title: Can we remove iodine-131 from tap water in Japan by boiling? - Experimental testing in response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.
abstract: Iodine-131 concentrations in tap water higher than 100 BqL(-1) were reported by several local governments in Japan following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Some individuals in the emergency-response community recommended the boiling of tap water to remove iodine-131. However, the tap water boiling tests in this study showed no iodine-131 loss from the tap water with either short-term boiling (1-10 min) or prolonged boiling (up to 30 min) resulting in up to 3-fold volume reductions. In this situation, boiling was shown to be not effective in removing iodine-131 from tap water; indeed even higher concentrations may result from the liquid-volume reduction accompanying this process.
authors.affiliation: Office of Biospheric Assessment for Waste Disposal, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Anagawa 4-9-1, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8555, Japan. k_tagami@nirs.go.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tagami
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uchida
mesh_terms: D006207:Half-Life; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007564:Japan; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D044367:Phase Transition; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive; D014867:Water