Scientists have detected a mysterious spike in radioactive particles across Central and Western Europe over the last week.
According to Germany’s Office for Radiation Protection, the increased levels of radiation contain particles of ruthenium-106 – an isotope used in cancer radiation therapy.
Rt.com reports: An increase of ruthenium-106 has been detected in the air in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
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While officials say there’s no need to panic, they don’t know where the material has come from. The elevated radiation levels don’t present a threat to human health.
“New analyzes of the source of the radioactive material are likely to indicate a release in the southern Ural,” the Office for Radiation Protection said, “but other regions in Southern Russia can not be excluded.”
It said that because it’s only ruthenium-106 that has been detected, this rules out a nuclear power plant accident.
Radioactive boar found in Sweden 31 years after #Chernobyl https://t.co/9VZwNYhsiC pic.twitter.com/XdSybuS0Np
— RT (@RT_com) October 7, 2017
Similar spikes in radioactive particles have occurred across Europe in the past, but they are rare.
In February, trace amounts of radioactive Iodine-131 were detected across parts of Europe. The iodine faded, and the source of the radioactivity wasn’t identified, Motherboard reports.
France’s IRSN institute announced the trace amounts were detected over Norway, Finland, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, France and Spain.
