Morphological Abnormalities in True Bugs (Heteroptera) near Swiss Nuclear Power Stations

After the nuclear accidents of Chernobyl and Fukushima, several studies reported adverse health effects on wildlife animals. Epidemiological studies in humans found significant increases of leukemia rates in young children residing within 5 km from nuclear power plants. This study investigates morphological abnormalities in true bugs (Heteroptera), collected in the environs of three Swiss nuclear power stations (NPS). The objective of the study is to test whether there is an increased frequency of abnormalities in the vicinity of NPS. We found a frequency of abnormalities of 14.1% at distances r < 5 km and a frequency of 6.8% for distances r > 5 km, a rate ratio of 2.1 (P < 0.0001). The corresponding odds ratio was 2.26 (95% CI: 1.59, 3.18). We also conducted logistic regression of abnormality rates on reciprocal distance for each NPS site. The trend was significant for NPS Beznau (regression coefficient β = 1.5 ± 0.3, P < 0.0001) but not significant for NPS Gösgen und NPS Leibstadt with little samples within 5 km. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to find adverse health effects on insects near operating nuclear power plants. Due to its ecological design, however, it cannot answer the question whether the effect is caused by radiation from nuclear power plants.