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Saito R, Nemoto Y, Kondo NI, Kanda K, Takeda T, Beasley JC, Tamaoki M. Study on the relationship between the dispersal of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and the associated variability of Cesium-137 concentrations in its muscle Post-Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 917:170328. [PMID: 38301788 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident in 2011, the wild boar (Sus scrofa) population within the Fukushima Evacuation Zone (FEZ) increased substantially in size and distribution. This growing population and their potential dispersal from the FEZ, where they are exposed to high levels of radionuclides, into the surrounding landscape underscores the need to better understand boar movement patterns in order to establish policies for managing shipping restrictions for boar meat and develop management strategies. In this study, we quantified the genetic population structure of boar in and around Fukushima prefecture using sequence data of the mitochondrial DNA control region and MIG-seq analysis using 348 boar samples to clarify boar dispersal patterns. Among boar samples, seven Asian haplotypes and one European haplotype were detected. The European haplotype originated from hybridization between domestic pigs and native boar in the evacuation zone after the accident and was detected in 15 samples across a broad geographic area. Our MIG-seq analysis revealed genetic structure of boar was significantly different between boar inhabiting the eastern (including FEZ. i.e., East clade) and western (i.e., West clade) regions in Fukushima prefecture. In addition, we investigated the relationships between boar dispersal and Cesium (Cs)-137 activity concentrations in boar muscle using MIG-seq genetic data in Nihonmatsu city, located in the central-northern region of Fukushima. High Cs-137 activity concentrations, exceeding 1000 Bq/kg, in boar muscle had a significantly high probability of belonging to the East clade within localized regions. Thus, our results provide evidence of the spatial scale of dispersal of individuals or offspring of boar from the FEZ. Results of this research also indicate that dispersal of individuals between areas with different Cs-137 contamination levels is one of the biggest factors contributing to variation in Cs-137 activity concentration in boar muscle within localized regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rie Saito
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA; Fukushima Prefectural Centre for Environmental Creation, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan; Fukushima Regional Collaborative Research Center, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan.
| | - Yui Nemoto
- Okutama Practice Forest, Tokyo University of Agriculture, 2137 Hikawa, Okutama, Tokyo 198-0212, Japan
| | - Natsuko Ito Kondo
- Biodiversity Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan
| | - Kosuke Kanda
- Fukushima Prefectural Centre for Environmental Creation, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan
| | - Toshimasa Takeda
- Fukushima Regional Collaborative Research Center, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan
| | - James C Beasley
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA
| | - Masanori Tamaoki
- Fukushima Regional Collaborative Research Center, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 10-2 Fukasaku, Miharu, Fukushima 963-7700, Japan; Biodiversity Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan
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Ecological Half-Life of 137Cs in Fungi. ECOLOGIES 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/ecologies4010002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The ecological half-life of 137Cs was calculated individually for four symbiotrophic fungi species (Boletus edulis, Imleria badia, Suillus luteus, Paxillus involutus) at 10 sampling sites in the Chornobyl exclusion zone and in the Kyiv region. It was found that the maximum rate of excretion of 137Cs from the fungi organisms is characteristic for the territory with the maximum levels of soil contamination, i.e., for a zone near Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. In areas with low 137Cs content, a slowing down of the excretion rate predominates. These results reveal different fungal response to the distinct concentration levels of 137Cs in forest ecosystems. This observation further suggests that radiocaesium can be selectively accumulated by fungi and used in their life processes. Presence of this 137Cs retention mechanism in fungi leads to a longer contamination of woody plants-symbionts.
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Exemplifying the “wild boar paradox”: dynamics of cesium-137 contaminations in wild boars in Germany and Japan. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10967-022-08528-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
AbstractWild boars (Sus scrofa) are notorious for accumulating high contamination levels of 137Cs in their meat. Publicly available data of 137Cs contamination levels in wild boars from 2011 to 2019 were used to determine some radioecological characteristics in Germany (affected by Chernobyl-fallout, 1986) and Japan (affected Fukushima, 2011). The effective half-life of 137Cs in wild boar meat was much longer in Germany (7.3 y) than in Japan (2.6 y), respectively. Wild boars in Germany thus show much more persistent contamination levels than other game or forest animals. This unusual behavior has been termed “wild boar paradox.” In German wild boars, the data sets reveal a distinct geographical and seasonal dependence with higher activity concentrations in winter than in summer. In Japan, contamination levels only exhibit a distinct decline behavior.
