Radiologic Health Branch (RHB) -- Radiation Monitoring Reports and Information

According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Japan's nuclear emergency presents no danger to California.  California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is working closely with our state and federal partners, including NRC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, FEMA Region IX, and the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA).  CDPH-RHB maintains air monitoring stations throughout California. 

In response to the Japanese nuclear incident of March 2011, RHB increased the frequency of its routine air monitoring program for six weeks beginning in mid-March and posted the results on this page. RHB resumed its weekly air sampling frequency at the end of April and continues that monitoring along with periodic milk sampling. As a follow-up to the Japanese incident, RHB will post the results of its routine monitoring for several months on this site. Please note: RHB has detected only trace amounts of radiation, well below levels of health concern, attributable to the Japanese incident.

All of us are exposed to radiation every day, both from natural sources such as minerals in the ground, and from man-made sources such as medical X-rays.  According to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement, the average annual radiation dose per person in the U.S. is 620 millirem (http://www.epa.gov/radiation/understand/perspective.html).  For example, a Los Angeles-to-Chicago airplane flight results in a dose of 2.3 millirem.

Click Here for Link to Map of Reporting Stations

Radiation Monitoring Reports