Philippines Traces Radioactive Zinc Shipment as Indonesia Contamination Prompts US Food Controls

Nine containers put zinc exports under scrutiny

The Philippines is investigating how cesium 137, a radioactive isotope, entered zinc powder shipped to Indonesia, where authorities intercepted nine containers of zinc concentrate at Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta. The shipment is scheduled to return to Manila in late October, with its containers remaining sealed during the journey.

As of October 18, 2025, Philippine Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr said the findings pointed to an isolated contamination event, with no indication of widespread danger to the public. Inspectors detected no radiation outside the containers, and officials said the vessel's crew was not considered at risk.

Indonesian officials said nine people exposed during port handling had recovered. The Indonesian Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency, known as Bapeten, confirmed cesium 137 in the zinc shipment and recommended returning it to the Philippines.

The investigation reaches beyond a single cargo. Philippine teams have found contamination outside two warehouses in Bulacan, while Indonesian investigators suspect a steel plant in the Cikande industrial estate in Serang, Banten, of releasing radioactive particles. Food safety checks have also detected cesium 137 in Indonesian shrimp and cloves, prompting recalls and new United States import requirements.

Zannwann International Trading, a company with Chinese ownership operating in Meycauayan City, Bulacan, arranged the zinc shipment, according to Philippine officials. Authorities are now tracing the material through its suppliers, storage sites and transport records to identify where contamination occurred.

The immediate tasks are to receive the returning cargo safely, test it and place it in secure storage. The wider investigation must establish how radioactive material entered an industrial supply chain that connects scrap processing, zinc dust, shipping containers and food exports.

What Indonesia found at the port and in Cikande

Tanjung Priok authorities identified several contaminated containers during intensified screening, including boxes carrying scrap metal from overseas and the nine containers of zinc concentrate from the Philippines. Several containers were ordered back to their places of origin as a precaution.

United States alerts had prompted stronger screening during the same period. Checks detected trace cesium 137 in frozen shrimp shipments and later in cloves from Indonesia, extending the response from industrial cargo to food exports.

Indonesian investigators identified the Cikande industrial estate as the center of the contamination episode. PT Peter Metal Technology, a steel maker that uses imported scrap as raw material, is suspected of releasing particles that settled on nearby surfaces.

PT Bahari Makmur Sejati, a seafood processor, operates less than two kilometers from the steel plant. Indonesian officials said airborne particles likely traveled from the steel operation to packaging materials and the interiors of shipping containers.

Senior advisers to the Indonesian government described a possible route through the furnace. If a sealed source containing cesium chloride enters a load of scrap and is melted, the compound can become vapor at furnace temperatures. That vapor and tiny particles can travel through the air and settle on equipment, walls, products or packaging nearby.

The contamination pattern on shrimp packaging and inside containers near Cikande fits that working explanation. Investigators are also examining containers that previously carried contaminated scrap and may later have been used for food shipments.

How Indonesia is containing the affected area

Indonesia designated the affected area a serious incident zone to accelerate containment and decontamination. The designation supports efforts to locate radioactive material, restrict access and remove contamination while food safety checks continue.

Bapeten deployed survey teams, installed barriers and began targeted cleanup within the zone. Authorities also moved to return contaminated scrap overseas and investigate the role of shipping containers in carrying particles between loads.

Indonesia formed a task force that is sharing findings with United States officials and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Its work includes coordinating cleanup and exchanging information about the affected cargo and industrial sites.

The nine people exposed during port handling have recovered, Indonesian authorities said. The response now includes both the people who handled suspect cargo and the places where contamination may remain, including container interiors and industrial surfaces.

The Philippine investigation moves into Bulacan

Philippine investigators are examining the domestic steel processing chain because facilities that handle scrap can produce zinc dust as a byproduct. Steel makers and galvanizing operations collect this dust from furnace fumes and filtration systems, and the material can then be sold into export markets.

Xin Recycling, a facility linked to the exporter, stores bags of zinc dust in Meycauayan City, according to a survey by Philippine disaster response teams. The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) reported contamination on the ground outside two Xin Recycling warehouses.

Local officials cordoned off the immediate area after those findings. Inspectors were not allowed inside the storage buildings, leaving the inspection of the warehouse interiors unfinished.

A company representative told Philippine officials that the zinc dust came from a network of steel companies and named SteelAsia and CAPASCO as suppliers. A SteelAsia official said the company would investigate.

