Researchers Find 210 Chemical Contaminants Inside Canadian Polar Bears

Featured Image Credit: ecowatch.com
By: Sarah Sharkey

A recent study has found that polar bears in Canada near Hudson Bay are carrying many types of chemical contaminants in their bodies. These conclusions were reached after a group of scientists sampled tissues from 41 bears for 295 different persistent organic compounds that are considered toxic.

Of the 295 chemicals, only 210 were found with some frequency. That is a lot of chemicals floating around our environment! Some of the chemicals found in the bears included DDT or PCBs which have been on a slow decline in our environment after being banned or restricted many years ago. However, other chemicals that have been restricted in the past couple of decades are still remaining as a notable substance in the environment and were at comparable levels to previous studies.

There is good news though! The chemical contamination is not increasing in polar bears overall.

Image Credit: NASA

The reason that researchers are working with polar bears to determine the presence or absence of chemicals in the environment is that these bears are at the top of the food chain. So if there are chemicals in the environment they will wind up inside the bears.

The information collected in this study is being used to see how polar bears are reacting to climate change and how the contaminants themselves are holding up in a changing environment.

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