PDF copy of 2009 book

Yablokov et al.: Consequences of the Chernobyl Catastrophe 323and soil appears to fluctuate greatly and thedynamics of Sr-90, Cs-137, Pu, and Am contaminationstill present surprises.3. As a result of the accumulation of Cs-137,Sr-90, Pu, and Am in the root soil layer, radionuclideshave continued to build in plantsover recent years. Moving with water to theabove-ground parts of plants, the radionuclides(which earlier had disappeared from the surface)concentrate in the edible components, resultingin increased levels of internal irradiationand dose rate in people, despite decreasing totalamounts of radionuclides from natural disintegrationover time.4. As a result of radionuclide bioaccumulation,the amount in plants, mushrooms, andanimals can increase 1,000-fold as comparedwith concentrations in soil and water. The factorsof accumulation and transition vary considerablyby season even for the same species,making it difficult to discern dangerous levelsof radionuclides in plants and animals that appearto be safe to eat. Only direct monitoringcan determine actual levels.5. In 1986 the levels of irradiation inplants and animals in Western Europe, NorthAmerica, the Arctic, and eastern Asia weresometimes hundreds and even thousands oftimes above acceptable norms. The initialpulse of high-level irradiation followed by exposureto chronic low-level radionuclides hasresulted in morphological, physiological, andgenetic disorders in all the living organisms incontaminated areas that have been studied—plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, invertebrates,bacteria, and viruses.6. Twenty years after the catastrophe allgame animals in contaminated areas of Belarus,Ukraine, and European Russia have high levelsof the Chernobyl radionuclides. It is still possibleto find elk, boar, and roe deer that aredangerously contaminated in Austria, Sweden,Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, andseveral other countries.7. All affected populations of plants and animalsthat have been the subjects of detailedstudies exhibit a wide range of morphologicaldeformities that were rare or unheard of priorto the catastrophe.8. Stability of individual development (determinedby level of fluctuating symmetry—aspecific method for detecting the level of individualdevelopmental instability) is lower in allthe plants, fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammalsthat were studied in the contaminatedterritories.9. The number of the genetically anomalousand underdeveloped pollen grains and sporesin the Chernobyl radioactively contaminatedsoils indicates geobotanical disturbance.10. All of the plants, animals, and microorganismsthat were studied in the Chernobylcontaminated territories have significantlyhigher levels of mutations than those inless contaminated areas. The chronic low-doseexposure in Chernobyl territories results in atransgenerational accumulation of genomic instability,manifested in cellular and systemiceffects. The mutation rates in some organismsincreased during the last decades, despitea decrease in the local level of radioactivecontamination.11. Wildlife in the heavily contaminatedChernobyl zone sometimes appears to flourish,but the appearance is deceptive. According tomorphogenetic, cytogenetic, and immunologicaltests, all of the populations of plants, fishes,amphibians, and mammals that were studiedthere are in poor condition. This zone is analogousto a “black hole”—some species may onlypersist there via immigration from uncontaminatedareas. The Chernobyl zone is the microevolutionary“boiler,” where gene pools ofliving creatures are actively transforming, withunpredictable consequences.12. What happened to voles and frogs in theChernobyl zone shows what can happen to humansin coming generations: increasing mutationrates, increasing morbidity and mortality,reduced life expectancy, decreased intensity ofreproduction, and changes in male/female sexratios.13. For better understanding of the processesof transformation of the wildlife in the