Carmel E. Mothersill – författare

This book focuses on the impacts of anthropogenic radiation on wildlife and ecosystems and provides an in-depth look at the approaches and available tools we can use to gain information about biological effects of radiation in the environment.

The nuclear accidents in Chornobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011 focussed the attention of the world on the vulnerability of ecosystems to radiation. In Chornobyl, there still remains an exclusion zone where levels are considered to be too high for people and impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems can still be measured 35 years later. In the area impacted by the Fukushima disaster, intense remediation is still under way at tremendous cost and causing widespread disruption to the environment. That accident impacted the terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In both accidents it became obvious that a radiation protection framework focussing on protection of “humans” (a single species) and using evacuation as a key strategy, was not sufficient to protect the natural environment. The complexity of ecosystems makes developing a protection framework very challenging but in order to even start the process it is vital to gather information about likely impacts of low dose exposures on wildlife and to develop monitoring tools to measure changes over time. This book contains reviews and original research aimed at filling our knowledge gaps about these important areas.

Environmental Radiobiology will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Radiobiology, Radioecology, Biology, Ecology, Biomedicine and Research Methods. The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of International Journal of Radiation Biology.

This book focuses on the impacts of anthropogenic radiation on wildlife and ecosystems and provides an in-depth look at the approaches and available tools we can use to gain information about biological effects of radiation in the environment.

The nuclear accidents in Chornobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011 focussed the attention of the world on the vulnerability of ecosystems to radiation. In Chornobyl, there still remains an exclusion zone where levels are considered to be too high for people and impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems can still be measured 35 years later. In the area impacted by the Fukushima disaster, intense remediation is still under way at tremendous cost and causing widespread disruption to the environment. That accident impacted the terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In both accidents it became obvious that a radiation protection framework focussing on protection of “humans” (a single species) and using evacuation as a key strategy, was not sufficient to protect the natural environment. The complexity of ecosystems makes developing a protection framework very challenging but in order to even start the process it is vital to gather information about likely impacts of low dose exposures on wildlife and to develop monitoring tools to measure changes over time. This book contains reviews and original research aimed at filling our knowledge gaps about these important areas.

Environmental Radiobiology will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Radiobiology, Radioecology, Biology, Ecology, Biomedicine and Research Methods. The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of International Journal of Radiation Biology.

This book is dedicated to the great scientist and outstanding individual Nikolay Wladimirovich Timofeeff-Ressovsky. The book brings together a number of brief stories/essays about Timofeeff-Ressovsky including “Stories told by himself”, and scientific chapters addressing his major research areas: genetics, radiobiology, radiation ecology and epidemiology, and evolution. Timofeeff-Ressovsky contributed to several fields of biology and established new directions of scientific research. He often repeated the phrase, which would later become famous: “Science should not be approached with the ferocity of wild animals”. In keeping with that philosophy, the issues discussed here are still open. 

The chapter ''Radiation-Induced Aging and Genetic Instability of Mesenchymal Stem Cells: An Issue for Late Health Effects?'' is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

This proceedings volume results from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on ''Biomarkers of Radiation in the Environment: Robust Tools for Risk Assessment (BRITE)’. The BRITE workshop discussed insights from cancer research, epigenetics, non-human and human risk assessment, since many of the state-of-the-art biomarkers being developed for humans deserve consideration for environmental applications and vice versa.  Sessions were very wide-ranging covering methods, mechanisms, cross disciplinary application and regulation.

The chapters in this book have been grouped into five major themes that were covered by the BRITE workshop:

·         Techniques for biomarker development

·         Low-dose effect mechanisms

·         Biomarkers for risk evaluation

·         Biomarkers in wildlife

·         Biomarker use and responses

Each chapter has been written independently and reflects the views of the chapter author(s).  Therefore, the readers can form their own balanced view of the different perspectives on biomarkers of radiation in the environment.  Given the breadth of topics covered and the state-of-the-art perspectives shared by leading experts in their respective fields, this book should form a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in how biomarkers can be used to improve our understanding of radiation in the environment and its potential impacts.