Answer to Question #1916 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Q

We live in Ireland, which is across the sea from the Sellafield Nuclear Plant. Some school children would like to know the answer to the following: If radiation is contracted by one person from a nuclear plant and passed on to their offspring, how far down their generations is this radiation passed on?

A

Radiation produces genetic effects in animals. A genetic effect is a change in a gene. It most likely will be recessive, meaning that it (in theory) can be passed on from generation to generation forever. Rarely, these changes are dominant, which means that every offspring will express them; in these cases, the mutations are generally eliminated from the gene pool rather rapidly by natural selection. Gene mutation is a very rare effect of radiation. There is no conclusive proof of a genetic effect in humans, even in the offspring of the Japanese atomic bomb survivors (a large population that received large radiation doses). The reports of such effects in children of Sellafield nuclear workers have largely been disproven as statistical artifacts. Conclusion: Transmission of genetic effects of radiation, like all mutations, can range from one or a few generations to many generations, potentially forever. The difference depends on the nature and severity of the specific mutation. S. Julian Gibbs, DDS, PhD