Ethics Guidelines

Part B - Guidelines for Projects Involving Ionising Radiation

Section 10 - Animal Carcass Disposal

10.1 As far as is practicable all animals injected with radionuclides shall be monitored during the course of the experiment. In the event of death occurring, as far as is practicable the carcass shall be treated as a radioactive carcass for disposal and not as an ordinary carcass for disposal.

10.2 The experimenters shall have made contingency plans for dealing with a radioactive animal carcass and these plans shall be lodged and approved before final approval is given.

10.3 Carcasses of animals which have been administered radionuclides shall be brought back to Australia for disposal where this is practical. In Australia, proper disposal will remain the responsibility of the user and contingency plans to cover this event shall be pre-arranged.

10.4 Storing the animal carcass deep frozen until the isotope has decayed to a very low level is generally not an option with the radioisotopes currently in use, due to the half-lives being insufficiently short.

10.5 Animal carcasses returned to Australia for disposal should be refrigerated to prevent decay.

10.6 Animals carcasses being returned to Australia which cannot be refrigerated will decay (unless preserved, e.g. in formaldehyde) and give off gases which can rupture the container, releasing noxious fumes. Animals can be preserved and stored in polyethylene bags following a procedure described by Boursnell, J.C. and Gleeson-White, M.H. (1959) Nature 179:5.

10.7 Burial may be an option for radioactive carcasses which practically cannot be returned to Australia. If there is any possibility that the burial option will be required, then prior approval in anticipation shall be obtained from the Antarctic Animal Ethics Committee (AAEC) as part of the wider approval of the project. However in most areas of Antarctica it will, due to the nature of the ground, be impossible to comply with the requirements for burial, which are as follows:

burial shall be at a minimum depth of 1.2 metres;
successive burials shall be separated by a distance of at least 2 metres;
the maximum number of burials in the one location shall not exceed that pre-approved by the AAEC;
the total quantity of radioactive material for burial shall not exceed that pre-approved by the AAEC for any location;
the average concentrations of the radioisotopes in the animal carcass shall not exceed that pre-approved for burial by the AAEC.

10.8 Pulverisation is a possible disposal option but would appear to have no applicability here. If the carcass can be dismembered and pulverised to create a liquid for disposal, then it can be dismembered and packaged for return to Australia.

10.9 Incineration may be an option for radioactive carcasses which practically cannot be returned to Australia. If there is any possibility that the incineration option will be required, then prior approval in anticipation shall be obtained from the AAEC as part of the wider approval of the project. Requirements for incineration which shall be met are as follows:

the process of incineration itself shall not have a material detrimental effect upon the local environment nor upon the local animal population;
as the radionuclides likely to be involved (e.g. H³ or C¹⁴) are commonly volatilised when heated or oxidised care shall be taken with the concentration of radioisotopes in the emitted gas component of the incineration.

It is assumed that the incineration of animals too large to return to Australia will have to be carried out in situ or very close to the site of death and that the incineration will be open. It is preferable that a breeze be blowing and that it be blowing towards the sea. A breeze will create a plume and disperse the radioisotopes throughout the volume of the plume. There will be a particulate component of the plume and this will also be radioactive. A significant percentage of the particulate component is likely to be deposited in such a way as to be impossible to collect. A breeze will lead to distributed deposition throughout the shadow of the plume rather than the concentric-patterned, concentrated local deposition which would tend to arise in calm conditions. A breeze which is blowing towards sea nearby will result in significant deposition on the sea surface, with consequent much faster dilution and dispersion of the radioisotopes. One disadvantage of the breeze is that it will tend to pick up ash which would be collectable in calm conditions, but it is likely that the dispersive advantages of the breeze will far outweigh this disadvantage. The ash remaining after incineration is usually radioactive and this shall be collected and returned to Australia. Plastic lined steel drums are recommended.

The total quantity of radioactive material for incineration shall not exceed that pre-approved by the AAEC for that location. The average concentrations of radioisotopes in the animal carcass shall not exceed that pre-approved for incineration by the AAEC.

10.10 The AAEC may approve the leaving of the carcass to disintegrate and decay through natural processes, where all the above options are either completely impractical and/or unacceptably detrimental to the local environment.

10.11 As a guide to the amount of radioactivity permissible for disposal by the above methods when C¹⁴ or H³ are involved, it is likely that in most circumstances that the AAEC will approve disposal where the animal tissue (averaged over the weight of the animal) contains no more than 1850 Bq (0.05 uCi) per gram.

10.12 Disposal of animals carcasses in the Antarctic (rather than returned to Australia) shall be followed by a full written report of the disposal to the AAEC, as soon as reasonably practical.

10.13 It should be noted that there are quarantine regulations governing the importation of animal and plant matter into Australia. These regulations shall be observed. The Quarantine Officer ph: (03) 6232 3302 of the Australian Antarctic Division should be contacted for information.

(ASP & C)
May 2002

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