Low-dose radiation, scientific scrutiny, and requirements for demonstrating effects

Møller, Anders Pape; Mousseau, Timothy A.

doi:10.1186/1741-7007-11-92

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Demonstrating the biological effects of long-term low-dose radiation exposure (or chronic exposure) due to nuclear pollution has scientific and political complications [ 24 ]. In the case of the Chernobyl accident, a paucity of scientific studies covering the early years after the accident generated confusion about the biological impacts of the accident [ 25 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal abnormality dynamics of the pale grass blue butterfly: three years of monitoring (2011–2013) after the Fukushima nuclear accident

et al. 2015

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BackgroundLong-term monitoring of the biological impacts of the radioactive pollution caused by the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 is required to understand what has occurred in organisms living in the polluted areas. Here, we investigated spatial and temporal changes of the abnormality rate (AR) in both field-caught adult populations and laboratory-reared offspring populations of the pale grass blue butterfly, Zizeeria maha, which has generation time of approximately one month. We monitored 7 localities (Fukushima, Motomiya, Hirono, Iwaki, Takahagi, Mito, and Tsukuba) every spring and fall over 3 years (2011–2013).ResultsThe adult ARs of these localities quickly increased and peaked in the fall of 2011, which was not observed in non-contaminated localities. In the offspring generation, the total ARs, which include deaths at the larval, prepupal, and pupal stages and morphological abnormalities at the adult stage, peaked either in the fall of 2011 or in the spring of 2012, with much higher levels than those of the parent field populations, suggesting that high incidence of deaths and abnormalities might have occurred in the field populations. Importantly, the elevated ARs of the field and offspring populations settled back to a normal level by the fall of 2012 and by the spring of 2013, respectively. Similar results were obtained not only in the spatiotemporal dynamics of the number of individuals caught per minute but also in the temporal dynamics of the correlation coefficient between the adult abnormality rate and the ground radiation dose or the distance from the Power Plant.ConclusionsThese results demonstrated an occurrence and an accumulation of adverse physiological and genetic effects in early generations, followed by their decrease and leveling off at a normal level, providing the most comprehensive record of biological dynamics after a nuclear accident available today. This study also indicates the importance of considering generation time and adaptive evolution in evaluating the biological impacts of artificial pollution in wild organisms.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0297-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal abnormality dynamics of the pale grass blue butterfly: three years of monitoring (2011–2013) after the Fukushima nuclear accident

et al. 2015

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“…Our butterfly research on Fukushima initiated discussions regarding the biological impacts of the NPP accident [ 34 – 40 , 47 – 49 ]. In a meeting of the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute in Kumatori, Japan, which was held on 10–11 August 2014, we presented novel data regarding the ingestional and transgenerational effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the pale grass blue butterfly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ingestional and transgenerational effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the pale grass blue butterfly

et al. 2015

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One important public concern in Japan is the potential health effects on animals and humans that live in the Tohoku-Kanto districts associated with the ingestion of foods contaminated with artificial radionuclides from the collapsed Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Additionally, transgenerational or heritable effects of radiation exposure are also important public concerns because these effects could cause long-term changes in animal and human populations. Here, we concisely review our findings and implications related to the ingestional and transgenerational effects of radiation exposure on the pale grass blue butterfly, Zizeeria maha, which coexists with humans. The butterfly larval ingestion of contaminated leaves found in areas of human habitation, even at low doses, resulted in morphological abnormalities and death for some individuals, whereas other individuals were not affected, at least morphologically. This variable sensitivity serves as a basis for the adaptive evolution of radiation resistance. The distribution of abnormality and mortality rates from low to high doses fits well with a Weibull function model or a power function model. The offspring generated by morphologically normal individuals that consumed contaminated leaves exhibited high mortality rates when fed contaminated leaves; importantly, low mortality rates were restored when they were fed non-contaminated leaves. Our field monitoring over 3 years (2011–2013) indicated that abnormality and mortality rates peaked primarily in the fall of 2011 and decreased afterwards to normal levels. These findings indicate high impacts of early exposure and transgenerationally accumulated radiation effects over a specific period; however, the population regained normality relatively quickly after ∼15 generations within 3 years.

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“…The study by Hiyama et al (2012) was greatly strengthened by laboratory experiments that used both internal and external radiation sources, and these unambiguously validated observations of the elevated mutation rates and phenotypic effects observed in the field (Møller and Mousseau 2013a).…”

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confidence: 96%

Genetic and Ecological Studies of Animals in Chernobyl and Fukushima

Mousseau

Møller

2014

Journal of Heredity

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Recent advances in genetic and ecological studies of wild animal populations in Chernobyl and Fukushima have demonstrated significant genetic, physiological, developmental, and fitness effects stemming from exposure to radioactive contaminants. The few genetic studies that have been conducted in Chernobyl generally show elevated rates of genetic damage and mutation rates. All major taxonomic groups investigated (i.e., birds, bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders, mammals) displayed reduced population sizes in highly radioactive parts of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. In Fukushima, population censuses of birds, butterflies, and cicadas suggested that abundances were negatively impacted by exposure to radioactive contaminants, while other groups (e.g., dragonflies, grasshoppers, bees, spiders) showed no significant declines, at least during the first summer following the disaster. Insufficient information exists for groups other than insects and birds to assess effects on life history at this time. The differences observed between Fukushima and Chernobyl may reflect the different times of exposure and the significance of multigenerational mutation accumulation in Chernobyl compared to Fukushima. There was considerable variation among taxa in their apparent sensitivity to radiation and this reflects in part life history, physiology, behavior, and evolutionary history. Interestingly, for birds, population declines in Chernobyl can be predicted by historical mitochondrial DNA base-pair substitution rates that may reflect intrinsic DNA repair ability. Subject areas: Conservation genetics and biodiversity Key words: birds, Chernobyl, Fukushima, invertebrates, mutation, radiation The notion that populations may have evolved adaptive responses to the mutational pressures imposed by chronic, multigenerational exposure to low-dose-rate radioactivity has been a prime motivator for recent studies of populations of plants and animals inhabiting the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. And the disaster at Fukushima, although ongoing and hugely tragic, provides a unique opportunity to replicate, validate, and certainly test the generality of the findings from studies conducted previously at Chernobyl. The availability of a replicate site with similar characteristics with respect to amount and type of radioactive materials in the environment, as well as significant similarities among species present in both areas, provides for a level of scientific rigor not often available when studying large-scale ecological disasters.The overarching thesis of the research conducted by our group has been that chronic exposure to radionuclides will result in genetic damage (i.e., single and double strand breaks in DNA) and increased mutation rates (e.g., single nucleotide polymorphism, deletions, insertions, etc.) in both somatic and germ cell lines within individuals. It is expected that some portion of the genetic damage and mutational load will generate physiological, developmental, and behavioral effects on organisms, and tha...

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Low-dose radiation, scientific scrutiny, and requirements for demonstrating effects

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 publications

Spatiotemporal abnormality dynamics of the pale grass blue butterfly: three years of monitoring (2011–2013) after the Fukushima nuclear accident

Spatiotemporal abnormality dynamics of the pale grass blue butterfly: three years of monitoring (2011–2013) after the Fukushima nuclear accident

Ingestional and transgenerational effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the pale grass blue butterfly

Genetic and Ecological Studies of Animals in Chernobyl and Fukushima

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