radioecology
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Radioecology is the branch of
ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
concerning the presence of radioactivity in Earth’s ecosystems. Investigations in radioecology include field sampling, experimental field and laboratory procedures, and the development of environmentally predictive simulation models in an attempt to understand the migration methods of radioactive material throughout the environment. The practice consists of techniques from the general sciences of
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
,
chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
,
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
, and
ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
, coupled with applications in radiation protection. Radioecological studies provide the necessary data for dose estimation and risk assessment regarding radioactive pollution and its effects on human and environmental health. Radioecologists detect and evaluate the effects of
ionizing radiation Ionizing radiation (or ionising radiation), including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some particles can travel ...
and
radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...
s on ecosystems, and then assess their risks and dangers. Interest and studies in the area of radioecology significantly increased in order to ascertain and manage the risks involved as a result of the
Chernobyl disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. It is one of only two nuc ...
. Radioecology arose in line with increasing nuclear activities, particularly following the Second World War in response to nuclear atomic weapons testing and the use of nuclear reactors to produce electricity.


History

Artificial radioactive affliction to Earth’s environment began with
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
testing during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but did not become a prominent topic of public discussion until the 1980s. The Journal of Environmental Radioactivity (JER) was the first collection of literature on the subject, and its inception was not until 1984.S.C. Sheppard, ''An index of radioecology, what has been important ?'' ; Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Volume 68, Issue 1, 2003, Pages 1-10. As demand for construction of
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...
s increased, it became necessary for humankind to understand how radioactive material interacts with various ecosystems in order to prevent or minimize potential damage. The aftermath of Chernobyl was the first major employment of radioecological techniques to combat radioactive pollution from a nuclear power plant. Collection of radioecological data from the Chernobyl disaster was performed on a private basis. Independent researchers collected data regarding the various dosage levels and geographical differences among the afflicted areas, allowing them to draw conclusions about the nature and intensity of the damage caused to ecosystems by the disaster. These local studies were the best available resources in containing the effects of Chernobyl, yet the researchers themselves recommended a more cohesive effort between the neighboring countries to better anticipate and control future radioecological issues, especially considering the ongoing terrorism threats of the time and the potential use of a "
dirty bomb A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with ...
."MØLLER Anders et MOUSSEAU Timothy A. (2006), Biological consequences of Chernobyl : 20 years on ; Revue : Trends in ecology & evolution, vol. 21, n°4, pp. 200-207 ; 8 pp et 70 ref. ; ISSN 0169-5347 ( bstract Inist/CNRS
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
faced similar issues when the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...
occurred, as its government also experienced difficulty organizing collective research efforts. An international radioecology conference was held for the first time in 2007 in
Bergen, Norway Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...
. European scientists from various countries had been pushing for joint efforts to combat radioactivity in the environment for three decades, but governments were hesitant to attempt this feat because of the secrecy involved in nuclear research, as technological and military developments remained competitive.


Objective

The aims of radioecology are to determine the concentrations of radionuclides in the environment, to understand their methods of introduction, and to outline their mechanisms of transfer within and between ecosystems. Radioecologists evaluate the effects of both natural and artificial radioactivity on the environment itself as well as dosimetrically on the human body. Radionuclides transfer between all of Earth’s various biomes, so radioecological studies are organized within three major subdivisions of the biosphere: land environments, oceanic aquatic environments, and non-oceanic aquatic environments.


