Retrospective Estimation of Radiation Load and Its Effect on Some Biological Parameters of Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from Wrangel Island

The results of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis of pure tooth enamel and the data on the radionuclide content in bones were used for estimating the radiation load on reindeer that lived on Wrangel Island in the 1970s and early 1980s. Based on the measurements of the lower jaws, some biological parameters of the Wrangel reindeer population were estimated and compared with those in the Novaya Zemlya and Taimyr populations. Changes in only two of these parameters--the degree of root cementum resorption and animal life span-might be attributed to the effect of the radiation load.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]