Establishing a database of radionuclide transfer parameters for freshwater wildlife

Yankovich, T.L.; Beresford, Nicholas A.; Фесенко, С. В.; Fesenko, J.; Phaneuf, M.; Dagher, Elias Ernest; Outola, Iisa; Andersson, Pål; Thiessen, Kathleen M; Ryan, Judy; Wood, Michael D.; Bollhöfer, Andreas; Barnett, C.L.; Copplestone, David

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2012.07.014

Cited by 35 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Whilst databases of CR wo-media values for wild species have been collated (e.g. Beresford et al, 2008b;Copplestone et al, 2013;Hosseini et al, 2008;Howard et al, 2013;Yankovich et al, 2013), data for many radionuclide-organism combinations are sparse or not available. Where data are unavailable, assumptions such as applying data for a 'similar organism' (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The transfer of 137 Cs, Pu isotopes and 90 Sr to bird, bat and ground-dwelling small mammal species within the Chernobyl exclusion zone

Beresford

Gaschak

Maksimenko

2016

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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Protected species are the focus of many radiological environmental assessments. However, the lack of radioecological data for many protected species presents a significant international challenge. Furthermore, there are legislative restrictions on destructive sampling of protected species to obtain such data. Where data are not available, extrapolations are often made from 'similar' species but there has been little attempt to validate this approach. In this paper we present what, to our knowledge, is the first study purposefully designed to test the hypothesis that radioecological data for unprotected species can be used to estimate conservative radioecolgical parameters for protected species; conservatism being necessary to ensure that there is no significant impact. The study was conducted in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Consequently, we are able to present data for Pu isotopes in terrestrial wildlife. There has been limited research on Pu transfer to terrestrial wildlife which contrasts with the need to assess radiation exposure of wildlife to Pu isotopes around many nuclear facilities internationally. Our results provide overall support for the hypothesis that data for unprotected species can be used to adequately assess the impacts for ionising radiation on protected species. This is demonstrated for a range of mammalian and avian species. However, we identify one case, the shrew, for which data from other ground-dwelling small mammals would not lead to an appropriately conservative assessment of radiation impact. This indicates the need to further test our hypothesis across a range of species and ecosystems, and/or ensure adequate conservatism within assessments. The data presented are of value to those trying to more accurately estimate the radiation dose to wildlife in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, helping to reduce the considerable uncertainty in studies reporting dose-effect relationships for wildlife. A video abstract for this paper is available from: http://bit.ly/1JesKPc.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The transfer of 137 Cs, Pu isotopes and 90 Sr to bird, bat and ground-dwelling small mammal species within the Chernobyl exclusion zone

Beresford

Gaschak

Maksimenko

2016

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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“…A disadvantage of the approach is that it requires relatively large datasets which must meet specific criteria. However, recent data compilations Yankovich et al, 2013;Copplestone et al, 2013) should enable similar analysis to be conducted for a number of elements for terrestrial, marine and freshwater species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These recommended values have been incorporated into many predictive food chain models (e.g. Brown and Simmonds, 1995;Müller and Pr€ ohl, 1993;USNRC, 1977;Yu et al, 2001).…”

Section: Transfer From the Diet To Terrestrial Vertebrates Is A Constmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…used the approach of Willey (2010) to analyse data of Cs transfer to freshwater fish species. Starting with the database on radionuclide transfer to freshwater organisms as described by Yankovich et al (2013) (see also Copplestone et al, 2013), they compiled a data set of 597 entries covering 53 species of freshwater fish from 67 sites. The 53 fish species all belonged to the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes), with 10 taxonomic orders, 14 families and 33 genera being represented in the dataset.…”

Section: An Alternative To the Cr Wo-media Model For Wildlife?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Family Genus Species geometric mean CR wo-water values from Yankovich et al (2013) are used to predict the 137 Cs activity concentrations in the fish. The CR wo-water values generally resulted in under-predictions, with a linear regression of predicted-to-measured activity concentrations yielding a slope of only 0.31.…”

