3.5 Contaminants migration pathways

The contaminants of concern, once released to the environment, follow different transport pathways.

Different environmental compartments can be affected, including the atmosphere, the soils and underlying ground layers and the water resources. The vegetation and fauna are then affected by different mechanisms of intake, such as inhalation, absorption, or by ingestion of contaminated feed.

The energy deposited by the radiation in the tissues of the living organism can produce direct damage (in the case of high doses) or induce mutations provoking deformations in the next generations. The chemical toxicity of different substances can lead to different diseases or to the death of the affected leaving organisms.