Ukraine’s 1986 Chernobyl disaster turning colour of tree frogs from green to black: Study
The 1986 Chornobyl nuclear reactor disaster has now started affecting Eastern tree frogs in the nearby region as their colour has turned green to black.
The 1986 Ukraine’s Chornobyl nuclear reactor disaster has now started affecting Eastern tree frogs in the nearby region as their colour has turned green to black. According to a study published in the journal Evolutionary Applications,
skin colouration was darker in localities closest to areas with high radiation levels at the time of the accident, whereas current radiation levels seemed not to influence skin colouration in Chornobyl tree frogs. The study claims tree frogs living within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone had a remarkably darker dorsal skin colouration than frogs from outside the Zone.
“The maintenance of dark skin colouration was not linked to physiological costs in terms of frog body condition or oxidative status, and we did not detect short-term changes in frog colouration,” according to the research. “Dark colouration is known to protect against different sources of radiation by neutralizing free radicals and reducing DNA damage, and, particularly melanin pigmentation has been proposed as a buffering mechanism against ionizing radiation,” it explained.
Furthermore, the study suggests that exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation, likely at the time of the accident, may have been selected for darker colouration in Chornobyl tree frogs. Notably, ionizing radiation is harmful because it can damage DNA and other biomolecules, causing cell malfunctions and increasing mortality risk
1986 Chernobyl accident
It is pertinent to mention here that the Chornobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the number 4 reactor in the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. Since then, the nuclear site has been undergoing decommissioning.
According to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), significant amounts of nuclear material remain in various facilities at the site in the form of spent fuel and other radioactive waste. At the time of the incident, multiple media reports claimed 237 workers were hospitalized, of which 134 exhibited symptoms of acute radiation syndrome. Later after three months of hospitalisation, at least 28 people died.
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According to the World Health Organisation, an excess of 15 childhood thyroid cancer deaths were documented as of 2011. A United Nations committee found that to date fewer than 100 deaths have resulted from the fallout. Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant has been undergoing decommissioning since the 1986 accident. According to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), significant amounts of nuclear material remain in various facilities at the site in the form of spent fuel and other radioactive waste.
