Bioindication of the anthropogenic effects on micropopulations of Pinus sylvestris, L. in the vicinity of a plant for the storage and processing of radioactive waste and in the Chernobyl NPP zone

Abstract

Results of a comparative analysis of the frequency and spectrum of cytogenetic anomalies are presented for reproductive (seeds) and vegetative (needles) samples taken from Scotch pine ( Pinus sylvestris, L.) micropopulations growing at sites with differing levels of radioactive contamination in the Chernobyl NPP 30 km zone, and at the location of a facility for the processing and storage of radioactive wastes (the ‘Radon’ LWPE, near the town of Sosnovy Bor in the Leningrad Region). The data obtained indicate the presence of genotoxic contaminants in the environment of the tree micropopulations. Chemical toxins make the main contribution to the environmental contamination in the Sosnovy Bor area as compared with the influence of ionising radiation in the Chernobyl 30 km zone. The higher radioresistance of seeds of Scotch pine growing on the area of the ‘Radon’ LWPE and in the centre of Sosnovy Bor town was revealed with acute γ-radiation.