Melanin Radiotrophic Fungi: Radiocaesium

This momentary rise is hypothesized to be due to the cessation of the Soviet food imports together
with many villagers returning to older dairy food cultivation practices and large increases in wild
berry and mushroom foraging, the latter of which have similar peaty soil to fruiting body,
radiocaesium transfer coefficients.[133]
After the disaster, four square kilometres (1.5 sq mi) of pine forest directly downwind of the reactor turned
reddish-brown and died, earning the name of the "Red Forest", though it soon recovered.[140] This photograph
was taken years later, in March 2009,[143] after the forest began to grow again, with the lack of foliage at the time
of the photograph merely due to the local winter at the time.[144]
In a 2007 paper, a robot sent into the reactor itself returned with samples of black, melanin-
rich radiotrophic fungi that grow on the reactor's walls.[145]
Of the 440,350 wild boar killed in the 2010 hunting season in Germany, approximately one thousand
were contaminated with levels of radiation above the permitted limit of 600 becquerels of caesium
per kilogram, of dry weight, due to residual radioactivity from Chernobyl. [146] While all animal meat
contains a natural level of potassium-40 at a similar level of activity, with both wild and farm animals
in Italy containing "415 ± 56 becquerels kg−1 dw" of that naturally occurring gamma emitter. [147]
The caesium contamination issue has historically reached some uniquely isolated and high levels
approaching 20,000 Becquerels of caesium per kilogram in some specific tests; however, it has not
been observed in the wild boar population of Fukushima after the 2011 accident. [148] Evidence exists
to suggest that the wild German and Ukrainian boar population are in a unique location were they
have subsisted on a diet high in plant or fungi sources that biomagnifies or
concentrates radiocaesium, with the most well known food source the consumption of the outer shell
or wall of the "deer-truffle" elaphomyces which, along with magnifying radiocaesium, also magnifies
or concentrates natural soil concentrations of arsenic.[149]
In 2015, long-term empirical data showed no evidence of a negative influence of radiation on
mammal abundance.[150]
Precipitation on distant high ground
On high ground, such as mountain ranges, there is increased precipitation due to adiabatic cooling.
This resulted in localized concentrations of contaminants on distant areas; higher in Bq/m 2 values to
many lowland areas much closer to the source of the plume. This effect occurred on high ground in
Norway and the UK.
Norway
The Norwegian Agricultural Authority reported that in 2009 a total of 18,000 livestock in Norway
required uncontaminated feed for a period before slaughter, to ensure that their meat had an activity
below the government permitted value of caesium per kilogram deemed suitable for human
consumption. This contamination was due to residual radioactivity from Chernobyl in the mountain
plants they graze on in the wild during the summer. 1,914 sheep required uncontaminated feed for a
time before slaughter during 2012, with these sheep located in only 18 of Norway's municipalities, a
decrease from the 35 municipalities in 2011 and the 117 municipalities affected during 1986. [151] The
after-effects of Chernobyl on the mountain lamb industry in Norway were expected to be seen for a
further 100 years, although the severity of the effects would decline over that period. [152] Scientists
report this is due to radioactive caesium-137 isotopes being taken up by fungi such as Cortinarius
caperatus which is in turn eaten by sheep while grazing.[151]
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom restricted the movement of sheep from upland areas when
radioactive caesium-137 fell across parts of Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and northern
England. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster in 1986, the movement of a total of 4,225,000
sheep was restricted across a total of 9,700 farms, to prevent contaminated meat entering the
human food chain.[153] The number of sheep and the number of farms affected has decreased since
1986. Northern Ireland was released from all restrictions in 2000, and by 2009, 369 farms containing
around 190,000 sheep remained under the restrictions in Wales, Cumbria, and northern Scotland.
[153]
The restrictions applying in Scotland were lifted in 2010, while those applying to Wales and
Cumbria were lifted during 2012, meaning no farms in the UK remain restricted because of
Chernobyl fallout.[154][155]
The legislation used to control sheep movement and compensate farmers (farmers were latterly
compensated per animal to cover additional costs in holding animals prior to radiation monitoring)
was revoked during October and November 2012, by the relevant authorities in the UK. [156] Had
restrictions in the UK not occurred, a heavy consumer of lamb meat would likely have received a
dose of 0.04 mSv over a lifetime.[15]
Human impact
Main article: Effects of the Chernobyl disaster § Long-term health effects
Pripyat lies abandoned with the Chernobyl facility visible in the distance
Acute radiation effects during emergency response and immediate