Authorities have opened a broader review of steel processing facilities to examine whether a lost radioactive source could have entered scrap and subsequently contaminated zinc dust. The point at which the Philippine shipment became contaminated has not yet been identified.

Tracing the chain of custody means following who supplied, stored, moved and handled the material at each stage. For this shipment, that work connects the exporter and warehouses with the steel operations that generated the dust and the transport route to Indonesia.

How Manila plans to receive the cargo

The Philippine response group brings together the Department of Science and Technology, PNRI, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Philippine Ports Authority, the Bureau of Customs and the Department of Health Bureau of Quarantine. The agencies are coordinating with the IAEA on testing and safety procedures.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government convened an emergency meeting with the port, customs, quarantine and science agencies to prepare for the vessel's arrival. Technical teams plan instrument checks before the cargo is moved into secure storage.

Solidum said the containers would stay sealed during transit. Philippine authorities reported no detectable radiation outside the cargo and said the crew faced no hazard from the sealed shipment.

The Bureau of Customs is repairing radiation portal monitors that are out of service. Those monitors screen cargo as it passes through a checkpoint. Until they are restored, customs officials will use portable instruments at the quay.

Port workers can expect restricted handling areas, direct dosimetry and strict records for samples. Dosimetry measures the radiation a person receives, helping teams track exposure while they work around suspect material.

Officials said there was no plan to open the containers in densely populated urban areas. The cargo will instead be transferred to controlled sites for full inspection, with secure handling intended to keep the material contained throughout the process.

Why cesium 137 can spread through metal and dust

Cesium 137 is an artificial radioactive isotope produced by nuclear fission, the splitting of atomic nuclei. It is used in medical devices and industrial gauges and also remains from past nuclear weapons testing and reactor operations.

The isotope emits gamma rays with high energy and has a half life of about 30 years. A half life is the time it takes for half of a radioactive material's atoms to decay, so cesium 137 can remain detectable for decades.

Medical and industrial equipment normally keeps cesium enclosed in sealed sources. When a source is lost or stolen and falls outside proper control, it is called an orphan source. Such a source can enter scrap collected for recycling.

Scrap sorting systems are intended to detect radioactive sources at yards and ports. Occasionally, an orphan source passes through those checks and reaches a furnace. Melting can turn cesium compounds into vapor and release tiny airborne particles, also called aerosols.

Those particles can settle inside the plant or across nearby industrial premises. They can stick to scrap, pallets, surfaces and container interiors, allowing contamination to travel with goods far from the place where it began.

Shipping containers create another possible route. A box used for contaminated metal can retain particles, then carry a different product on its next journey. If it is later loaded with food without suitable cleaning or decontamination, packaging may show low radiation readings.

The investigation therefore includes food, its packaging and the containers around it. Indonesian findings on packaging and inside boxes near Cikande have made those transport surfaces part of the cleanup and screening effort.

What the food readings mean for health

Cesium 137 can expose people from outside or inside the body. External exposure occurs when gamma rays pass through the body. Internal exposure occurs when someone breathes in contaminated dust or swallows contaminated material.

High doses received over a short period can cause radiation sickness and burns. Exposure to low doses over a long period can increase the risk of cancer. For food, regulators measure how much radioactive activity is present in a given weight of a product.

That measurement is expressed in becquerels per kilogram, written as Bq per kg. A becquerel measures radioactive activity. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a derived intervention level of 1,200 Bq per kg for cesium 137 in food, a benchmark for deciding when intervention is needed.

Testing described by authorities found 68 Bq per kg in one shrimp shipment and 732 Bq per kg in one clove sample. Both were below the FDA's intervention level, although repeated exposure can pose a potential risk and detections have prompted close scrutiny.

The shrimp reading was about 5.7 percent of the 1,200 Bq per kg benchmark. The clove reading was 61 percent of that level. Those comparisons help explain the size of the measurements while regulators investigate how the food became contaminated.

US controls extend to shrimp and spices

The FDA placed PT Bahari Makmur Sejati and PT Natural Java Spice under an import alert. It advised consumers and businesses not to eat, sell or serve certain shrimp products from PT Bahari Makmur Sejati, the processor near the Cikande steel plant.

FDA testing later confirmed cesium 137 in a clove shipment from PT Natural Java Spice. Shipments from the two firms are subject to detention, and future entries can be detained without physical examination unless the required assurances are supplied.