Scientific background

Nuclear radiation is harmful to the environment over immediate (seconds or fractions thereof) as well as long-term (years or centuries) timescales, and it affects the environment on both microscopic ( DNA) and macroscopic (population) levels. Degrees of these effects are dependent on external factors, especially in the case of humans. Radioecology encompasses all radiological interactions affecting biological and geological material as well as those between different phases of matter, as each is capable of carrying radionuclides. Occasionally, the origin of radionuclides in the environment is actually nature itself, as some geological sites are rich in radioactive uranium or produce radon emissions. The largest source, however, is artificial pollution via nuclear meltdowns or expulsion of radioactive waste from industrial plants. The ecosystems at risk may also be fully or partially natural. An example of a fully natural ecosystem might be a
meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...
or
old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
affected by fallout from a nuclear accident such as Chernobyl or Fukushima, while a semi-natural ecosystem might be a
secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...
, farm, reservoir, or fishery that is at risk of infection from some source of radionuclides. Basic herbaceous or bivalve species such as mosses, lichens, clams, and mussels are often the first organisms affected by fallout in an ecosystem,D. Jackson, A.D. Smith (1989) ''Uptake and retention of strontium, iodine and caesium in lowland pasture following continuous or short-term deposition'' ; Pages 63-72, in ''Transfer of Radionuclides to Livestock'' (Oxford, 5–8 September 1988) ; Science of the Total Environment ; Vol 85, September 1989
abstract
as they are in closest proximity to the abiotic sources of radionuclides (atmospheric, geological, or aquatic transfer). These organisms often possess the highest measurable concentrations of radionuclides, making them ideal bioindicators for sampling radioactivity in ecosystems. In the absence of sufficient data, radioecologists must often rely on analogs of a radionuclide to attempt to evaluate or hypothesize about certain ecotoxicological or metabolic effects of rarer radionuclides. In general, techniques in radioecology focus on the study of environmental
bioelectromagnetism Bioelectromagnetics, also known as bioelectromagnetism, is the study of the interaction between electromagnetic fields and biological entities. Areas of study include electromagnetic fields produced by living cells, tissues or organisms, the ...
,
bioelectrochemistry Bioelectrochemistry is a branch of electrochemistry and biophysical chemistry concerned with electrophysiological topics like cell electron-proton transport, cell membrane potentials and electrode reactions of redox enzymes. History The beginni ...
, electromagnetic pollution, and
isotope analysis Isotope analysis is the identification of isotopic signature, abundance of certain stable isotopes of chemical elements within organic and inorganic compounds. Isotopic analysis can be used to understand the flow of energy through a food web ...
.


Radioecological threats

Earth in the 21st century is at risk of the accumulation of nuclear waste as well as the potentiality of
nuclear terrorism Nuclear terrorism refers to any person or persons detonating a nuclear weapon as an act of terrorism (i.e., illegal or immoral use of violence for a political or religious cause). Some definitions of nuclear terrorism include the sabotage of a ...
, which could both lead to leaks. Radioactivity originating from the
Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
is observable dating back to the mid-20th century. Some highly toxic radionuclides have particularly long radioactive half-lives (up to as many as millions of years in some cases), meaning they will virtually never disappear on their own. The impact of these radionuclides on biological material (correlated with their radioactivity and toxicity) is similar to that of other environmental toxins, making them difficult to trace within plants and animals. Some aging nuclear facilities were not originally intended to operate as long as they have, and the consequences of their waste procedures were not well understood when they were built. One example of this is how the radionuclide tritium is sometimes released into the surrounding environment as a result of
nuclear reprocessing Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and actinides from spent nuclear fuel. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. With commercialization of nuclear power, the ...
, as this was not a foreseen complication in the original waste management orders of operations. It is difficult to diverge from these procedures once a reactor has already been put to use, since any change either risks releasing even more radioactive material or jeopardizes the safety of the individuals working on the disposal. Protection of human well-being has been, and remains to this day, paramount in the aims of radioecological research and risk assessment. Radioecology often calls into question the ethics of protecting human health versus the preservation of the environment in the interest of fighting extinction of other species, but public opinion on this matter is shifting.Antoine Debauche, ''Continuous radioactivity monitoring systems. From the pre-history of radioprotection to the future of radioecology'' ; Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Volume 72, Issues 1-2, 2004, Pages 103-108


See also

*
Bellesrad Bellesrad (Беллесрад) is short name for the State Institution for Radiation Monitoring and Radiation Safety (Государственное учреждение радиационного контроля и радиационной без ...
*
Bioelectromagnetics Bioelectromagnetics, also known as bioelectromagnetism, is the study of the interaction between electromagnetic fields and biological entities. Areas of study include electromagnetic fields produced by living cells, tissues or organisms, th ...
*
Environmental radioactivity Environmental radioactivity is produced by radioactive materials in the human environment. While some radioisotopes, such as strontium-90 (90Sr) and technetium-99 (99Tc), are only found on Earth as a result of human activity, and some, like p ...
*
Health Physics Health physics, also referred to as the science of radiation protection, is the profession devoted to protecting people and their environment from potential radiation hazards, while making it possible to enjoy the beneficial uses of radiation. H ...
*
Radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...
*
Radiobiology Radiobiology (also known as radiation biology, and uncommonly as actinobiology) is a field of clinical and basic medical sciences that involves the study of the action of ionizing radiation on living things, especially health effects of radiation. ...


References


Further reading

* Eric Hall (2006), ''Radiobiology for the Radiobiologist'', Lippincott. * Whicker and Schultz (1982), ''Radioecology''.


External links


STAR: Strategy for Allied Radioecology
{{Authority control Ecology Ecology_terminology