A study published in the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity titled “Modelling the combined effects of ionising radiation and chemical pollutants on wildlife populations” by J. Vives i Batlle at SCK CEN presents a new methodology for the impact assessment of mixtures of radionuclides and chemical contaminants in non-human biota. It uses novel population model equations combining radiation and chemical effects with ecological factors for a given species in the environment, with an illustrative case study for the field vole. This model can be used to assess the robustness of benchmarks used in wildlife radiological assessment for “mixed stressor” situations. This is a problem that concerns both regulators and the industry, especially in legacy sites containing NORM contamination. The model provides a way to draw conclusions about the most restrictive mixed exposure situations in terms of effects to the wildlife population. This novel approach is already being applied at the IAEA to assess the impact of mixed contaminants in the Oslo Fjord (MEREIA project working group 5), and there are plans for future application to terrestrial legacy sites in Belgium in context of site remediation activities.

A preprint of the manuscript can be downloaded here.

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