environment.

“If they are broken in a sort of crushing mechanism, then suddenly, it’s essentially a salt,” said Biegalski. “It would be like taking a giant salibrage and stifling it on the kitchen floor.”

Containing contamination is essential, and this requires experts who have training and expertise to respond, he said.

“It must be found, isolated and cleaned,” said Biegalski.

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