COMMENTARY
Effects of Radiation on the Environment: A Need
to Question Old Paradigms and Enhance Collaboration among Radiation Biologists
and Radiation Ecologists
T. G. Hinton,a, J. S. Bedford,b J. C. Congdona
and R W. Whickerb
a University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology
Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina; and
b Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
A historical perspective is given of the current paradigm that does not
explicitly protect nonhuman biota from radiation but instead relies on
the concept that if dose limits are set to protect humans, then the environment
is automatically protected as well. We summarize recent international
questioning of this paradigm and breifly present three frameworks for
protecting biota that are being considered by the U.S. Department of Energy,
the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and the International Commission
on Radiological Protection. We point out a controversial component in
each of the three frameworks and suggest topics that need additional research.
We emphasize that to properly address radiation protection of the environment,
we need to understand how effects are integrated across different levels
of biological organization. We, caution that the proposed use of molecular
end points to estimate ecological nsks from radioactive contamination
is applicable only if we understand the extent of the impact that molecular
damage has on individual organisms and populations of exposed biota. To
accomplish the latter, enhanced collaborations are required among the
traditionally separate disciplines of radiation biology and radiation
ecology.
SREL Reprint #2791
Hinton, T. G., J. S. Bedford, J. D. Congdon and F. W. Whicker. 2004. Effects of radiation on the environment: A need to question old paradigms and enhance collaboration among radiation biologists and radiation ecologists. Radiation Research 162:332-338.
