Date: September 5, 2018
Source: American Geophysical Union
Bottlenose
dolphins are being exposed to chemical compounds added to many common cleaning
products, cosmetics, personal care products and plastics, according to a new
study in GeoHealth, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
The new
research found evidence of exposure to these chemical compounds, called
phthalates, in 71 percent of dolphins tested in Sarasota Bay, Florida during
2016 and 2017. Previous studies detected phthalate metabolites in the blubber
or skin of a few individual marine mammals, but the new study is the first to
document the additives in the urine of wild marine mammals.
Some
phthalates have been linked to hormonal, metabolic and reproductive problems in
humans, including low sperm count and abnormal development of reproductive
organs. The study's authors do not know what health impacts phthalate compounds
may have on dolphins, but the presence of byproducts of the chemicals in the
animals' urine indicates they have remained in the body long enough to process
them.
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