By: Nathaniel Tok, Peak Associate
No harmful effects on BC’s coast remain from Fukushima accident
A study led by SFU associate professor Krzysztof Starosta has found no negative impact of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident on BC’s coast.
Starosta’s team investigated the fish populations and coastal soil in BC using high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy in search of the radioactive isotopes cesium-134 and -137. Starosta chose these isotopes due to the fact that they are not naturally occurring, and their presence in natural environments is considered a direct result of nuclear reactions.
Cesium-134 was not found in any salmon samples although cesium-137 was found in Chinook salmon samples. Both cesium-134 and -137 were found in soil samples.
According to Starosta, the cesium levels confirmed are not an issue and the environmental impact of the Fukushima accident was minimal as “the levels found in both the salmon and soil samples remained below Canada’s safety guidelines, posing minimal health risk to BC’s salmon and human populations.”
Starosta also said that the study helped the scientific community to understand more about the movement and the bioaccumulation of radionuclides. The team believes most of the cesium-137 came from 1960s era nuclear weapons testing.
The paper, Starosta’s third on the topic, won the Canadian Journal of Chemistry’s 2018 Best Paper Award.
Exercise may lessen effect of heart drug
SFU professor Peter Ruben and his research team are looking into what causes the sudden deaths that sometimes occur when healthy patients with inherited cardiac arrhythmias engage in exercise.
In a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team’s research has shown that exercise creates a perfect combination of increased heart rate, body temperature, and blood acid level which can trigger arrhythmia.
These physiological changes might lower the effectiveness of Ranolazine, a medication which helps the heart function more effectively during exercise, for those with inherited arrhythmias. Decreased effectiveness of the drug leaves the patients vulnerable to catastrophic arrhythmia.
Ranolazine is a commonly prescribed therapeutic agent and has been proven effective in treating patients with certain forms of inherited arrhythmias. However, Ruben’s study demonstrates that even if the drug is effective for patients during rest, it may not work for those same patients during exercise.
This information is crucial to doctors who prescribe this drug and patients who take Ranolazine for this form of inherited arrhythmia as “Ranolazine could not be expected to control the arrhythmia in those patients during exercise,” said Ruben.
