Rain Of Death

During the last couple of days, I have received the following text messages and e-mails:

Japan government confirms radiation leak at Fukushima nuclear plants. Asia countries should take necessary precautions. If rain comes, remain indoors first 24hrs. Close doors & windows. Swab neclskin (sic) with betadine (povidone-iodin) where thyroid area is, radiation hits thyroid first. Take extra precautions. Radiation may hit Malaysia at starting 4pm today. Pls send to your loved ones."

"A Nuclear Power Plant in Fakumi Japan exploded at 4.30 a.m today. If it rain tomorrow or later,dont do outside.If you are outside, be sure that have rain protector. It’s acid rain. Dont let it touch you.You may burn your skin, lose your hair or have cancer. This applies all asian country.Please pass, stay safe and remind everyone you know”

 

Scary huh? Makes you want to stay indoors and makes great excuse to skip work! Ok lets assume that Fukushima is 2011's Chernobyl, scattering radioactive material into the atmosphere and starts to poison the atmosphere a la the On The Beach scenario. When that radioactive clouds arrives over Malaysia, it won't matter whether it rains or not - the radiation / fallout WILL get you. It is just a matter of whether the fallout is wet or dry. Apply betadine to protect the thyroid? Betadine is an antiseptic, designed to kill germs not stopping radiation, so it's totally useless. And what's the point of protecting yor throat when the rest of your body is exposed to radiation? Might as well cover yourself head-to-toe with old-style toothpaste tubes or MOPP / NBC suits!

But that could only happen if there really is a Chernobyl-type nuclear accident in Japan. An the way I see it, even if that do happen, the country most likely to suffer fallout would be....the United States. Oh by the way, the first message is not even original - it originally started in the Philippines...someone just substituted 'Philippines' with 'Malaysia'

As for the second text message/email, it sounds scarier than the first one, only it's not. Acid rain and nuke fallout are different things altogether. Besides the real acid rain does affect humans directly - no burns from acid rain people! The concentration of acid in the rain is too low to cause direct harm (indirectly is a different matter of course) Besides, if there is another Chernobyl here, large areas of Japan would be affected first (and  the worst). We still haven't seen that right?

OK for the time being it is just a hoax. The situation in Japan is still critical but even if all hell breaks loose, I believe we are still safe.