Anthropogenic uranium signatures in turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles from nuclear sites

Chelonians, including turtles and sea turtles, serve as living records of environmental uranium contamination. A study analyzing their scute keratin—an inert, time-stamped biological material—revealed distinct anthropogenic uranium signatures (235U and 236U) in specimens from nuclear sites across the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the United States. These signatures matched known historical nuclear activities, confirming that chelonians bioaccumulate uranium radionuclides sequentially over time. The research demonstrates a novel approach for reconstructing nuclear histories using chelonian scute, offering potential applications for long-term environmental monitoring at sites like Bikini Atoll and Fukushima. This method bridges the gap between past contamination events and present-day ecological impacts.

Conrad, C., Inglis, J., Wende, A., Sanborn, M., Mukundan, N., Price, A., Tenner, T., Wurth, K., Naes, B., Fair, J., Middlebrook, E., Gaukler, S., Whicker, J., Gerard, J. L., Aguilera, W. T., Gibbs, J. P., Wolf, B., Kattil-deBrum, T. K., Hagemann, M., et al. (2023). Anthropogenic uranium signatures in turtles, tortoises, and sea turtles from nuclear sites. PNAS Nexus, 2(8). https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad241