Abstract
Life has been subjected to the influence of ionizing radiation since its beginning. Radiation levels were certainly much higher during earlier geological periods. This appears clearly from geochronological investigations where the equilibrium of long-lived radionuclides, such as 238U, 232Th, 40K and 87Rb, with their stable decay products is determined [1] and from which one can conclude that the radioactivity of the radioactive parents was much higher than now. Even today, radiation from natural sources accounts for 70–80% of all exposure to man and even more to animals living in non-contaminated areas, with doses varying over a considerable range depending on the geological underground and the altitude. This explains why small increases in exposure to ionizing radiation are not expected to be harmful to the evolution of living organisms. Our study aimed to illustrate how small mammals adapt to a changing radiation environment.
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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Testov, B.V. (1996). Physiological Adaptation of Small Mammals to Radioactive Pollution. In: Luykx, F.F., Frissel, M.J. (eds) Radioecology and the Restoration of Radioactive-Contaminated Sites. NATO ASI Series, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0301-2_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0301-2_20
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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