Anthropogenic uranium signatures in turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles from nuclear sites

Author:

Conrad Cyler12ORCID,Inglis Jeremy3ORCID,Wende Allison3,Sanborn Matthew3ORCID,Mukundan Nilesh3ORCID,Price Allison3ORCID,Tenner Travis3ORCID,Wurth Kimberly3,Naes Benjamin3,Fair Jeanne4ORCID,Middlebrook Earl4ORCID,Gaukler Shannon5,Whicker Jeffrey5,Gerard Jamie L5,Aguilera Washington Tapia67,Gibbs James P68,Wolf Blair9ORCID,Kattil-deBrum Tonie K10ORCID,Hagemann Molly11ORCID,Seminoff Jeffrey A12ORCID,Brys Timothy13,Brown Rafe14ORCID,Derieg Katrina M15ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Earth Systems Science Division, Risk and Environmental Assessment Group, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 , USA

2. Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico , Albuquerque, NM 87131 , USA

3. Chemistry Division, Nuclear and Radiochemistry Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory , P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 , USA

4. Bioscience Division, Genomics and Bioanalytics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory , P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 , USA

5. Environmental Protection and Compliance Division, Environmental Stewardship Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory , P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 , USA

6. Galápagos Conservancy , 11150 Fairfax Blvd. #408, Fairfax, VA 22030 , USA

7. University of Málaga , Campus Teatinos, Apdo 59.29080 Málaga , Spain

8. College of Environmental Science, State University of New York , 1 Forestry Dr., Syracuse, NY 13210 , USA

9. Department of Biology, University of New Mexico , Albuquerque, NM 87131 , USA

10. Burke Museum, University of Washington , 4300 15th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98105 , USA

11. Department of Natural Sciences, Vertebrate Zoology, Bishop Museum , 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817 , USA

12. NOAA-Southwest Fisheries Science Center , 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 , USA

13. Community Engagement and Collections Management, Perot Museum of Nature and Science , Dallas, TX 75201 , USA

14. Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas , Dyche Hall, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045 , USA

15. Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah , 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108 , USA

Abstract

Abstract Chelonians (turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles) grow scute keratin in sequential layers over time. Once formed, scute keratin acts as an inert reservoir of environmental information. For chelonians inhabiting areas with legacy or modern nuclear activities, their scute has the potential to act as a time-stamped record of radionuclide contamination in the environment. Here, we measure bulk (i.e. homogenized scute) and sequential samples of chelonian scute from the Republic of the Marshall Islands and throughout the United States of America, including at the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, southwestern Utah, the Savannah River Site, and the Oak Ridge Reservation. We identify legacy uranium (235U and 236U) contamination in bulk and sequential chelonian scute that matches known nuclear histories at these locations during the 20th century. Our results confirm that chelonians bioaccumulate uranium radionuclides and do so sequentially over time. This technique provides both a time series approach for reconstructing nuclear histories from significant past and present contexts throughout the world and the ability to use chelonians for long-term environmental monitoring programs (e.g. sea turtles at Enewetok and Bikini Atolls in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and in Japan near the Fukushima Daiichi reactors).

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Cited by 1 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

1. “The Ocean is Our Legacy:” Values of Care and Reciprocity;Environmental Communication;2023-12-28

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