Radioactive iodine exceeding official levels for infants was detected Wednesday in water in a purification plant in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, prompting the metropolitan government to advise residents not to let babies younger than 1 year old drink tap water or powdered milk made with it in the 23 wards and five cities.
The news immediately emptied mineral water at supermarkets. This prompted the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to announce later in the day it will distribute a total of 240,000 550-milliliter bottles of water to Tokyo households with infants.
The iodine-131 was detected in water taken Tuesday from the Kanamachi Purification Plant. The level was 210 becquerels per liter of water, more than double the recommended level of 100 becquerels for infants stipulated in the Food Sanitation Act, according to Ei Yoshida, manager of Tokyo's Waterworks Bureau.