nuclear-news

Effects of suspected radiation exposure seen in Fukushima wild monkeys: researchers

Novembre 25, 2018

Two Japanese macaques are seen in the Fukushima Prefecture city of Fukushima in this photo provided by Fumiharu Konno from Shinichi Hayama’s research team.
TOKYO — Researchers found fewer cells that become blood in the bone marrow of wild Japanese macaques living in northeastern Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture along with the delayed growth of fetuses after the 2011 nuclear crisis, possibly due to radiation exposure.
Findings of abnormalities in these monkeys have been continuously reported in British scientific journals. Researchers assume that the monkeys ingested items like tree bark contaminated with radioactive cesium emanating from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
Tohoku University’s Department of Pathology professor emeritus Manabu Fukumoto and his research team performed hematological analysis of adult monkeys captured after the nuclear disaster. They inspected blood cell counts in the bone marrow of 18 monkeys caught in locations within 40 kilometers from the plant, including the city of Minamisoma and the town of Namie. Fukumoto’s team then compared the data to that of monkeys from other areas. The results revealed various substances destined to mature into blood, like cells that develop into platelets, had decreased in Fukushima monkeys.
Furthermore, the team observed some blood components had greatly decreased in monkeys with higher internal radiation exposure per day. They estimated the radiation dose from the concentration of radioactive cesium in the monkeys’ muscles. Fukumoto explained, “We need to conduct long-term research to see if it (the abnormalities) has an effect on the monkeys’ health.”
Meanwhile, wildlife zoology expert and Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University professor Shinichi Hayama and his research team examined fetuses in pregnant female monkeys. These monkeys were among those annually captured from 2008 to 2016 by the Fukushima Municipal Government to control their population size. Hayama’s research team compared data on 62 fetuses around the time of the meltdowns. They learned that the fetuses had smaller heads and delayed development over their entire bodies after the nuclear incident, in comparison to those before the disaster.
However, the team could not find any change in the nutritional status of the mother monkeys. They concluded that the mother monkeys’ radiation exposure may have had an effect on the fetuses.
Hayama assumed that Fukushima monkeys “must have been exposed to high doses of radiation on a whole different scale compared to humans.” This is because the monkeys “had consumed food contaminated with radiation, in addition to living near the ground where there were high radiation doses.”
Japanese macaques are not included in the wild animals and plants under investigation by the Ministry of the Environment to see the effects of radiation from the nuclear disaster. Five academic associations including the Primate Society of Japan (PSJ) have submitted a request asking that Japanese macaques be included in the research, along with other demands, to the environment ministry.
“Japanese macaques have a long life span of 20 to 30 years and are sedentary,” said PSJ Chairman Masayuki Nakamichi. He claimed that “it’s absolutely crucial, even for the world, to conduct research on the long-term effects of radiation exposure on Japanese macaques.”
(Japanese original by Momoko Suda, Science & Environment News Department)
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20181125/p2a/00m/0na/003000c?fbclid=IwAR0t6-JVRDHjBq8Fxay4flYJRU8ALyF_9V4uqIbPAJdc-2Ro_fpZihUcPCs

November 25, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018 | Fukushima Radiation, Japanese Macaques | Leave a comment

Haematological analysis of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in the area affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

November 13, 2018

Abstract
Several populations of wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) inhabit the area around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP). To measure and control the size of these populations, macaques are captured annually. Between May 2013 and December 2014, we performed a haematological analysis of Japanese macaques captured within a 40-km radius of FNPP, the location of a nuclear disaster two years post-accident. The dose-rate of radiocaesium was estimated using the ERICA Tool. The median internal dose-rate was 7.6 μGy/day (ranging from 1.8 to 219 μGy/day) and the external dose-rate was 13.9 μGy/day (ranging from 6.7 to 35.1 μGy/day). We performed multiple regression analyses to estimate the dose-rate effects on haematological values in peripheral blood and bone marrow. The white blood cell and platelet counts showed an inverse correlation with the internal dose-rate in mature macaques. Furthermore, the myeloid cell, megakaryocyte, and haematopoietic cell counts were inversely correlated and the occupancy of adipose tissue was positively correlated with internal dose-rate in femoral bone marrow of mature macaques. These relationships suggest that persistent whole body exposure to low-dose-rate radiation affects haematopoiesis in Japanese macaques.

Read more at:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-35104-0?fbclid=IwAR2h7SQNHXinFJyjQF6IrQ9psw9xtYBbGneI_k_2mhHEVsoavgmm4MG3a_E

November 25, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018 | Fukushima Radiation, Japanese Macaques | Leave a comment