Advice appreciated-Akoya after Fukushima

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violacrest

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Aug 22, 2019
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Hello experts. I'm new on the forum and new into the world of pearls. I was hoping to introduce these fishy eyes to my jewellry collection and was doing my homework when a fact hit and egged me since the day I learnt the information.

I was told that 90% of the world's finest Akoyas come from Japan. I also know that since the Fukushima Disaster of 2011 the government never quite managed to seal off the radioactive leak into the ocean. Yes, the ocean current would dilute the nuclear radiation (hopefully), but diluted seawater and cultivating the product in a high risk zone submerged in bio-hazardous water are two very different matters in my mind.

I was wondering if the Japanese adminstration or at the very least the Japanese Pearl Association (if there is any) was doing any testing/screening/preventing in regards to this issue.


So in a nutshell-is Japanese Akoya safe to wear?
 
Those articles are quite informative Pearl Dreams, thank you for adding the links. The thought just never occured to me that pearls could have radiation. Oysters are very sensitive to pollution, do you think they would even survive a big radioactive leak?
 
You'll get more radiation from your cell phone than you'd ever get from pearls.
 
Charlotta said:
Those articles are quite informative Pearl Dreams, thank you for adding the links. The thought just never occured to me that pearls could have radiation. Oysters are very sensitive to pollution, do you think they would even survive a big radioactive leak?
Click to expand...

As I said I am but a beginner, so I am unsure how sensitive/resilient Akoya oysters are, but I do not think all maritime life in Bikini Island or those poor creatures of Chernobile instantaenously met a collective end-never hurts to ask. But thank you for your input, never quite thought that oysters might give out before pearls were ever formed.
 
I landed in Japan the day the Fukushima disaster hit. We were flying from Manila where we had been working on shooting video for Power of Pearl. The earthquake hit while we were traveling to Osaka.

We spent a week at the farms around Mie during the aftermath. There was no effect felt in the area. Since then, the spread of radiation has gone out into the Pacific, but Fukishima is actually in a different direction - south and west of the Fukushima.

I am only pointing this out because the shells themselves have not been affected. Even if they were, there would be no danger to people wearing pearls. The danger would be to the viability of the farms themselves.
 
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