The problem of multiple stressors including low doses of radiation in the environment

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of multiple stressors in the environment all acting by common mechanisms, to produce a variety of non-targeted effects. Low dose radiation and other pollutants all appear to induce these effects but what outcome occurs depends on genetic and environmental factors not on dose. Possible cellular outcomes include cell death, terminal differentiation, mutation [lethal or carcinogenic]. The issue is defining outcome susceptibility and translating to ecosystem burden. Possibly relevant low dose effects include: genomic instability, bystander effects, low dose hypersensitivity and adaptive or inducible responses. All are expressed at very low doses, are probably related and appear to have an epigenetic basis. What we need is a simple assay, which detects low dose effects, is preferably non lethal to the test organism (i.e., collecting not essential), which works for a wide range of species and where field sampling possible. In the paper we review potentially useful low dose effects, the bystander effect in particular, and discuss their suitability as bio-indicators of environmental risk. © 2006 Springer.