TRansfer - Exposure - Effects (TREE): integrating the science needed to underpin radioactivity assessments for humans and wildlife

对于所有放射源，辐射风险评估对于保障人类和环境健康至关重要。但评估往往不得不依赖于过于简单化的假设，例如在结合了许多过程的风险计算中使用简单的比率。这种务实的做法在很大程度上是由于缺乏关键领域的科学知识和/或数据。通过保守的放射风险评估方法考虑了由此产生的不确定性，这可能会高估风险。在评估过程的所有阶段都存在不确定性，从估计转移到人类食品和野生动物、暴露和风险。减少不确定性很重要，因为它直接关系到科学的可信度，考虑到社会上辐射风险评估的高度敏感性，科学可信度将始终受到挑战。我们提出了一个综合的、多学科的方案，以评估和减少与辐射风险评估相关的不确定性，以保护人类健康和环境。与此同时，我们将致力于建设所需的能力，以确保英国在未来重建和保持环境放射性方面的专业知识。我们的项目有四个主要且高度相关的组成部分，以实现Rate的关键目标，以重建英国的能力，并为加强环境保护和保障人类健康做出重大贡献。第一部分将研究放射性核素在土壤中的生物有效性如何随着时间的推移而变化。我们将通过在切尔诺贝利隔离区测试我们的模型，研究是否可以使用短期测量(在三年的对照实验中收集)来预测土壤中放射性核素的长期可用性。第二部分将应用“系统发育学”和“离子学”的概念来描述植物和其他生物对放射性核素的吸收。这些方法和统计建模方法越来越多地被应用于描述植物营养中一系列元素的吸收，我们正在率先使用它们来研究其他生物体和人类食物中的放射性核素吸收。这种方法的一个特别令人兴奋的方面是有可能对任何植物或动物进行预测。这是非常有价值的，因为不可能衡量所有野生动物、农作物和农场动物的吸收情况。这项工作的第三个组成部分将扩大我们的努力，通过调查所涉及的基本机制，改进辐射暴露的量化和对由此产生的生物影响的了解。一个关键的目标是看看我们在实验室对动物和植物进行的实验是否很好地代表了现实世界中发生的事情：一些科学家认为，自然环境中的动物比实验室动物更容易受到辐射的影响：我们需要测试这一点，以便对我们的风险评估有信心。总之，这些研究将使我们能够减少和更好地量化与辐射风险评估相关的不确定性。通过培训一批PDRA和博士，我们的第四部分将通过提供训练有素、经验丰富的研究人员，通过调查人员的联系，在英国国内和国际上建立良好的网络，从而帮助更新英国在环境放射性方面的能力。我们的学生将通过受控的实验室学习和在污染环境中工作，接受广泛的基本技能培训。他们将受益于成为一个多学科团队的成员，并有机会与我们的受益者和广泛的项目合作伙伴一起工作。该项目的成果将使负责评估环境放射性对人类和野生动物构成的风险的政府和非政府组织受益。它还将对提高科学和公众对环境安全评估结果的信心作出重大贡献。

For all sources of radioactivity, radiological risk assessments are essential for safeguarding human and environmental health. But assessments often have to rely upon simplistic assumptions, such as the use of simple ratios in risk calculations which combine many processes. This pragmatic approach has largely arisen due to the lack of scientific knowledge and/or data in key areas. The resultant uncertainty has been taken into account through conservative approaches to radiological risk assessment which may tend to overestimate risk. Uncertainty arises at all stages of the assessment process from the estimation of transfer to human foodstuffs and wildlife, exposure and risk. Reducing uncertainty is important as it relates directly to scientific credibility, which will always be open to challenge given the highly sensitive nature of radiological risk assessment in society. We propose an integrated, multi-disciplinary, programme to assess and reduce the uncertainty associated with radiological risk assessment to protect human health and the environment. At the same time we will contribute to building the capacity needed to ensure that the UK rebuilds and maintains expertise in environmental radioactivity into the future.Our project has four major and highly inter-related components to address the key goal of RATE to rebuild UK capacity and make a major contribution to enhancing environmental protection and safeguarding human health. The first component will study how the biological availability of radionuclides varies in soils over time. We will investigate if short-term measurements (collected in three year controlled experiments) can be used to predict the long-term availability of radionuclides in soils by testing our models in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. The second component will apply the concepts of 'phylogeny' and 'ionomics' to characterise radionuclide uptake by plants and other organisms. These approaches, and statistical modelling methods, are increasingly applied to describe uptake of a range of elements in plant nutrition, and we are pioneering their use for studying radionuclide uptake in other organisms and human foods. A particularly exciting aspect of the approach is the possibility to make predictions for any plant or animal. This is of great value as it is impossible to measure uptake for all wildlife, crops and farm animals. The third component of the work will extend our efforts to improve the quantification of radiation exposure and understanding of resultant biological effects by investigating the underlying mechanisms involved. A key aim is to see whether what we know from experiments on animals and plants in the laboratory is a good representation of what happens in the real world: some scientists believe that animals in the natural environment are more susceptible to radiation than laboratory animals: we need to test this to have confidence in our risk assessments. Together these studies will enable us to reduce and better quantify the uncertainties associated with radiological risk assessment. By training a cohort of PDRA and PhDs our fourth component will help to renew UK capacity in environmental radioactivity by providing trained, experienced researchers who are well networked within the UK and internationally through the contacts of the investigators. Our students will be trained in a wide range of essential skills through their controlled laboratory studies and working in contaminated environments. They will benefit from being a member of a multidisciplinary team and opportunities to take placements with our beneficiaries and extensive range of project partners.The outputs of the project will benefit governmental and non-governmental organisations with responsibility for assessing the risks to humans and wildlife posed by environmental radioactivity. It will also make a major contribution to improved scientific and public confidence in the outcomes of environmental safety assessments.