WELLINGTON, Nov. 24 — PFAS contamination affects more dolphins and whales than previously known, including deep-diving species well beyond human activity zones, new research finds.
Researchers analyzing liver samples from 127 stranded whales and dolphins in New Zealand waters found PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in 16 species, with eight species including Hector’s dolphins and three beaked whale species tested for PFAS globally for the first time, an article published by The Conversation said Monday.
Surprisingly, where an animal life does not predict its exposure.
Instead, sex and age are stronger predictors of how much of these pollutants a whale or dolphin accumulates in its body, with older, larger animals and males carrying higher contamination levels, according to the article by the team of New Zealand and Australian researchers.
“PFAS were originally designed to make everyday products more convenient, but they have ultimately become a widespread environmental and public health concern,” it said, adding the study provides stark evidence that “no part of the ocean is now beyond the reach of human pollution.”
These synthetic “forever chemicals,” used since the 1950s in products like non-stick cookware, food packaging, cleaning products, and firefighting foam, persist indefinitely, enter the food web, and can attach to proteins and accumulate in the blood and organs once inside an animal, disrupting hormones, immune function, and reproduction, researchers said.
The contamination is now affecting everything from endangered coastal Maui dolphins to deep-diving beaked and sperm whales, according to researchers from Massey University and the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Wollongong in Australia, among others.
“Even the most remote whales carry high PFAS loads and we know humans are not isolated from these contaminations either,” the authors wrote. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
