Assessments of DNA Damage and Radiation Exposure Dose in Cattle Living in the Contaminated Area Caused by the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 105; no. 3; pp. 496 - 501
• Main Authors: Sato, Itaru, Sasaki, Jun, Satoh, Hiroshi, Natsuhori, Masahiro, Murata, Takahisa, Okada, Keiji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abnormalities; Animals; Aquatic Pollution; Cattle; Contamination; Damage detection; Deoxyguanosine; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA damage; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Nuclear accidents; Nuclear accidents & safety; Peripheral blood; Pollution; Radiation damage; Radiation dosage; Radiation effects; Soil Science & Conservation; Stochasticity; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Radioactive contamination; Fukushima nuclear accident; Cattle; DNA damage
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-020-02968-w

Since the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, various abnormalities have been reported in animals living in the contaminated area. In the present study, we examined DNA damage in cattle living in the "difficult-to-return zone" by 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine, comet, and micronucleus assays using their peripheral blood. The radiation exposure dose rate at the sampling time was approximately 0.25 or 0.38 mGy/day and the cumulative dose was estimated at approximately 1000 mGy. Significant increase in DNA damage was not detected by any of the three methods. As DNA damage is a stochastic effect of radiation, it might be occurring in animals living in the contaminated area. However, the present results suggest that radiation-induced DNA damage in the cattle did not increase to the level detectable by the assays we used due to the low dose rate in this area.