Preface: environmental radioactivity: implications for human and environmental health

摘要

It goes without saying that ionising radiations have and will continue to play important roles in modern civilisation. Alongside their widespread usage and immense societal benefits there is, however, growing scientific, regulatory and public concern over their potential impact on human health. This is especially important against the backdrop of existing nuclear waste, future energy demand, potential and past nuclear accidents. Linked with these concerns are significant gaps in our knowledge of different aspects of radiobiology and radioecology. These include the potential impact of ionising radiations on natural biota, which is of increasing importance in recent years. This is as a result of a paradigm shift in approaches to environmental protection in complex terrestrial and aquatic environments, which now requires consideration of exposure and potential biological effects on non-human species (Cop-plestone et al., 2010; Dallas et al., 2012). This, in turn, requires further elaboration of biological and physical dosimetry, determination of background radiation in different ecological niches, biogeochemical pathways and associated environmental changes (Brechignac and Doi, 2009; Howard et al., 2010). These issues often associated with environmental protection regulations (e.g. European Union Habitat Directives) are all inter-connected and can be resolved only through adoption of an interdisciplinary approach to examine what we know and, often, what we don't know, about these topics. A further key challenge is communication of scientific information associated with the real hazard and risk posed by ionising radiation to stakeholder groups and the general public, as exemplified by the recent Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) event in Japan (Wakeford, 2011).