Small head size and delayed body weight growth in wild Japanese monkey fetuses after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

Abstract

To evaluate the biological effect of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, relative differences in the growth of wild Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) were measured before and after the disaster of 2011 in Fukushima City, which is approximately 70 km from the nuclear power plant, by performing external measurements on fetuses collected from 2008 to 2016. Comparing the relative growth of 31 fetuses conceived prior to the disaster and 31 fetuses conceived after the disaster in terms of body weight and head size (product of the occipital frontal diameter and biparietal diameter) to crown-rump length ratio revealed that body weight growth rate and proportional head size were significantly lower in fetuses conceived after the disaster. No significant difference was observed in nutritional indicators for the fetuses’ mothers. Accordingly, radiation exposure could be one factor contributed to the observed growth delay in this study.

Concentrations of 137Cs radiocaesium in the organs and tissues of low-dose-exposed wild Japanese monkeys

“…In addition, data from non-human primatesthe closest taxonomic relatives to humans-should make Open Access BMC Research Notes *Correspondence: toshinoriomi@gmail.com 1 Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University, 1-7-1 Kyonancho, Musashino City, Tokyo 180-8602, Japan Full list of author information is available at the end of the article a notable contribution to future research examining the health effects of radiation exposure in humans. In our previous study, we detected high levels of radiocaesium in muscle [10] and reported haematologic effects [11] as well as changes in head size and delayed body weight gain in wild Japanese monkeys [12] after the FDNPP disaster. In the present study, we determined the distribution of 137 Cs in various organs and tissues of wild Japanese monkeys inhabiting the forested areas surrounding Fukushima City that were captured between July and August 2012.…”

“…Samples of muscle, brain, heart, kidney, liver, lung, and spleen were collected from 10 Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) captured between July and August 2012 from the forested areas around Fukushima City. These monkeys were used in a previously reported study to determine the concentrations of 134 Cs and 137 Cs in the muscles and characterize the changes in concentration over time as well as their relationship with soil contamination levels [12]. Organ and tissue samples were stored frozen at − 30 °C after 2012 until they were used in the present study.…”

“…Following the massive earthquake that struck eastern Japan on March 11, 2011, a large amount of radioactive material was released into the environment from the damaged reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) [1][2][3][4]. To date, the effects of exposure to the radioactive materials released from the FDNPP have been investigated not only in humans [5,6] but also in blue butterflies [7], cattle [8,9], monkeys [10][11][12][13], fish [14], birds [15], pigs [16], and wild boar [17].…”

Decreased blood cell counts were not observed in cattle living in the “difficult‐to‐return zone” of the Fukushima nuclear accident

“…For example, morphological and other abnormalities in butterflies (Hiyama et al, 2012(Hiyama et al, , 2015, DNA damage in cattle (Nakamura et al, 2017) and in mice (Kawagoshi et al, 2017;Kubota et al, 2015), changes in reproductive or developmental functions in mice (Takino et al, 2017) and monkeys (Hayama et al, 2017), as well as decreased blood cell counts in monkeys (Ochiai et al, 2014) and carp (Suzuki, 2015) were reported. For example, morphological and other abnormalities in butterflies (Hiyama et al, 2012(Hiyama et al, , 2015, DNA damage in cattle (Nakamura et al, 2017) and in mice (Kawagoshi et al, 2017;Kubota et al, 2015), changes in reproductive or developmental functions in mice (Takino et al, 2017) and monkeys (Hayama et al, 2017), as well as decreased blood cell counts in monkeys (Ochiai et al, 2014) and carp (Suzuki, 2015) were reported.…”

“…Suspicious effects of radiation exposure on wildlife have also been reported in the contaminated area. For example, morphological and other abnormalities in butterflies (Hiyama et al, 2012(Hiyama et al, , 2015, DNA damage in cattle (Nakamura et al, 2017) and in mice (Kawagoshi et al, 2017;Kubota et al, 2015), changes in reproductive or developmental functions in mice (Takino et al, 2017) and monkeys (Hayama et al, 2017), as well as decreased blood cell counts in monkeys (Ochiai et al, 2014) and carp (Suzuki, 2015) were reported. Such reports may exacerbate the anxiety of residents, so further studies are required to clarify the effects of radioactive contamination by the Fukushima nuclear accident.…”