Hello everyone! Welcome back to our blog! We hope that you have been enjoying the bonus posts regarding the effects of radiation pollution. We had a great time covering it as well as it was not covered in our lectures. In this post, we will be discussing the effects of radiation pollution on our environment. We must remember that humans are part of the greater environment, and it will be a great disservice to ignore pollution’s impacts on our environment.
Radiation pollution on land
As we progress into nuclear technology, the burdens of nuclear wastes can be seen to pollute across multiple environments. In the case of land pollution, it has been illustrated that soil microorganisms were incapable of adapting to radiation exposure much like humans in elevated levels. While some bacteria were resistant to radiation, it was also a result of evolutionary traits evolved across generations as a response to higher dosage of radiation pollution in the soil (Gu et al., 2014). Yet, there has been a decrease in diversity of microbial soil communities as these microbes were unable to propagate under these levels of radiation pollution (Gu et al., 2014). Much like our previous post talked about how different individuals react to radiation, a parallel can be drawn here when understanding the confounding effects and not only how “the dose makes the poison” (Hill, 2010).
Radiation pollution in air
The next effect of radiation pollution can be found when considering radiation in our atmosphere. As we mentioned in our first post on radiation, anthropogenic sources of radiation include televisions, cigarette smoking, smoke detectors and building materials (NRC, 2017). In the case of televisions and smoke detectors, we are dealing with radioactive materials at very safe levels, as seen from how smoke detectors only contain a small amount of americium-241 as part of its circuit (EPA, n.d.-a).
However, the issue of radioactive contaminants found in the air would be considerably worrying when considering radioactive materials decaying into alpha or beta particles (EPA, n.d.-b). While alpha and beta particles are unable to penetrate skin, the risks of inhalation as a contaminant in our atmosphere poses greater risks to all living organisms (El Ghissassi et al., 2009). While these radionuclides are unable to pass through skin, inhaling them allows a direct exposure to living tissues that do not have as much protection (El Ghissassi et al., 2009). These radioactive particles can result in greater damage to living tissues if exposed due to its ability to damage living tissues, cells and DNA (Williams et al., 2010).
Radiation pollution in water
Lastly, the effects of radiation pollution can be seen in our marine ecosystems. A study conducted by Yoshimura and Yokoduka (2014) found that the emission of radioactive contaminants into the waters has resulted in higher levels of radioactivity in marine organisms. It is noted that the effects of radiation pollution spreads much further as a contaminant in aquatic medium than by atmospheric irradiation itself as the contamination was found in fishes at regions with low atmospheric dose rates (Yoshimura & Yokoduka, 2014). While the effects of radiation pollution are less studied on marine biota, it is important to note that radionuclides (natural or anthropogenic) are higher in concentration within these organisms, which can lead to further issues as it bioaccumulates (Carvalho & Oliveira, 2008).
The effects of radiation/radioactive materials found in marine organisms will ultimately be bioaccumulated in humans as these contaminants persist in the food chain. Similar to how pollutants such as mercury are bioaccumulated in the Arctic region of animals that is eaten by local Inuit population as part of their diet (Carlsson et al., 2018), these radionuclides can find its way into human systems as part of our diet (Fisher et al., 2013). Without even discriminating between the different types of ionising radiation, the effects of these pollutants will ultimately harm our environment and us.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can see the effects of radiation on our health and environment. While most studies on radiation pollution seem to be anthropocentric, we want to have a holistic view of radiation pollution on our environment. We hope that you, our readers, are now better equipped in understanding the importance of legislation related to radiation controls to avoid radiation pollution. In our next post, we will define radiation pollution and discuss some laws in detail. See you there!
Ryan
References
Carlsson, P., Breivik, K., Brorström-Lundén, E., Cousins, I., Christensen, J., Grimalt, J. O., . . . Lammel, G. (2018). Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as sentinels for the elucidation of Arctic environmental change processes: a comprehensive review combined with ArcRisk project results. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 25(23), 22499-22528.
Carvalho, F. P., & Oliveira, J. M. (2008). Radioactivity in marine organisms from Northeast Atlantic Ocean. Paper presented at the AIP Conference Proceedings.
El Ghissassi, F., Baan, R., Straif, K., Grosse, Y., Secretan, B., Bouvard, V., . . . Galichet, L. (2009). A review of human carcinogens—part D: radiation. The lancet oncology, 10(8), 751-752.
EPA. (n.d.-a). Americium in Ionization Smoke Detectors. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/radtown/americium-ionization-smoke-detectors
EPA. (n.d.-b). Radiation Basics. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/radiation/radiation-basics#:~:text=If%20alpha%2Demitters%20are%20inhaled,than%20other%20types%20of%20radiation.
Fisher, N. S., Beaugelin-Seiller, K., Hinton, T. G., Baumann, Z., Madigan, D. J., & Garnier-Laplace, J. (2013). Evaluation of radiation doses and associated risk from the Fukushima nuclear accident to marine biota and human consumers of seafood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(26), 10670-10675.
Gu, M., Zhang, Z., Wang, W., Tang, Q., Song, S., Zhu, J., . . . Zhang, L. (2014). The effects of radiation pollution on the population diversities and metabolic characteristics of soil microorganisms. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 225(9), 2133.
Hill, M. K. (2010). Understanding Environmental Pollution: Cambridge University Press.
NRC. (2017). Natural Background Sources. Retrieved from https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/around-us/sources/nat-bg-sources.html
Williams, J. P., Brown, S. L., Georges, G. E., Hauer-Jensen, M., Hill, R. P., Huser, A. K., . . . Medhora, M. M. (2010). Animal models for medical countermeasures to radiation exposure. Radiation research, 173(4), 557-578.
Yoshimura, M., & Yokoduka, T. (2014). Radioactive contamination of fishes in lake and streams impacted by the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. Science of the Total Environment, 482, 184-192.