Brazil Nuts: For that Healthy Glow

Not only is the tasty and delicious Brazil Nut one of the most nutritious nuts around, it also happens to be the world’s most radioactive food – at least until Uranium Crisps hit the shelves.

A result of the extensive root system of this largest of Amazon Rainforest trees, the Bertholletia excelsa collects and concentrates an unusually high amount of radium from the soil – much of this being stored, as many toxins are, in the fatty meat of the nut. It has been estimated that the Brazil nuts contains up to 1,000 times more radium than the next highest radioactive food.

So high is the level of radiation found in the nut, it has been shown to register “33 percent hotter than the natural radiation level of [a] room.” (Steven Levingston, Very Hot Commodities, 2003) on a standard Geiger counter. Special mention should be made that the opinion of the Historical Instrument Collection (Oak Ridge, TN) differs insofar as they claim that though “radioactivity is not high enough to be detectable with a simple survey instrument, a one to five minute count on the powdered meat of the nut with a pancake GM or ZnS detector connected to a scaler will indicate that the beta and alpha activities are significantly above background.” I will be testing it myself early next week when my new CD V-715 Geiger Counter arrives.

Though the radioactivity of the nut is the highest found in any food, and though there have been virtually no studies of the impact of Brazil nut radiation on the human body, most authorities agree that there is little to no risk of ill-effect from eating the nuts, even in quantity. Despite the prestige of occupying the top radioactive spot, the amount stored and radiated is nevertheless miniscule and simply does not compare to the level of radiation found elsewhere in our daily lives.

In fact, many would be surprised to discover just how radioactive our world is. It’s common knowledge that many early 20th century consumer products made use of radioactive materials. Most notable among them are the luminous paints – Undark and others – that were once used to paint the hands and faces of watches and clocks during the late teens and early 20’s.

Created by the US Radium Corporation – which had a lucrative defense contract at the time – the radioluminescent paints used in their New Jersey factory were responsible for the deaths of many of the female employees. Unaware of the dangers, the female employees contracted to paint watches were encouraged by the corporation to keep the tip of their brushes well pointed by wetting and shaping with their tongue and lips. Many of these girls would also paint their teeth or nails with the radium paint for the novelty of having glowing parts. The corporation was sued by a group of five female employees who, along with the other employees exposed, became known as the Radium Girls. More recently, the US Radium site in Orange, New Jersey has been classified as a Superfund site.

But what many don’t know is that even modern consumer products are often laced with radioactive material. These include smoke detectors, spark plugs, certain 3M tape dispensers, cat litter, low-sodium salt and my favorite – glossy magazines. Certain clays used in glossy magazines – to create a smooth surface on the paper – are radioactive and a truckload of glossy periodicals can trip a radiation detector.

Need we worry? Probably not, and this article isn’t intended to frighten – though it may have unintentionally done so. But it does go to show that, though we may feel safe and completely removed from danger, the very act of living in a modern society brings with it untold dangers, often of the invisible variety. These consumer products may be nothing to worry about, but if you didn’t know about them before let it be a reminder that it’s always better to be informed. A well-rounded education and critical mind will forever remain our most powerful tools and defense.

There is one thing that has become clear from all of this though: the world is more interesting with a Geiger counter.