Study: Fukushima radiation reached Calif.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant damaged in Japan's March earthquake and tsunami reached the San Francisco area, researchers said.

Radioactive material was found in the water in many areas near the nuclear plant after the March 11 disaster, but the global extent of the contamination had been unknown, a Public Library of Science release said Wednesday.

Researchers writing in the journal PLoS One say they collected rainwater samples in Berkeley, Oakland, and Albany, Calif., from March 16 to March 26 and examined them for the presence of above-normal amounts of radioactivity.

Measurable levels of radioactive isotopes of cesium, iodine and tellurium were found in the sample collected March 18, with levels peaking March 24 before returning to normal, they said.

The levels, though measurable, were nonetheless very low and posed no health risk to the public.