Correspondence/Rebuttal pubs.acs.org/est
Comment on “Chromosomal Aberrations in Large Japanese Field Mice (Apodemus speciosus) Captured Near Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant” observed following exposure to low levels of radiation in many instances.3 Whereas there were no direct fatalities due to radiation from the nuclear reactor accidents,4 the evacuation of 185 000 residents due to Fukushima accident-related radiation concerns caused increased fatalities5 as reported by Yasumara et al.as well as long-term psychological and social harm as discussed by Ohto et al.6 There is no doubt that concerns of radiation exposure have negatively impacted Fukushima Prefecture residents’ physical and mental health, but so far no radiation-caused health detriment have been biologically or medically linked to radiation exposure from the accident. It is also worth noting that the authors remark that chromosomal aberrations decline over time, and warn that “care should be exercised when using unstable chromosomal aberration···when interpreting the results [as an indication of harm to the organisms].” Since such stimulated defenses would also decrease endogenous damage resulting in suppression of mutations to below natural levels,7,8 we would add that exercise of such care should certainly lead to caution in interpreting the data presented.
With great interest, we have read the article by Kawagoshi et al.1. The authors published their findings on the frequencies of chromosomal aberrations in the splenic lymphocytes of large Japanese field mice inhabiting Fukushima Prefecture. These researchers studied the average frequency of the chromosomal aberrations (translocations and dicentrics) per cell in the noncontaminated control (0.1 ± 0 μSv h−1), slightly contaminated (0.3 ± 0.1 to 0.4 ± 0.2 μSv h−1), moderately contaminated (7.5 ± 2.1 to 30.7 ± 7.4 μSv h−1), and heavily contaminated (80.0 ± 13.6 μSv h−1) cohorts. They concluded that chromosome aberrations in the heavily contaminated area were significantly higher than the frequencies in the noncontaminated control area, as well as in the slightly and moderately contaminated areas. They also concluded that the frequency of aberration in individual mice tended to roughly increase with the estimated dose rates and accumulated doses. Although this paper addresses a very challenging topic, in our view it has at least one major shortcoming. The key weakness of this paper results from the authors drawing conclusions based on very scattered data points. In this light, the highly scattered dose−response data would fit any model (“J” shape or hormetic, linear, linear quadratic, etc.). For example, the data points shown in Figure 1 would fit a threshold or biphasic “J” shaped hormetic dose−response model. A careful examination of their data reveals that the data would be consistent with a threshold or hormetic dose−response (the mean aberration frequency in the slightly contaminated area was a little lower than in the control area), but the spread of the data is so large that removing only a few data points can affect the conclusions. For example in Figure 1, if we only remove the first two top data points from heavily contaminated areas, it is clear that the findings would be changed. . Moreover, in Figure 1 the p values are only reported for the differences between the frequencies of translocations and dicentric chromosomes in A. speciosus captured in heavy contaminated areas with other areas, whereas the moderately contaminated area and slightly contaminated are not compared to control areas. Such a comparison would have shown whether there is a threshold or hormetic dose response. The data points in Figure 3 are also highly scattered in the high dose rate and high accumulated dose regions and so the data may not be sufficient to determine conclusively the dose−response model. Therefore, it appears that the authors’ conclusions are not appropriate given the data presented. It is worth noting that in another study on small Japanese field mice (Apodemus argenteus) and house mice (Mus musculus), it was also concluded that a dose-proportional increase in chromosome aberrations was observed while the data demonstrated a threshold for aberration.2 We are concerned that reports such as this by Kawagoshi et al. may contribute to the public’s fear of low levels of radiation exposure, which in our view is an overreaction considering the reduction of cancers that has been © XXXX American Chemical Society
SMJ Mortazavi† Joseph John Bevelacqua‡ Leslie Corrice§ Ludwik Dobrzyński∥ Ludwig E. Feinendegen⊥ Mark L Miller# Bill Sacks∇ Brant Ulsh∞ Charles W. Pennington¶ James Welsh○ Mohan Doss*,† †
Diagnostic Imaging, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111, United States ‡ Bevelacqua Resources, Richland, Washington 99352, United States § Author, Hiroshima Syndrome, Moreland Hills, Ohio 44022, United States ∥ ́ National Centre for Nuclear Research, Otwock-Swierk 05-400, Poland ⊥ Heinrich-Heine-University, Dusseldorf 40225, Germany # Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123, United States ∇ Emeritus Medical Officer, FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Rockville, Maryland 20877, United States ∞ M. H. Chew & Associates, Cincinnati, Ohio 45245, United States
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b01900 Environ. Sci. Technol. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Environmental Science & Technology
Correspondence/Rebuttal
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Executive Nuclear Energy Consultant, Alpharetta, Georgia 30022, United States ○ Department of Radiation Oncology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University- Chicago, Maywood, Illinois 60153, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*Phone: 215 214-1707; e-mail:
[email protected]. ORCID
SMJ Mortazavi: 0000-0003-0139-2774 Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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REFERENCES
(1) Kawagoshi, T.; Shiomi, N.; Takahashi, H.; Watanabe, Y.; Fuma, S.; Doi, K.; Kawaguchi, I.; Aoki, M.; Kubota, M.; Furuhata, Y.; Shigemura, Y.; Mizoguchi, M.; Yamada, F.; Tomozawa, M.; Sakamoto, S. H.; Yoshida, S.; Kubota, Y. Chromosomal Aberrations in Large Japanese Field Mice (Apodemus speciosus) Captured near Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2017, 51 (8), 4632−4641. (2) Kubota, Y.; Tsuji, H.; Kawagoshi, T.; Shiomi, N.; Takahashi, H.; Watanabe, Y.; Fuma, S.; Doi, K.; Kawaguchi, I.; Aoki, M.; Kubota, M.; Furuhata, Y.; Shigemura, Y.; Mizoguchi, M.; Yamada, F.; Tomozawa, M.; Sakamoto, S. H.; Yoshida, S. Chromosomal Aberrations in Wild Mice Captured in Areas Differentially Contaminated by the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2015, 49 (16), 10074−83. (3) Doss, M. Changing the Paradigm of Cancer Screening, Prevention, and Treatment. Dose-Response 2016, 14 (4), 1559325816680539. (4) UNSCEAR. Annex A: Levels and effects of radiation exposure due to the nuclear accident after the 2011 great east-Japan earthquake and tsunami. http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2013/14-06336_ Report_2013_Annex_A_Ebook_website.pdf (accessed November 3, 2016). (5) Yasumura, S. Evacuation effect on excess mortality among institutionalized elderly after the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Fukushima J. Med. Sci. 2014, 60 (2), 192−5. (6) Ohto, H.; Yasumura, S.; Maeda, M.; Kainuma, H.; Fujimori, K.; Nollet, K. E. From Devastation to Recovery and Revival in the Aftermath of Fukushima’s Nuclear Power Plants Accident. Asia-Pacific journal of public health 2017, 29 (2_suppl), 10S−17S. (7) Feinendegen, L. E.; Pollycove, M.; Neumann, R. D., Hormesis by Low Dose Radiation Effects: Low-Dose Cancer Risk Modeling Must Recognize Up-Regulation of Protection. In Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine; Baum, R. P., Ed.; Springer: 2013. (8) Osipov, A. N.; Buleeva, G.; Arkhangelskaya, E.; Klokov, D. In vivo gamma-irradiation low dose threshold for suppression of DNA double strand breaks below the spontaneous level in mouse blood and spleen cells. Mutat. Res., Genet. Toxicol. Environ. Mutagen. 2013, 756 (1−2), 141−5.
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b01900 Environ. Sci. Technol. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
