Radiation from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, has been detected in the atmosphere in Iceland. Iceland is the first European country where traces of radiation have been found after the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan.

The pollution was carried across North-America and across the Atlantic Ocean. The particles are tiny and not considered to be dangerous to people’s health, Fréttabladid reports.

Sigurdur M. Magnússon, director of the Icelandic Radiation Safety Authority, said there is no reason to fear that the radiation detected in Iceland or other European countries will prove to be a hazard to people or the environment.

A statement from the authority says that the tiny traces of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power plant were picked up by the sensors of the authority’s station in Reykjavík and it is assumed that a similarly insignificant amount of radiation will continue to be detected in Iceland in the coming days and weeks.

“The chemicals may be traceable all around the world (similar to the ash from Eyjafjallajökull) but the amount of radiation from these chemicals from such distant places is minimal and there is no impact on health,” the statement reads.

“It is to be assumed that the radiation can become 1/1,000 to 1/10,000 part of what was detected in Europe after the Chernobyl accident in 1986 at which time very little radiation was detected in Iceland,” the statement concludes.

Click here to read more about Iceland’s initiative to assist with emergency relief after the Japan catastrophe.