SYDNEY, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Levels of "forever chemicals" known as PFAS are rising globally in whales and dolphins, new research shows, highlighting the spread of persistent pollutants even in remote ocean regions.
Researchers in Australia and New Zealand found PFAS levels in cetaceans have risen globally since 2000, with Pacific Ocean animals most contaminated -- humpback dolphins showing the highest PFAS concentrations, according to a release from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) released on Thursday.
"These mammals are sentinels of ocean health. They sit high in the food web, live for many years and are exposed to pollution across large areas of the ocean," Frederik Saltre, senior lecturer at UTS, wrote on The Conversation website with two other authors from Australia's University of Wollongong and New Zealand's Massey University.
"Nowhere is safe from forever chemical pollution, not even the middle of the ocean," Saltre wrote.
Used in non-stick cookware and waterproof materials, PFAS enter waterways through industrial discharge, wastewater and firefighting foams. Resistant to degradation, they accumulate through marine food webs and reach high levels in top predators such as cetaceans, said the study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Previous studies have linked PFAS exposure to immune and hormonal disruption in humans and animals.
Researchers said that males generally carry higher burdens of forever chemicals contamination, while females can transfer these chemicals to offspring during pregnancy and nursing, adding that coastal dolphins and porpoises near urban and industrial areas face greater exposure. ■
