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Abnormalities
in Japanese monkeys linked to Fukushima nuclear disaster
Monkeys
living in the wild in the Fukushima region have tested positive for
blood abnormalities linked to radioactive fallout from the 2011
nuclear power plant disaster, according to a new report.
RT,
26
July, 2014
The
wild monkeys, Japanese macaques popularly known around the world for
their habit of bathing in the country’s hot springs, have
demonstrated blood abnormalities that could leave them vulnerable to
infectious diseases, reported the Guardian.
Specifically,
the monkeys in the region which was impacted by fallout from the
stricken Fukushima Daichii nuclear facility, were found to exhibit
low white and red blood cell counts, along with low hemoglobin
levels. The study examined a 61 monkey community living 44 miles from
the disaster site to 31 monkeys almost 250 miles away, in the
Shimokita Peninsula. The former community tested positive for
radioactive caesium, linked to caesium in the soil of their habitat.
The
macaques feed on tree buds and bark where caesium can accumulate in
high concentrations during winter, according to professor Shin-ichi
Hayama of the Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University in Tokyo,
who spoke to The Guardian.
Though
the study has examined monkey populations rather than humans, the
findings may nonetheless add further weight to criticism of Japan’s
nuclear operating corporation, TEPCO, which has previously been
harshly judged over its handling of the Fukushima disaster, in
particular its downplaying of risk to both plant workers and the
impact to the surrounding prefecture. Some 50,000 households were
displaced following the nuclear disaster, and the utility has
struggled to contain radioactive spills during the massive cleanup
operation of the site.
Still,
some critics say that the research on the nearby primates is not
conclusive, and that the cesium levels may not be to blame for the
monkeys’ blood abnormalities.
Professor
Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth in Britain is skeptical
that the cesium levels, similar to those found elsewhere in Europe
following the April 1986 Chernobyl nuclear incident, were too low.
“I
am highly skeptical of the claim. The levels of radiocaesium in the
Fukushima monkeys are about the same as those found in sheep in some
parts of the UK following the Chernobyl accident, i.e. extremely low
in terms of damage to the animals themselves. I think it much more
likely that the apparently low blood cell counts are caused by
something other than radiation.”
Professor
Geraldine Thomas of Imperial College London, meanwhile, told the
Guardian that the link between cesium levels and the macaques’
blood results for the Fukushima research was not statistically
significant.
“Unfortunately
this is yet another paper with insufficient power to distinguish real
effects and relevance to human health,” she said. “We know that
one of the most damaging health effects comes from fear of radiation,
not radiation itself.”
According
to the researchers who conducted the Fukushima study, both disease
and malnutrition were ruled out as a root cause for the monkeys’
blood abnormalities.
