[cremp]

If I'm reading it correctly, they can date wines based on the amount of radiation given off by them, and line it up with a chart for amount of radiation the atmosphere took in during events.

How could you properly date a bottle if it was in Fukushima during the event, vs a 1960's bottle during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

> the levels of cesium-137 are barely detectable, and even then, only if the wine is destroyed.

So nothing to see here, move along.

[24gttghh]

The article seems less about the toxicity of the cesium levels, and more about their use as a signature in dating the wine, which I find is still interesting.

[GW150914]

The article seems less about the toxicity of the cesium levels, and more about their use as a signature in dating the wine, which I find is still interesting.

And rightly so, by far the most toxic thing in these bottles is alcohol, not vanishingly small traces of cesium.

[ajross]

If the bottle was sealed, it won't pick up measurable cesium. That arrives via atmospheric transport, being picked up by rain water and eventually grape plants.

[topspin]

> So nothing to see here, move along.

The unit of measure in this are mBq/l; millibecquerel per liter. The paper reports 14 mBq/l in CA wine immediately after Fukushima. So the common 750ml bottle of 2011 CA wine will average one cesium-137 decay event every 53.5 seconds.