18/03 Experts: Be wary of wild reports, rumors by Yomiuri

The Yomiuri Shimbun

False reports and e-mails have run rampant since last week's deadly earthquake, stoking fear and panicked buying of food and medicine.

Related organizations are calling on the public to act calmly and not be misled by inaccurate information and rumors.

At an evacuation center set up at Kawamata High School in Kawamatamachi, Fukushima Prefecture--about 50 kilometers from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant--a rumor circulated among town officials before dawn on Tuesday that the disaster response headquarters had issued an order for people to move or stay indoors. The center was established for people evacuated from towns within 20 kilometers of the plant.

Officials of the Namiemachi and Futabamachi municipal governments ran outside without confirming the information and woke up evacuees sleeping in cars outside and urged them to rush into the school's gymnasium. After sunrise that day, however, the evacuation order was proved to be false. The origin of the rumor was not known.

"A radio is the only source of information available [at the school's gym]," a Namiemachi municipal official complained. "We have no TV, and telephone and Internet services are limited. We can't get detailed information about the nuclear power plant, so correct information isn't reaching the evacuees."

A woman from Kitakata, Fukushima Prefecture, received an e-mail Monday from a friend telling her that future rainfall in the area would contain dangerous levels of radiation, so she should be sure to wear a raincoat.

The woman rushed to a number of shops only to find all raincoats sold out.

An official of the Nuclear Safety Technology Center called on the public to keep calm, saying: "Not having direct contact with rain is an effective way [to avoid radiation exposure], but the levels of radiation currently detected in the air do not indicate the possibility that radiation-laced rain will fall."

Also rampant were e-mails recommending the use of gargles that contain iodine, drinking iodine solutions and eating wakame seaweed and kelp shavings as substitutes for stable iodine preparation, an oral medicine that helps prevent physical damage from radioactive iodine.

Sales of gargles at a drugstore in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, shot up after a hydrogen explosion occurred at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant Saturday. The store sold out by Tuesday evening.

Experts have denounced such information as groundless. A researcher at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences warned that "swallowing a gargle will actually harm your health, and you can't expect desirable effects from eating wakame and things like that."

Likewise, an official of the Nuclear Safety Commission said "eating kelp shavings is not an appropriate way to restrict the accumulation of radioactive iodine in the thyroid gland."

SecureBrain Corp., a Tokyo-based Net security firm, warned against inflammatory mails, saying: "These are typical examples of chain mail, which carry the message 'send this to as many people as possible.' If you believe it and send the information to friends, you'll just fan anxiety."

An official of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry urged the public to "confirm information through reliable sources such as media reports and not be misled by chain mails. If you receive a chain mail, you should delete it promptly."

(Mar. 18, 2011)