Low-Dose Radiation Effects on Animals and Ecosystems II - 15 Years after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

This open access book offers a comprehensive and scientifically accurate account of the ecological impact and biological consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident. As a continuation of the previous volume published in 2020, this new volume provides updates and incorporates new findings.
Overview introduces the "Dose assessment project for animals affected by the FNPP accident". It addresses the significance of fieldwork and discusses issues and challenges in ensuring the scientific quality of the results obtained. It also addresses the future significance of the project. Part I reviews the released radionuclides and dose assessments reported in the early phase after the accident occurred and compares them with later papers. Focusing on a village affected by the accident, it compares car-borne dose-rate measurements with airborne monitoring data, and predicts the future contamination status. Part II examines the transfer of radioactive cesium from feed to milk, and introduces a monitoring system for radioactive Cs in live cattle and soil/waste. It focuses on creating voxel phantoms and assessing organ doses in wild Japanese macaques. Part III analyzes the impact of the FNPP accident specifically on wild Japanese macaques. It assesses the effect on tooth formation, the cardiovascular system, the lens of the eye, thyroid lesions, and spermatogenesis. Part IV explores the impact of the FNPP accident on various animal species, namely wild butterflies, medaka, and yamame trout, and the assessment of oxidative DNA damage in cattle. Part V investigates experimental effects of ¹³⁷Cs on silkworms and mice. Part VI examines cellular effects, particularly the alteration of gene expression induced by type B Cs-bearing microparticles, which were first identified following the FNPP accident. It also explores the potential of probiotic bacteria for removing ingested ¹³⁷Cs.
Fifteen years have passed since the accident, and although there have been no reports of significant radiation exposure to the human body, the long-term effects of low-dose radiation on animals and ecosystems are still unknown. Recognizing the importance of preserving knowledge about the FNPP accident for future generations, this book aims to shed light on ongoing research and findings in the field.

List of contents

Foreword.- Preface.- 1. The Comprehensive Dose Assessment Project for Animals Affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident (Affected animal project): Fieldwork to find out what happened and what will happen.- Part I Evaluation of Pollution and Dose from Radionuclides Released from FNPP.- 2. Verification of the initial impact assessments made by the worldwide experts on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant accident.- 3. Radioactive Contamination by the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident: Radiation Survey in Iitate Village and Future Perspectives of Cs-137
Contamination.- Part ll Contamination and dosimetry for individual animals.- 4. Radioactive cesium concentrations in raw milk and beef from cattle fed contaminated forage.- 5. Radiation monitoring and detection system for soil/waste and cattle model.- 6. Evaluation of organ doses to Japanese macaques for internal dose using voxel phantom.- Part lll Radiation Exposure and Its Effects on Animals after the FNPP Accident.- 7. Decade-long surveys of morphological abnormalities of the pale grass blue butterfly after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in the Seven Localities and Iitate Village.- 8. Dose Estimation and Radiation Effects on Wild Medaka Around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant: A Review.- 9. Current status of long-term low dose-rate radiation exposure of Masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) in two rivers flowing near Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.- 10. Assessment of oxidative DNA damage in regional animals after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.- 11. Radiation effects on lepidopteran insects: Internal and external exposure experiments on the silkworm, Bombyx mori.- 12. What happens when mice are exposed to low-dose internal radiation across generations? -What we learned from 40 generations of cesium-137 intake experiments-.- Part IV Analysis of the effects of the FNPP accident on Machaques.- 13. Why do we chase macaques?.- 14. Analysis of cementum incremental line formation in the teeth of Japanese macaques affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.- 15. A histopathological analysis of the cardiovascular system of low-dose-rate radiation-exposed Japanese macaques from the area affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.- 16. Effects of low-dose radiation exposure on the crystalline lens of the Japanese macaque eye.- 17. Estimation of 131I thyroid dose using 129I concentration and thyroid lesions in macaques affected by the Fukushima Power Plant accident.- 18. Effects of chronic radiation on the testes of the wild Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.- Part V Key Issues Emerging from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident.- 19. Differentially expressed genes in normal human epithelial cells exposed to Type B radioactive cesium-bearing microparticles (CsMPs).- 20. Highly efficient uptake of radioactive cesium by intestinal and probiotic bacteria.

About the author

Manabu Fukumoto 
is a pathologist who currently serves as Professor Emeritus and Specially Appointed Professor at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Japan. Based on autopsies of alpha-emitter Thorotrast-induced liver cancer cases, he has analyzed the molecular genetic carcinogenic mechanisms of internally deposited radionuclides. Furthermore, he has analyzed the mechanisms by which cancer cells acquire radiation resistance through the establishment of clinically relevant radioresistant human cancer cell lines. He has also established an archive of animals contaminated with internally deposited radionuclides from the ex-evacuation zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident and has been assessing biological effects of the accident. He served as President of the Japanese Radiation Research Society (JRRS) and a director of Japanese Pathological Society. He has received the Japanese Pathological Association Award and an Achievement Award from the JRRS for his contributions to radiation pathology.

Summary

This open access book offers a comprehensive and scientifically accurate account of the ecological impact and biological consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident. As a continuation of the previous volume published in 2020, this new volume provides updates and incorporates new findings.


Overview introduces the "Dose assessment project for animals affected by the FNPP accident". It addresses the significance of fieldwork and discusses issues and challenges in ensuring the scientific quality of the results obtained. It also addresses the future significance of the project. Part I reviews the released radionuclides and dose assessments reported in the early phase after the accident occurred and compares them with later papers. Focusing on a village affected by the accident, it compares car-borne dose-rate measurements with airborne monitoring data, and predicts the future contamination status. Part II examines the transfer of radioactive cesium from feed to milk, and introduces a monitoring system for radioactive Cs in live cattle and soil/waste. It focuses on creating voxel phantoms and assessing organ doses in wild Japanese macaques. Part III analyzes the
 
impact of the FNPP accident specifically on wild Japanese macaques. It assesses the effect on tooth formation, the cardiovascular system, the lens of the eye, thyroid lesions, and spermatogenesis. Part IV explores the impact of the FNPP accident on various animal species, namely wild butterflies, medaka, and yamame trout, and the assessment of oxidative DNA damage in cattle. Part V investigates experimental effects of
¹³⁷
Cs on silkworms and mice. Part VI examines cellular effects, particularly the alteration of gene expression induced by type B Cs-bearing microparticles, which were first identified following the FNPP accident. It also explores the potential of probiotic bacteria for removing ingested
¹³⁷
Cs.


Fifteen years have passed since the accident, and although there have been no reports of significant radiation exposure to the human body, the long-term effects of low-dose radiation on animals and ecosystems
 
are still unknown. Recognizing the importance of preserving knowledge about the FNPP accident for future generations, this book aims to shed light on ongoing research and findings in the field.

Product details

• Assisted by: Manabu Fukumoto (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 12.05.2026
• EAN: 9789819555581
• ISBN: 978-981-9555-58-1
• Illustrations: Approx. 300 p. 50 illus., 30 illus. in color.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > Clinical medicine; Medizin, allgemein, Tierhaltung, Viehhaltung, Medizinische Toxikologie, Radiology, Umweltfaktoren in der Medizin, Open Access, Environmental Health, Medical toxicology, Wild Animals, Clinical Medicine, Animal Science, Radioactive material, Radiation exposure, Radioactive cesium, The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident, Dose evaluation/evaluation, Low-dose/low dose-rate radiation, Macaques