The FDA explained the conditions for the two companies to regain access to the United States market in its public notice:

Products from PT Bahari Makmur Sejati and PT Natural Java Spice will not be permitted to enter the U.S. market until the firms provide information that adequately demonstrates they have resolved the conditions that gave rise to the appearance of the violations.

The agency said none of the shipments that tested positive entered United States commerce. Retailers nevertheless worked with regulators to remove products linked to the alerts from store shelves as a precaution.

Starting October 31, 2025, the FDA will require import certification for shrimp and all spices from the island of Java and Lampung province. The agency is using a tool granted by Congress to require additional assurances before these products enter the country.

Exporters and importers must obtain certification from a third party showing that the products meet United States requirements and are free of cesium 137. The policy is intended to protect consumers while allowing safe products from unaffected areas to continue trading.

The FDA is also conducting enhanced screening at ports of entry. It is sharing findings with United States Customs and Border Protection and Indonesian authorities, while continuing to publish updates for consumers and businesses through its cesium 137 notice.

The dates and decisions ahead

By October 18, the response had developed into connected investigations of industrial contamination, cargo handling and food safety. The next scheduled steps concern the zinc shipment's return to Manila and the start of the United States certification requirement.

• Before October 18, 2025: Indonesian checks identified contaminated cargo at Tanjung Priok, including nine containers of zinc concentrate from the Philippines. Bapeten confirmed cesium 137 and recommended repatriation.
• By October 18, 2025: Philippine agencies had activated a response group, and contamination had been reported outside two Xin Recycling warehouses in Meycauayan.
• Late October 2025: The sealed zinc containers are scheduled to return to Manila for checks, secure storage and further investigation.
• October 31, 2025: United States import certification requirements are scheduled to begin for shrimp and all spices from Java and Lampung province.

Philippine technical teams will focus on the returning shipment and its supply records. Indonesian teams are working to remove affected material, clean sites and containers, and maintain food safety checks around the contamination zone.

What changes for ports, recyclers and exporters

Steel makers and recyclers across Asia and beyond use scrap that may have traveled long distances. Industrial gamma gauges and medical devices containing cesium chloride need to be tracked and recovered when they reach the end of their useful life, before their sealed sources enter recycling streams.

The IAEA urges scrapyards, ports and regulators to use several layers of detection, including portal monitors, handheld instruments and staff training. The aim is to intercept radioactive sources before they are melted and spread contamination through a plant or its surroundings.

Manila and Jakarta port authorities are adding screening steps for containers and working with the IAEA on best practices. In the Philippines, the temporary reliance on portable instruments makes those checks part of the immediate preparations for the returning shipment.

Companies handling zinc dust or scrap are likely to face tighter documentation checks and audits while investigators trace the cargo. For food exporters in the Indonesian regions covered by the FDA policy, third party certification will become an additional requirement for United States entry from October 31.

Indonesia and the Philippines must also restore confidence in affected trade routes. Their work includes isolating radioactive material, cleaning premises and shipping boxes, and documenting corrective measures so safe goods can continue moving.

The two investigations address connected parts of that task: the suspected industrial release and contaminated surfaces in Indonesia, and the origin, storage and handling of the zinc dust exported from the Philippines. Both countries are coordinating with the IAEA as they tighten screening and manage cleanup.

Key Points

• The Philippines is tracing cesium 137 in nine containers of zinc concentrate intercepted at Indonesia's Tanjung Priok Port.
• The cargo is scheduled to return to Manila in late October. Officials say the sealed containers showed no detectable radiation outside and posed no hazard to the crew.
• Indonesian authorities said nine people exposed during port handling recovered.
• Investigators suspect a steel operation at PT Peter Metal Technology in Cikande released particles that reached nearby surfaces, packaging and containers.
• PNRI found contamination outside two Xin Recycling warehouses in Meycauayan, where inspectors were not allowed inside.
• Food testing found 68 Bq per kg in one shrimp shipment and 732 Bq per kg in one clove sample, below the FDA intervention level of 1,200 Bq per kg.
• The FDA placed PT Bahari Makmur Sejati and PT Natural Java Spice under import alert and said the shipments that tested positive did not enter United States commerce.
• From October 31, 2025, shrimp and all spices from Java and Lampung province will require third party certification for United States entry.