Devastating Effects to Environment Due to Japan's Radiation Leaks

Today, the operator at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant said that it has found traces of radioactive iodine that is a staggering 7.5 million times the legal limit. This sample of seawater was taken from right near the facility, forcing the Japanese government to begin a health limit for radioactivity in fish.

Radiation can cause many harsh consequences to any form of life—whether it be human, plants or animals. The high levels of radiation we are seeing in these first few seawater samples are unfortunately more than likely just the beginning.

Radiation can damage living things not just at a cellular level, but on a genetic level as well. In rare cases, damaged cells can repair themselves, but in most situations once the damage happens—it cannot be reversed. Genetic damage can be catastrophic as the radiation can damage a cell's DNA so bad, that it will result in a cellular mutation that can lead to various forms of cancer.

The consequences to seeds from radiation can cause damage which can completely stop them from sprouting and germinating, completely altering or in most situation halting plants from reproducing all together. Just like with humans, radiation can cause genetic mutations in growing plants which can make surviving virtually impossible.

Genetic changes in the cells of animals force cells to grow in abnormal ways. Levels of radiation can cause damage to capillaries and small blood vessels, and can lead to such extremes as heart failure or brain aneurysms. Because radiation usually is compounded by intense heat, exposure to extremely high levels of radiation can often "cook" an animal. A type of radiation called microwave radiation can actually cause an animal to "cook" from the inside out.

According to Ehow.com, all radioactive material decays over time but how long this time frame is depends on what type of material it is that has been leaked. For example: Strontium-90 is only radioactive for 53 days., Uranium-235 in the environment will remain radioactive for over 700 million years, Uranium-238 will remain radioactive for 4.5 billion years, and Rubidium remains radioactive for 47 million years.