Radioactive contamination in feral dogs in the Chernobyl exclusion zone: Population body-burden survey and implications for human radiation exposure.

Autor: Hecla J; Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.; Clean Futures Fund, Godfrey, Illinois, United States of America., Kambarian E; Clean Futures Fund, Godfrey, Illinois, United States of America., Tubbs R; Tubbs Nuclear Consulting, Auburn, Washington, United States of America., McKinley C; Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America., Berliner AJ; Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America.; Department of Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America., Russell K; School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland., Spatola G; Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South California, United States of America., Chertok J; College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America., Braun W; Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, United States of America., Hank N; College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States of America., Marquette C; School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland., Betz J; Clean Futures Fund, Godfrey, Illinois, United States of America., Paik T; Clean Futures Fund, Godfrey, Illinois, United States of America., Chenery M; Clean Futures Fund, Godfrey, Illinois, United States of America., Cagan A; Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, United Kingdom., Willis C; Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States of America., Mousseau T; Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South California, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2023 Jul 20; Vol. 18 (7), pp. e0283206. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jul 20 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283206
Abstrakt: This report describes a two-year effort to survey the internal 137Cs and external β-emitter contamination present in the feral dog population near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) site, and to understand the potential for human radiation exposure from this contamination. This work was performed as an integral part of the radiation safety and control procedures of an animal welfare oriented trap-neuter-release (TNR) program. The measurement program focused on external contamination surveys using handheld β-sensitive probes, and internal contamination studies using a simple whole-body counter. Internal 137Cs burden was measured non-invasively during post-surgical observation and recovery. External β contamination surveys performed during intake showed that 21/288 animals had significant, removable external contamination, though not enough to pose a large hazard for incidental contact. Measurements with the whole-body counter indicated internal 137Cs body burdens ranging from undetectable (minimum detection level ∼100 Bq/kg in 2017, ∼30 Bq/kg in 2018) to approximately 30,000 Bq/kg. A total of 33 animals had 137Cs body-burdens above 1 kBq/kg, though none posed an external exposure hazard. The large variation in the 137Cs concentration in these animals is not well-understood, could be due to prey selection, access to human food scraps, or extended residence in highly contaminated areas. The small minority of animals with external contamination may pose a contamination risk allowing exposures in excess of regulatory standards.
Competing Interests: RT was employed by the company Tubbs Nuclear Consulting (and likewise volunteered his time). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
(Copyright: © 2023 Hecla et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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