Vermont health officials say air samples taken in Windham County and Burlington reveal trace amounts of radioactive iodine stemming from Japan’s damaged nuclear plant, but not at levels high enough to pose a public health risk or prompt the need for precautions.
The state health commissioner, Dr. Harry Chen, and the state’s radiological health chief, Bill Irwin, release details of the tests yesterday afternoon. Irwin says he was surprised that the radiation traveled as far and as fast as it did.
Earlier this week, health officials said tests detected low levels of radioactivity from the stricken Fukushima reactors in northeastern Japan in snow samples in New Hampshire and air samples in Maine .