Effects of ionizing radiation on bird physiology,

phenotype, and fitness in the

Fukushima contaminated area of Japan

Arizona State University

AAP Flash Japon Rikkyo University Tsukuba University IRSN

Japanese PI: Mamoru Watanabe (Tsukuba University, Japan)

Shin Matsui, Satoe Kasahara,

Gen Morimoto, Keisuke Ueda (Rikkyo University, Japan)

French PI: Christelle Adam-Guillermin (IRSN, France)

Audrey Sternalski, Jean-Marc Bonzom,

Jacqueline Garnier-Laplace (IRSN, France)

FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT IN MARCH 2011

Brumfiel (2011) Nature 478: 435-436.

Mar 12 - 15 Mar 11 - 14 Mar 15 After Mar 15

Tree Sparrows Nestlings of Great Tits Field work

© J-M BONZOM at IRSN

© J-M BONZOM at IRSN © J-M BONZOM at IRSN

© S Matsui © S Matsui

RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION

OF NEST MATERIAL DUE TO

THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT

IN PASSERINE BIRDS

Matsui S1, Kasahara S1, Morimoto G1,

Mikami OK2, Watanabe M3, Ueda K1

1 Rikkyo Uni., 2 Iwate- Medical Uni. , 3 Tsukuba Uni.

EXPOSURE TO RADIATION IN NEST

External dose of

eggs & nestlings in

contaminated nests.

Tree Sparrows

© S Matsui

STUDY SITES

Tokyo

Ibaraki

Ibaraki (175 km SW)

Tokyo (222 km SW)

Fukushima

PREDICTIONS

(1) Level of contamination in nest-boxes would

be greater in Ibaraki compared with Tokyo.

(2) Level of contamination in nest-boxes would

be greater in 2011 compared with 2012.

(3) Level of contamination in nest-boxes would

be positively related to nest weight.

METHOD 1

• Total 44 nest-boxes at Ibaraki & Tokyo in 2011 & 2012

• Measurement of dose rate (μGy/h, Geiger Counter )

19 times at 10 sec intervals over a 3 min period

at 1cm above inner surface of nest cup.

• Collect & weigh the nest materials (g)

Checking precision

Measurement of Cs concentration (Bq/kg, Ge detector)

“μGy/h” & “Bq” in nest (Spearman r = 0.73, P < 0.001, n=19 )

Do

se r

ate

(μ

Gy/h

)

Contamination Levels in Nest-boxes

2011 2012 2011 2012

Ibaraki Tokyo (n=10) (n=15) (n=7) (n=12)

METHOD 2

• Cs concentration (Bq/kg) by Ge detector

Ibaraki (n = 10) & Tokyo (n = 9) in 2012.

• The amount of Cs in nest-boxes (Bq)

= Cs concentration (Bq/kg) * Nest weight (g)/1000

• Model selection

The amount of Cs in nest-boxes (Bq)

~ Nest weight (N) + Site (S) + N:S

Contamination Levels in Nest-boxes Th

e a

mo

un

t o

f C

s

in n

est

-bo

xe

s (B

q)

Nest weight (g)

Nest contamination was positively related to nest weight.

Ibaraki Tokyo

●

○

SUMMARY

• Bird species could be more highly

exposed to radiation in the breeding

season directly after the nuclear

accident than in the later seasons.

• The amount of radioactive

contamination would be positively

related to nest weight.

FREEBIRD Project Fukushima Radiation Exposure &

Effects in BIRD populations

Rikkyo University University of Tsukuba

Audrey STERNALSKI (Post-doctoral fellow) Jean-Marc BONZOM, Christelle ADAM-GUILLERMIN Jacqueline GARNIER-LAPLACE

(IRSN/PRP-ENV/SERIS/LECO)

AAP Flash Japon Arizona State University

1) To assess short-term effects of Fukushima ionizing radiation on wildlife (specifically birds) by acquiring a recent, adapted data-set, and to define key biological parameters that can inform, in real time, about organism response to their environment

2) To accurately measure external irradiation and individual internal contamination levels that can affect individual physiology and health, in order to obtain efficient dose-response curves at the individual level

3) To identify proximate physiological mechanisms (physiological and/or genetic) leading to a possible co-variation between individual phenotypic responses, external irradiation levels and internal contamination

Aims

Aims of the FREEBIRD project

14

Why the FREEBIRD project?

