The Chornobyl Nuclear Disaster was one of the worst manmade disaster events in history. Taking place in 1986, this meltdown cost the lives of many humans as well as animals living in the surrounding area.

After the immediate danger was over, it was decided that the area around the nuclear power plant would be quarantined due to the large amounts of radiation present, making it very dangerous. This area was called the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, and other than researchers, people are typically not allowed in.

It has been nearly 40 years since this disaster, and the majority of the dangerous radiation has dissipated to the point where many plants and animals are thriving in the area. Researchers entered the area to study the wildlife to see how the tradition effected them up to this point, and how they are living today. The study had a special focus on the Eastern tree frog, and was published the journal Biology Letters.

Pablo Burraco was one of the authors of the study and is also a postdoctoral investigator at Estacion Biologica de Donana. He spoke to IFLScience about the study and their experience. Talking about the radiation levels, he said:

“I do think radiation levels currently present at the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone are not enough to produce marked organismal damage in wildlife, at least in most of Chornobyl areas. “I am not surprised about that.”

In order to stay safe, they kept track of these levels and compared them to the normal amounts of radiation that people experience going through everyday activities. Burraco commented:

“In two weeks working in some very contaminated areas (for some hours each day) we accumulated the same radiation level that one gets in a single visit to the dentist. This is because the most dangerous radioisotopes that were released at the moment of the Chornobyl accident, have a very short half life, so radiation levels quickly dropped after several months or years.”

So, if the radiation levels are low enough for tree frogs and other animals to live, what type of impact has it had. One thing that the study touched on is the color of the tree frogs.

Specifically, the pigmentation in their skin, which is much darker today than it was prior to the meltdown event.

Burraco talked about how the color changes from green to almost black could be an adaptation that was needed to survive the higher radiation in the past.

He said:

“It might be linked to frog pigmentation but we have not explored yet this possibility. My impression is that differences in pigmentation could have been more relevant when the accident occurred to survive the very high radiation levels at that time, but I agree that it might still play a role nowadays.”

Not surprisingly, more research is needed to discover what type of impact the radiation had and continues to have, on the animals living in this exclusion zone. Unfortunately, the research team had to leave due to the war in Ukraine.

One thing that seems to be certain, however, is that the wildlife seems to be doing quite well in the area. The fact that humans almost entirely stay out of the exclusion zone shows that it is people who are the bigger threat to them than the radiation from the nuclear meltdown.

Hopefully, the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone will remain in place even after it is safe for people to return.

If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.