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“Caddisfly watch,” a biomonitoring program using Stenopsyche larvae to determine radioactive cesium contamination in rivers following the Fukushima nuclear disaster

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Abstract

The “Caddisfly Watch” program proposes the use of larvae of the caddisfly genus Stenopsyche (Trichoptera: Stenopsychidae) to monitor the radioactive cesium (137Cs) pollution, including that of suspended solids, in river environments, as a simple method was essential for this following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. A variety of aquatic organisms were collected from rivers in Japan in 2012 and their levels of radioactive Cs measured. Amongst all the organisms collected, the highest concentrations of 137Cs were observed in caddisfly larvae. These larvae occur at a high density and can be collected at regular intervals in most rivers throughout Japan. It is proposed that caddisfly larvae can be used as bioindicators of radioactive Cs contamination in rivers, as their temporal and spatial changes are easily assessed.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) (no. 15K11954) from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science, and the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (ZRFb-1201) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan. Part of this study and analyses were supported by the River Fund (27-1211-002) of the River Foundation, Japan, as well as the Chemical Innovation Encouragement Prize from the Japan Association for Chemical Innovation. The authors would like to thank Kazusa Hirata, Takeshi Hirano, Eijiro Ohtsubo, and Yuki Matsuo for their technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University, Saga, Japan

    Daisuke Ueno

  2. Department of Environmental Veterinary Science, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

    Hazuki Mizukawa

  3. Laboratory of Radiation Biology, Department of Applied Veterinary Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

    Osamu Inanami

  4. Institute of Environmental Ecology, IDEA Consultants, Incorporated, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiromitsu Nagasaka

  5. Department of Development and Environmental Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

    Nozomi Tatsuta & Kunihiko Nakai

  6. Fukuoka Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences, Dazaifu, Japan

    Yukinori Narazaki

  7. Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Saitama University, Saitama, Japan

    Takeshi Fujino

  8. Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan

    Izumi Watanabe

  9. Archtecture and Civil Engineering, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino, Japan

    Yutaka Kameda

Authors
  1. Daisuke Ueno
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  2. Hazuki Mizukawa
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  3. Osamu Inanami
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  4. Hiromitsu Nagasaka
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  5. Nozomi Tatsuta
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  6. Yukinori Narazaki
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  7. Takeshi Fujino
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  8. Izumi Watanabe
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  9. Yutaka Kameda
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  10. Kunihiko Nakai
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Correspondence to Daisuke Ueno.

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Ueno, D., Mizukawa, H., Inanami, O. et al. “Caddisfly watch,” a biomonitoring program using Stenopsyche larvae to determine radioactive cesium contamination in rivers following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Landscape Ecol Eng 14, 29–35 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-017-0333-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-017-0333-y

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