Radioactive Tuna Showing Up On California Coastline

It looks like debris isn't the only remnant of Japan's massive 2011 tsunami making its way to the US. There's something else coming our way that's a little more dangerous.

In California, low levels of nuclear radiation, most likely from the Fukushima power plant, have started showing up in bluefin tuna just off the state's coast. However, the amount of radiation is very miniscule, and researchers are suggesting the people won't be harmed if they happen to eat it.

The amount of radioactive cesium in the fish is not thought to be damaging to people if consumed, the researchers said in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Without making a definitive judgment on the safety of the fish, lead author Daniel Madigan of Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station noted that the amount of radioactive material detected was far less than the Japanese safety limit.

"I wouldn't tell anyone what's safe to eat or what's not safe to eat," Madigan said in a telephone interview. "It's become clear that some people feel that any amount of radioactivity, in their minds, is bad and they'd like to avoid it. But compared to what's there naturally ... and what's established as safety limits, it's not a large amount at all."

Research also indicates that the fish started carrying the radiation roughly four months after the chemicals were released into the water, meaning that these fish carried the radiation faster and farther than wind or water currents.

I don't know where your tuna comes from, but if mine starts glowing green, I'm not touching it.