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Nakamura K, Chiba S, Kiuchi T, Nabeshi H, Tsutsumi T, Akiyama H, Hachisuka A. Comprehensive analysis of a decade of cumulative radiocesium testing data for foodstuffs throughout Japan after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274070. [PMID: 36129916 PMCID: PMC9491560 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The unexpected accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan, which occurred on March 11th, 2011, after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami struck the north-eastern coast of Japan, released radionuclides into the environment. Today, because of the amounts of radionuclides released and their relatively long half-life, the levels of radiocesium contaminating foodstuffs remain a significant food safety concern. Foodstuffs in Japan have been sampled and monitored for 134,137Cs since the accident. More than 2.5 million samples of foodstuffs have been examined with the results reported monthly during each Japanese fiscal year (FY, from April 1st to March 31st) from 2012 to 2021. A total of 5,695 samples of foodstuffs within the “general foodstuffs” category collected during this whole period and 13 foodstuffs within the “drinking water including soft drinks containing tea as a raw material” category sampled in FY 2012 were found to exceed the Japanese maximum permitted level (JML) set at 100 and 10 Bq/kg, respectively. No samples from the “milk and infant foodstuffs” category exceeded the JML (50 Bq/kg). The annual proportions of foodstuffs exceeding the JML in the “general foodstuffs” category varied between 0.37% and 2.57%, and were highest in FY 2012. The 134,137Cs concentration for more than 99% of the foodstuffs monitored and reported has been low and not exceeding the JML in recent years, except for those foodstuffs that are difficult to cultivate, feed or manage, such as wild mushrooms, plants, animals and fish. The monitoring data for foodstuffs show the current status of food safety risks from 134,137Cs contamination, particularly for cultured and aquaculture foodstuffs on the market in Japan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kosuke Nakamura
- National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
- * E-mail:
| | - Shinji Chiba
- National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Takashi Kiuchi
- National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Hiromi Nabeshi
- National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Tomoaki Tsutsumi
- National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Akiyama
- National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Akiko Hachisuka
- National Institute of Health Sciences, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
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Anderson D, Kaneko S, Harshman A, Okuda K, Takagi T, Chinn S, Beasley JC, Nanba K, Ishiniwa H, Hinton TG. Radiocesium accumulation and germline mutations in chronically exposed wild boar from Fukushima, with radiation doses to human consumers of contaminated meat. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2022; 306:119359. [PMID: 35487469 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Genetic effects and radioactive contamination of large mammals, including wild boar (Sus scrofa), have been studied in Japan because of dispersal of radionuclides from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Such studies have generally demonstrated a declining trend in measured radiocesium body burdens in wildlife. Estimating radiation exposure to wildlife is important to understand possible long-term impacts. Here, radiation exposure was evaluated in 307 wild boar inhabiting radioactively contaminated areas (50-8000 kBq m-2) in Fukushima Prefecture from 2016 to 2019, and genetic markers were examined to assess possible germline mutations caused by chronic radiation exposures to several generations of wild boar. Internal Cs activity concentrations in boar remained high in areas near the power plant with the highest concentration of 54 kBq kg-1 measured in 2019. Total dose rates to wild boar ranged from 0.02 to 36 μGy h-1, which was primarily attributed to external radiation exposure, and dose rates to the maximally exposed animals were above the generic no-effects benchmark of 10 μGy h-1. Using the estimated age of each animal, lifetime radiation doses ranged from <0.1 mGy to 700 mGy. Despite chronic exposures, the genetic analyses showed no significant accumulation of mutation events. Because wild boar is an occasional human dietary item in Japan, effective dose to humans from ingesting contaminated wild boar meat was calculated. Hypothetical consumption of contaminated wild boar meat from radioactively contaminated areas in Fukushima, at the per capita pork consumption rate (12.9 kg y-1), would result in an average effective annual dose of 0.9 mSv y-1, which is below the annual ingestion limit of 1 mSv y-1. Additionally, a consumption rate of about 1.4 kg y-1 of the most contaminated meat in this study would not exceed annual ingestion limits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donovan Anderson
- Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan; Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
| | - Shingo Kaneko
- Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology, Fukushima University, Fukushima City, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Amber Harshman
- Environmental Protection Services Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Kei Okuda
- Faculty of Human Environmental Studies, Hiroshima Shudo University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Toshihito Takagi
- Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology, Fukushima University, Fukushima City, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Sarah Chinn
