Indonesia investigates radioactive contamination in some exports to US and Europe

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has opened a criminal investigation into the suspected source of radioactive contamination that forced recalls of exports of shrimp and spices to the U.S. and sneakers to the Netherlands, authorities said Wednesday.

The probe is centered on a metal-processing factory at the Cikande Industrial Estate, in Banten province on the island of Java. The smelting company, called PT Peter Metal Technology, is believed to be China-owned, according to investigators.

“The police have launched the criminal investigation,” said Bara Hasibuan, a spokesperson for the investigating task force.

The discovery of cesium 137 began earlier this year with an initial report submitted by Dutch authorities over traces of radiation found in shipping containers from Indonesian. The report stated that several boxes of sneakers were found to be contaminated.

In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety alert warning consumers not to eat certain frozen shrimp imported from PT Bahari Makmur Sejati, a company close to the industrial estate trading as BMS Foods, after cesium 137 was detected in shipping containers sent to U.S. ports.

Around 20 factories linked to the Cikande industrial estate were affected, including facilities that process shrimp and make footwear, authorities say. Nine employees working on the industrial estate were detected to have been exposed to cesium-137. They have been treated at a government hospital in Jakarta and all contaminated facilities in the industrial area have been decontaminated.

The Associated Press was unable to locate contact details for PT Peter Metal Technology.

The FDA says while long-term, repeated low-dose exposure to cesium 137 increases health risks, the levels detected in the Indonesian products posed no acute risk to health.

Indonesian authorities have had difficulty conducting investigations as the management of PT Peter Metal Technology — which produces steel rods from scrap metal — has returned to China, Setia Diarta, director general of the Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment, and Electronics at Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry, told a hearing with lawmakers earlier this month.

Indonesian authorities say they are preventing goods contaminated with cesium 137 from entering Indonesia.

Port authorities earlier this month stopped eight containers of zinc powder from Angola that were contaminated. The containers are being held pending completion of the administrative process for re-export.