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On thin ice

Though disposing of radioactive waste as well as military activity in and around Antarctica is banned, the continent is not free from threats. Long distance dispersion of radioactive particles has put its marine life at risk. According to marine biologist Franceso Nonnis Marzano of the University of Parma in Italy and his colleagues, mollusc and fish around Antarctica are infected with radioactive particles. Although the radioactivity levels in these marine creatures are not hazardous as of now, it does not mean that there is no future risk, says Marzano ( New Scientist , Vol 168, No 2260).

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