The Legacy of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Radiation Impacts Organisms Nearby

In 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan experienced a disastrous meltdown. Now, scientists have revealed the serious biological effects of the Fukushima radiation on organisms that range from plants to butterflies to birds.

"A growing body of empirical results from studies of birds, monkeys, butterflies, and other insects suggests that some species have been significantly impacted by the radioactive releases related to the Fukushima disaster," said Timothy Mousseau, lead author of one of the studies detailing the effects, in a news release.

A series of studies has documented the effects of the Fukushima disaster. Yet all of these studies have one thing in common: the hypothesis that chronic, low-dose exposure to ionizing radiation results in genetic damage and increased mutation rates in both reproductive and non-reproductive cells.

So what sort of changes did these studies find? One of them documented the effects of radiation on rice by exposing healthy seedlings to low-level gamma radiation at a contaminated site in Fukushima Prefecture. After just three days, scientists saw a number of defects. That's not all, either. Another study examining the response of the pale grass blue butterfly, one of the most common butterfly species in Japan, detailed the butterfly's reduction in size, slowed growth, high mortality, and morphological abnormality.

"Non-contaminated larvae fed leaves from contaminated host plants collected near the reactor showed high rates of abnormality and mortality," said Joji Otaki of the University of the Ryukyus in Japan.

In combination, these series of studies highlight the importance of early and ongoing monitoring at sites of accidental radiation release, such as at Fukushima.

"Detailed analyses of genetic impacts to natural populations could provide the information needed to predict recovery times for wild communities at Fukushima as well as any sites of future nuclear accidents," said Mousseau. "There is an urgent need for great investment in basic scientific research of the wild animals and plants of Fukushima."

The findings are published in the Journal of Heredity.