title: Low-dose radiation, scientific scrutiny, and requirements for demonstrating effects.
abstract: Recent nuclear accidents have prompted renewed interest in the fitness consequences of low-dose radiation. Hiyama et al. provided information on such effects in the Japanese pale grass blue butterfly in a paper that has been viewed more than 300,000 times, prompting a barrage of criticism. These exchanges highlight the role of scrutiny in studies with potential effects on humans, but also raise questions about minimum requirements for demonstrating biological effects.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, CNRS UMR 8079, Université Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 362, F-91405, Orsay Cedex, France. anders.moller@u-psud.fr
authors.forename: Anders Pape
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.forename: Timothy Alexander
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mousseau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002080:Butterflies / Q000235:genetics* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005260:Female; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D008297:Male; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D011848:Radioactive Pollutants