Impact of chronic low-level ionising radiation exposure on terrestrial invertebrates

Abstract

There is a need to confirm that the environment is being adequately protected from the contaminants released into it. In the field of environmental radioactivity, modelling and assessment tools are being developed to assess the impact of ionising radiation on wildlife. There is also a need to fill gaps in the scientific data upon which these assessments are based. New documentation has been produced by the UK Environment Agency to provide guidelines on structuring experiments (using environmentally relevant chronic doses) and on selecting suitable non-human species and endpoints for study. It is anticipated that this documentation will be used to direct future experiments. This paper presents the results of the first of these experiments on chronic low-level radiation exposure on soil fauna. Soil fauna species the earthworm Eisenia fetida and the woodlouse Porcellio scaber were segregated and continuously exposed to one of six radiation doses (background, 0.2, 0.4, 1.5, 4.0 and 8.0 mGyh-1) for a total of 16 and 14 weeks respectively. The endpoints of mortality, number of viable offspring and average weight of an individual were recorded. This paper presents the results for Porcellio scaber.