Japanese villagers told not to drink tap water

TOKYO—Japan’s Health Ministry says it has advised a village near a crippled nuclear plant not to drink tap water due to elevated levels of radioactive iodine.

Ministry spokesman Takayuki Matsuda said Sunday that radioactive iodine three times the normal level was detected in Iitate, a village of about 6,000 people 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. That’s still one twenty-sixth of the level of a chest X-ray and poses no danger to humans, he said.

A health scare was sparked this weekend when officials said they had found traces of radiation in the water supply in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, as well as in spinach and milk. They also said there were tiny amounts in chrysanthemum greens and canola.