Hong Kong has higher background radiation level than Tokyo, say scientists
Non-profit group Safecast has been gathering data on radiation levels in Japan since the 2011 earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster. They have been to Hong Kong several times, driving around in cars with Geiger counters to measure the radiation levels in some of the city's most heavily populated areas.
Hong Kong has a higher level of background radiation than Tokyo, says a group of citizen scientists who hope to allay fears that travellers to Japan are at greater risk of exposure.
They have been to Hong Kong several times, driving around in cars with Geiger counters to measure the radiation levels in some of the city's most heavily populated areas.
And they found that Hong Kong's level of background radiation is around 100 counts per minute, about three to four times higher than Tokyo's, says Pieter Franken, a computer scientist and volunteer radiation monitor based in Tokyo.
"It's likely the granite used in construction," said Franken, who set up the monitoring group with others as they felt radiation data being provided by the Japanese government was inadequate.
Even in a hotel room on the 15th floor, the radiation levels were still higher than in most Asian cities, he said.
The Hong Kong Observatory said that based on its own measurements, the level of background radiation in the city did not pose a risk to human health.