General methodology Methods & preliminary results

RADIATION EXPOSURE

PHYSIOLOGY

PHENOTYPIC EXPRESSION Assessment of key

biological parameters

biologica

l pa

ramete

rs

IONIZING RADIATION EFFECTS ON INDIVIDUAL

Individual dose-response curves

15

Study species Study sites

Characterisation of individual contamination

INTERNAL

CONTAMINATION

gradient of radiation level

Characterisation of external irradiation level of study sites

EXTERNAL

IRRADIATION

BREEDING PERFORMANCE

Study species

easy to trap and handle

common and distributed along a contamination gradient

widely studied at Tchernobyl

Bird species…

16

and a frog species

→ never studied!!

Japanese tree frog (Hyla japonica)

Methods & preliminary results

Eurasian Tree sparrow (Passer montanus) Varied tit

(Parus varius)

Great tit (Parus major)

17

Study sites Methods & preliminary results

External irradiation level gradient

3 study sites (3 – 7 µGy/h)

Tree sparrows

homogenous

18

Study sites Methods & preliminary results

External irradiation level gradient

15 nest-boxes (3 – 21 µGy/h)

Tit species

homogenous

Workshop CEH Lancaster February 4th, 2013 19

Study sites Methods & preliminary results

External irradiation level gradient

5 study sites (0.3 – 8 µGy/h)

Japanese tree frog

homogenous

Internal individual contamination

Characterisation of individual contamination

20

Methods & preliminary results

Individual whole body contamination differs between study sites and increase with external irradiation level

External irradiation level effect on individual

whole body contamination:

Site effect on individual whole body

contamination:

GENMOD: F6,118 = 178.19, p < 0.0001

0

5

10

15

20

25

T B A F E G CMe

an in

tern

al &

ext

ern

al d

ose

ra

tes

(wh

ole

bo

dy;

µG

v/h

)

Frog study sites

21 23 18 18

17

7

21

GLIMMIX (random Study site):

F1,5.56 = 40.63, p = 0.0009

0

10

20

30

40

0 5 10 15

External irradiation level (µGy/h)

Inte

rnal

do

se r

ate

(w

ho

le

bo

dy;

µG

v/h

)

Physiological parametres

21

Parametres Variables

Carotenoids Vit. A/E

Colouration

Plasmatic lysis capacity

Immune system

Blood smear test

Oxidative status

TBARS

Oxide nitric

Glutathione

Hormones Testosterone

Corticosterone

Key biological parameters Methods & preliminary results

External irradiation (µGy/h) effects on number of

micronuclei (per 1000 counted RBcells):

GENMOD (Distr. Poisson): F2,61 = 2.69, p = 0.0757

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

0 2 4 6 8

External irradiation µGy/h (Study sites)

(S05) (S03) (S06) M

icro

nu

cle

i ob

serv

ed

n

um

be

r p

er

10

00

RB

C

cou

nte

d

Genetic parametres

22

Parametres Variables

Single strand DNA break DNA damage

Gene expression 4 focus genes

DNA methylation Epigenetic

Key biological parameters Methods & preliminary results

Phenotypic expression

23

Parametres Variables

Body condition Biometric measures

Carotenoids in feathers & tissues

Coloured traits Picture analyse

(carotenoids / melanin)

Key biological parameters Methods & preliminary results

• Estimate external dose of

eggs and nestlings in high

contaminated nests

• Monitor physiological

factors

• Movement of radionuclides

through bioaccumulation

(e.g., Cs-134 and Cs-137)

FUTURE ISSUES

© S Matsui © S Matsui

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research is supported by

• the J-RAPID Program of Japan Science

and Technology Agency (JST)

• the ANR project : ANR 2011-JAPN-003-01