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

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...

Source: Journal of Radiation Research - January 29, 2016 Category: Physics Authors: Taira, W., Hiyama, A., Nohara, C., Sakauchi, K., Otaki, J. M. Tags: Special Issue - Fukushima Source Type: research