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

对于所有放射性来源，辐射风险评估对于保障人类和环境健康至关重要。但是评估常常不得不依赖于简单的假设，例如在结合许多过程的风险计算中使用简单的比率。这种务实的方法主要是由于在关键领域缺乏科学知识和/或数据而产生的。由此产生的不确定性已通过保守的方法考虑到辐射风险评估，这可能倾向于高估风险。不确定性出现在评估过程的所有阶段，包括对转移到人类食品和野生动物、接触和风险的估计。减少不确定性是很重要的，因为它直接关系到科学的可信性，鉴于辐射风险评估在社会上的高度敏感性，科学的可信性总是容易受到挑战。我们提出一个综合的、多学科的方案，以评估和减少与辐射风险评估有关的不确定性，以保护人类健康和环境。与此同时，我们将帮助建立必要的能力，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和高度相互关联的组成部分，以实现重建英国能力的关键目标，并为加强环境保护和保障人类健康作出重大贡献。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时间变化。我们将通过在切尔诺贝利禁区测试我们的模型，调查短期测量（在三年对照实验中收集）是否可以用于预测土壤中放射性核素的长期可用性。第二个部分将应用“系统发育”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应用于描述植物营养中一系列元素的吸收，我们正在率先将它们用于研究其他生物和人类食物中放射性核素的吸收。这种方法的一个特别令人兴奋的方面是可以对任何植物或动物进行预测。这很有价值，因为不可能测量所有野生动物、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，通过调查所涉及的潜在机制来改进辐射照射的量化和对由此产生的生物效应的理解。一个关键的目标是看看我们从实验室的动物和植物实验中所知道的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：我们需要对此进行测试，以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放射风险评估有关的不确定性。通过培训一批PDRA和博士，我们的第四个组成部分将通过提供训练有素、经验丰富的研究人员，帮助更新英国在环境放射性方面的能力，这些研究人员通过与调查人员的联系在英国国内外建立了良好的网络。我们的学生将通过他们的受控实验室研究和在污染环境中工作，接受广泛的基本技能培训。他们将受益于成为多学科团队的一员，并有机会与我们的受益人和广泛的项目合作伙伴一起实习。该项目的成果将有利于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。它还将对提高科学界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.