8. Contaminated Products Left The Exclusion Zone
Because radioactivity will cling on to everything, each item that was in the area of Pripyat had certain levels of radiation in them. This included clothing, toys, furniture, jewelry, and food. While most of the products, such as toys, books, furniture, and apparel stayed in the spot people left them during the evacuation, a few items were taken out of the exclusion zone and placed on a truck where they went elsewhere. The majority of the things that officials shipped to other places was food.
When looking for a place to send the milk, meat, and canned goods, officials decided the best locations would be in other areas among the Soviet Union. The officials felt that if they shipped the goods, people would not realize where they came from. However, soon people started to catch on, and they stopped buying the products. Some people say that this was when labels were taken off cans before being sent to the stores as officials felt this was the only way people wouldn’t be able to tell they came from the exclusion zone.