Radiation from the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan is now showing up in rain in Massachusetts, health officials announced today.

The state Department of Public Health said low levels of radiation were detected in Bay State rainwater earlier this week. Massachusetts now joins scores of other states from the west to the east reporting higher than normal signs of contamination, all likely from Japan.

The DPH said the radiation — in the form of radioiodine-131– does not pose a health threat to Bay State residents and that the air and public drinking water supplies have tested clean. Radioiodine is a byproduct of nuclear fission and has a half-life of about eight days.

Still, health officials said they will continue to test drinking water supplies. The positive rainwater reading was spotted this week and announced today around noon after confirmation of the findings, officials said.

‘The drinking water supply in Massachusetts is unaffected by this short-term, slight elevation in radiation. However, we will carefully monitor the drinking water as we exercise an abundance of caution,’ said DPH Commissioner John Auerbach.

Other similar radiation hits have been found in California, Washington and Pennsylvania, according to the DPH. All those positive readings are part of […]