title: Radioactively contaminated areas: Bioindicator species and biomarkers of effect in an early warning scheme for a preliminary risk assessment.
abstract: Concerns about the impacts on public health and on the natural environment have been raised regarding the full range of operational activities related to uranium mining and the rest of the nuclear fuel cycle (including nuclear accidents), nuclear tests and depleted uranium from military ammunitions. However, the environmental impacts of such activities, as well as their ecotoxicological/toxicological profile, are still poorly studied. Herein, it is discussed if organisms can be used as bioindicators of human health effects, posed by lifetime exposure to radioactively contaminated areas. To do so, information was gathered from several studies performed on vertebrates, invertebrate species and humans, living in these contaminated areas. The retrieved information was compared, to determine which are the most used bioindicators and biomarkers and also the similarities between human and non-human biota responses. The data evaluated are used to support the proposal for an early warning scheme, based on bioindicator species and on the most sensitive and commonly shared biomarkers, to perform a screening evaluation of radioactively contaminated sites. This scheme could be used to support decision-making for a deeper evaluation of risks to human health, making it possible to screen a large number of areas, without disturbing and alarming local populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: joanalourenco@ua.pt.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lourenço
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sónia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mendo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto & CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research & GreenUP/CITAB-UP, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pereira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D023381:Endpoint Determination; D000074062:Environmental Biomarkers / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006801:Humans; D008906:Mining; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D000072739:Sentinel Species / Q000235:genetics; D014501:Uranium
chemical_list: D000074062:Environmental Biomarkers; D014501:Uranium
keywords: Bioindicators; Biomarkers; Early warning scheme; Environmental risk assessment; Ionizing radiation