Section: Ordermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making the most of what we have: application of extrapolation approaches in radioecological wildlife transfer models

Beresford

Batlle

Yankovich

et al. 2016

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

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We will never have data to populate all of the potential radioecological modelling parameters required for wildlife assessments. Therefore, we need robust extrapolation approaches which allow us to make best use of our available knowledge. This paper reviews and, in some cases, develops, tests and validates some of the suggested extrapolation approaches. The concentration ratio (CRproduct-diet or CRwo-diet) is shown to be a generic (trans-species) parameter which should enable the more abundant data for farm animals to be applied to wild species. An allometric model for predicting the biological half-life of radionuclides in vertebrates is further tested and generally shown to perform acceptably. However, to fully exploit allometry we need to understand why some elements do not scale to expected values. For aquatic ecosystems, the relationship between log10(a) (a parameter from the allometric relationship for the organism-water concentration ratio) and log(Kd) presents a potential opportunity to estimate concentration ratios using Kd values. An alternative approach to the CRwo-media model proposed for estimating the transfer of radionuclides to freshwater fish is used to satisfactorily predict activity concentrations in fish of different species from three lakes. We recommend that this approach (REML modelling) be further investigated and developed for other radionuclides and across a wider range of organisms and ecosystems. Ecological stoichiometry shows potential as an extrapolation method in radioecology, either from one element to another or from one species to another. Although some of the approaches considered require further development and testing, we demonstrate the potential to significantly improve predictions of radionuclide transfer to wildlife by making better use of available data.

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Actinide Speciation and Bioavailability in Fresh and Marine Waters

Markich¹,

Brown²

2018

Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry

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The actinides comprise a group of 15 metals (with atomic numbers ranging from 89 to 103) that are all radioactive and occur as cations in natural surface waters. Only the first 10 actinides are covered in this study, as these are the most environmentally relevant, where the dominant oxidation states are as follow: actinium(III), thorium(IV), protactinium(V), uranium(VI), neptunium(V), plutonium(IV) and (V), americium(III), curium(III), berkelium(III), and californium(III). The physicochemical form, or speciation, of an actinide (e.g., free metal ion, or complexes with inorganic or organic ligands) in natural surface waters can be determined using a range of analytical techniques. However, such methods are seldom commercially available and rarely determine a complete distribution of all metal species. A complementary approach, which is more cost effective, time efficient, and predictive, is the application of geochemical speciation modeling, which calculates the percentage distribution of all actinide species based on known or postulated chemical reactions. The general consensus is that geochemical speciation models can provide useful results if applied correctly with an understanding of the differences between simulated and real systems. This is the first study to use an internally consistent equilibrium database within a geochemical model (WHAM) to calculate the speciation of the first 10 actinides across fresh, estuarine, and marine waters that incorporates natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) (i.e., fulvic acid). The speciation of a metal (actinide) largely governs its uptake and/or toxicity (bioavailability) in aquatic organisms. The general consensus is that bioavailability is best predicted by the concentration of the free metal ion (M z+ ) and that metals complexed with most inorganic ligands (e.g., carbonate or sulfate) or natural DOM, typically have low bioavailability. There is also evidence to suggest that colloidal thorium is bioavailable to freshwater organisms. The study correlates observed actinide speciation with bioavailability (where available) or utilizes predicted actinide speciation to determine the likely magnitude of bioavailability, as applied to aquatic organisms. This study also addresses the likely effects of global ocean acidification and increased natural DOM concentrations in fresh surface waters on actinide speciation and bioavailability.

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Establishing a database of radionuclide transfer parameters for freshwater wildlife

Cited by 35 publications

References 31 publications

The transfer of 137 Cs, Pu isotopes and 90 Sr to bird, bat and ground-dwelling small mammal species within the Chernobyl exclusion zone

The transfer of 137 Cs, Pu isotopes and 90 Sr to bird, bat and ground-dwelling small mammal species within the Chernobyl exclusion zone

Making the most of what we have: application of extrapolation approaches in radioecological wildlife transfer models

Actinide Speciation and Bioavailability in Fresh and Marine Waters

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