Lead makes it here from China

[sam kane]

especially from March to May. Why wouldn't radioactive isotopes from Japan make it here too? You only need one isotope of plutonium to make you sick, well, probably dead.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es101450t

[Drale]

1. Radiation is energy and energy works very differently then a heavy metal

I don't pretend to be an expert but I do know thats a heavy metal can be carried in clouds and radiation is more likely to be disparate over a long distance.

[Sirveri]

3. the radiation is emitted from radionuclides, which are basically particles of dust.

That said, how high up that dust goes is a measure of how hot it is when it is released. If it doesn't get hot enough to reach the jet stream then it will fallout over the Pacific ocean. The current nuclide of concern is Iodine(131?), which is also a gas, though it's still heavier than air.

[Sonoman]

2. If you have any glazed Chinese pots in your garden...

you already have been exposed to more lead than you can imagine.

If you are growing any edibles in those pots, do not eat them.

Sonoman