aftermath
In the accident's aftermath, 237 people suffered from acute radiation sickness, of whom 31 died
within the first three months.[157][158] In 2005, the Chernobyl Forum, composed of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, other UN organizations, and the governments of Belarus, Russia and
Ukraine, published a report on the radiological environmental and health consequences of the
Chernobyl accident. In September 1987, the I.A.E.A. held an Advisory Group Meeting at the Curie
Institute in Paris on the medical handling of the skin lesions relating to the acute deaths. [159] The only
known, causal deaths from the accident involved workers in the plant and firefighters. In reporter
Grigori Medvedev's book on the accident, there were a number of fishermen on the reservoir a half-
kilometer from the reactor to the east. Of these, two shore fishermen, Protosov and Pustavoit, are
said to have sustained doses estimated at 400 roentgens, vomited, but survived.[37][38] The vast
majority of Pripyat residents slept through the distant sound of the explosion, including station
engineer Breus, who only became aware at 6am, the beginning of his next work shift. He would later
be taken to hospital and, while there, made the acquaintance of one teen who had ventured out
alone by bicycle to watch the roof fires during the night, stopping for a time and viewing the scene at
the "Bridge of Death" 51.3949°N 30.0695°E, however contrary to this sensationalist label, the
youthful night biker was treated and released from hospital, remaining in touch with Breus as of
2019.[160][161][162]
With the exception of plant employee Shashenock, injured by the blast and never fully regaining
consciousness, all serious cases of ARS were treated by the world specialist Dr. Robert Peter Gale,
who documented a first of its kind treatment. [163][164] In 2019, Gale would write a letter to correct the
popularised, though egregious, portrayal of his patients as dangerous to visitors. [165] All those who
died were station operators and firefighters, over half of which from the continued wearing of dusty
soaked uniforms, causing beta burns to cover large areas of skin. In the first few minutes to days,
(largely due to Np-239, a 2.4-day half-life) the beta-to-gamma energy ratio is some 30:1, though
while adding to the dose, no proximate deaths would be from the gamma fraction of exposure. [166][167]
[168]
Instead, owing to the large area of burned skin, bacterial infection was and remains the
overarching concern to those afflicted with ARS, as a leading cause of death, quarantine from
the outside environment is a part of the normal treatment protocol. Many of the surviving firefighters,
continue to have skin that is atrophied, spider veined with underlying fibrosis due to experiencing
extensive beta burns.[168]
The eventual medical report states that 28 people died from acute radiation syndrome over the
following days to months. In the years afterward, 15 people have died from thyroid cancer; it is
roughly estimated that cancer deaths caused by Chernobyl may reach a total of about 4,000 among
the five million persons residing in the contaminated areas. The report projected cancer mortality
"increases of less than one percent" (~0.3%) on a time span of 80 years, cautioning that this
estimate was "speculative" since at this time only a few cancer deaths are linked to the Chernobyl
disaster.[169] The report says it is impossible to reliably predict the number of fatal cancers arising from
the incident as small differences in assumptions can result in large differences in the estimated
health costs. The report says it represents the consensus view of the eight UN organizations.
Of all 66,000 Belarusian emergency workers, by the mid-1990s their government reported that only
150 (roughly 0.2%) died. In contrast, in the much larger work force from Ukraine, numbered in the
hundreds of thousands, some 5,722 casualties from a host of non-accident causes, were reported
among Ukrainian clean-up workers up to the year 1995, by the National Committee for Radiation
Protection of the Ukrainian Population. [113][170]
Effects of main harmful radionuclides

The four most harmful radionuclides spread from Chernobyl were iodine-131, caesium-
134, caesium-137 and strontium-90, with half-lives of 8.02 days, 2.07 years, 30.2 years and
28.8 years respectively.[171]:8 The iodine was initially viewed with less alarm than the other isotopes,
because of its short half-life, but it is highly volatile and now appears to have travelled furthest and
caused the most severe health problems.[113]:24 Strontium, on the other hand, is the least volatile of the
four and is of main concern in the areas near Chernobyl itself. [171]:8 Iodine tends to become
concentrated in thyroid and milk glands, leading, among other things, to increased incidence of
thyroid cancers. The total ingested dose was largely from iodine and, unlike the other fission
products, rapidly found its way from dairy farms to human ingestion. [172] Similarly in dose
reconstruction, for those evacuated at different times and from various towns, the inhalation dose
was dominated by iodine (40%), along with airborne tellurium (20%) and oxides of rubidium (20%)
both as equally secondary, appreciable contributors. [173]
Long term hazards such as caesium tends to accumulate in vital organs such as the heart, [174] while
strontium accumulates in bones and may thus be a risk to bone-marrow and lymphocytes.
[171]:8
Radiation is most damaging to cells that are actively dividing. In adult mammals cell division is
slow, except in hair follicles, skin, bone marrow and the gastrointestinal tract, which is why vomiting
and hair loss are common symptoms of acute radiation sickness.[175]:42

Melanin Radiotrophic Fungi: Radiocaesium

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Melanin Radiotrophic Fungi: Radiocaesium

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Melanin Radiotrophic Fungi: Radiocaesium

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

This momentary rise is hypothesized to be due to the cessation of the Soviet food imports together

Acute radiation effects during emergency response and immediate

Effects of main harmful radionuclides

You might also like