Radiological dose reconstruction for birds reconciles outcomes of Fukushima with knowledge of dose-effect relationships.

ABSTRACT: We reconstructed the radiological dose for birds observed at 300 census sites in the 50-km northwest area affected by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant over 2011-2014. Substituting the ambient dose rate measured at the census points (from 0.16 to 31 μGy h(-1)) with the dose rate reconstructed for adult birds of each species (from 0.3 to 97 μGy h(-1)), we confirmed that the overall bird abundance at Fukushima decreased with increasing total doses. This relationship was directly consistent with exposure levels found in the literature to induce physiological disturbances in birds. Among the 57 species constituting the observed bird community, we found that 90% were likely chronically exposed at a dose rate that could potentially affect their reproductive success. We qu

SUBMITTER: Garnier-Laplace J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4645120 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature