A new study found that the tuna from the shores of Oregon and Washington tested positive for radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011.
Researchers from Oregon State University led by graduate research assistant Delvan Neville tested 26 Pacific albacore captured from 2008 to 2012. They picked this species for testing in particular because the fish travel through both Japanese and American waters.
Their analysis revealed that the tuna contained trace amounts of radiation. Radioactivity levels in the area have reportedly increased by 0.1 percent since the Japan tsunami that affected the Fukushima nuclear plant three years ago.
Though the radiation is small and not harmful to humans, researchers believe they are able to prove that impact of the radiation persists years later.
"I think people would rather have an answer on what is there and what isn't there than have a big question mark," Neville said to Reuters.
The researchers plan to extend their study to other shores of the United States and look at other species, as well.
Further details of this study can be read on the journal, Environmental Science and Technology.
Other studies have been monitoring the movement of the Fukushima radiation as it approaches U.S. waters. Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution predicted that low levels of radiation originating from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan will reach the U.S west coast, starting in Seattle this April.
Another project that aims to monitor the plume's arrival is Steve Manley's Kelp Watch 2014. About 50 scientists will be working together to analyze kelp samples and see if they have been contaminated with radioactive chemicals from the nuclear power plant leak.