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, USA
| | - James C Beasley
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, USA
| | - Kenji Nanba
- Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, Fukushima City, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Hiroko Ishiniwa
- Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, Fukushima City, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Thomas G Hinton
- Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, Fukushima City, Fukushima, Japan; Centre for Environmental Radioactivity, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
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Increased abundance of a common scavenger affects allocation of carrion but not efficiency of carcass removal in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8903. [PMID: 35618781 PMCID: PMC9135767 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12921-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan caused the evacuation of > 100,000 people and prompted studies on environmental impacts of radiological contamination. However, few researchers have explored how the human evacuation has affected ecosystem processes. Despite contamination, one common scavenger (wild boar, Sus scrofa) is 2–3× more abundant inside the Fukushima Exclusion Zone (FEZ). Shifts in abundance of some scavenger species can have cascading effects on ecosystems, so our objective was to investigate impacts of the evacuation and the resulting increase in wild boar on vertebrate scavenger communities. We deployed cameras at 300 carcasses in the FEZ and a nearby inhabited area, and quantified carcass fate, scavenger species, and detection/persistence times. We also tested effects of carcass size and habitat on scavenger community composition and efficiency by balancing trials across two carcass sizes and habitats in each zone. Overall scavenger richness and carcass removal rates (73%) were similar in the FEZ and inhabited area, but species-specific carcass removal rates and occurrence differed between zones. Wild boar removed substantially more carcasses inside the FEZ, with implications for nutrient and contaminant distribution. Our results suggest carcass size affects scavenging dynamics more than human activity or habitat, and abundance changes of common scavengers can influence carrion resource allocation.
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Monitoring of radioactive cesium in wild boars captured inside the difficult-to-return zone in Fukushima Prefecture over a 5-year period. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5667. [PMID: 35440790 PMCID: PMC9018682 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08444-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011, tissue samples from wild boar (Sus scrofa) outside the evacuation zone (difficult-to-return zone, DRZ) tended to show high activity concentrations of cesium-137 (137Cs). Understanding the 137Cs dynamics of wild boar populations inside the DRZ is necessary because they affect 137Cs dynamics and wild boar management in areas outside the DRZ. Since few detailed, long-term studies have been conducted inside the DRZ, we measured 137Cs activity concentrations in 221 wild boar muscle samples obtained from wild boar caught inside the DRZ and surrounding areas over a 5-year period. Our results showed that the 137Cs activity concentration in wild boar from inside the DRZ were higher than those in wild boar outside this zone. No significant difference was observed between muscle and soil 137Cs levels, but significant correlations were observed between muscle 137Cs activity concentrations and body length and body weight in the low-activity-concentration season, but not between all seasons and the high-activity-concentration seasons. It is considered that the size effects observed during the low-activity-concentration season may be due to factors related to metabolism and changes in food habit. This is the first long-term survey of 137Cs in wild boar inside the DRZ.
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Omori A, Hosoi E. Contribution of Acorn Masting to Food Composition and Body Condition of and Crop Damage by Wild Boars (Sus scrofa) Inhabiting Evergreen Forests in Japan. MAMMAL STUDY 2021. [DOI: 10.3106/ms2021-0024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Akitaka Omori
- The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, Koyama-Minami 4-101, Tottori, Tottori 680-8550, Japan
| | - Eiji Hosoi
- Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, Yoshida 1677-1, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan
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Omori A, Hosoi E. Contribution of Acorn Masting to Food Composition and Body Condition of and Crop Damage by Wild Boars (Sus scrofa) Inhabiting Evergreen Forests in Japan. MAMMAL STUDY 2021. [DOI: 10.3106/10.3106/ms2021-0024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Akitaka Omori
- The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tottori University, Koyama-Minami 4-101, Tottori, Tottori 680-8550, Japan
| | - Eiji Hosoi
- Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, Yoshida 1677-1, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan
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Immobilization of simulated 137CsCl using metakaolin based geopolymers obtained by hybrid hydrothermal-sintering processes. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10967-021-08048-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Selective removal and immobilization of cesium from aqueous solution using sludge functionalized with potassium copper hexacyanoferrate: a low-cost adsorbent. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10967-021-07964-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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