Health Canada detects 'minuscule' increase in radiation

[Christopherdel Profile]

The Canadian Press

Date: Monday Mar. 21, 2011 9:48 PM ET

VANCOUVER — Health Canada monitoring stations have detected a "minuscule" increase in radiation levels along the B.C. coast in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan but some residents weren't taking their chances.

Health spokesman Gary Holub said increased radiation levels were expected, and less than the increase in radiation levels Canadians would see naturally when it rains.

He stressed the increase posed no health risk to Canadians.

The agency installed nine additional monitoring stations along the West Coast late last week, as public concerns persisted about possible radioactive drift from Japan making it thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean to North America.

Canadian health officials are reassuring the public there's no need to fear fallout from the Japan, but some residents of B.C. remain nervous.

A number of military surplus stores around Vancouver said they fielded an average of 30 to 40 calls a day from alarmed citizens asking for geiger counters to measure radioactivity, "baby gas masks," potassium iodide supplements and suits to protect them from hazardous materials.