Date: June 14, 2017
Source: American Chemical Society
To understand how human
activities are affecting the planet, scientists often study the health of
animals in the wild. Now a new study, appearing in ACS' journal Environmental
Science & Technology, finds that the levels of mercury in some polar bears
are declining. But rather than heralding a drop in mercury in the environment,
the decrease could indicate how climate change has led the animals to shift
foraging habits, which has affected their diets and weight.
Previous studies have shown that
mercury in the environment, either naturally occurring or added by industrial
activities such as coal burning, has accumulated in tissue and hair samples of
the southern Beaufort Sea polar bear at levels associated with harmful health
effects. They get exposed through their diets, which include seals and whales.
But past research has shown that as seasonal sea ice has declined, the animals'
diets have shifted. Melissa A. McKinney and colleagues wanted to investigate
how this might affect the polar bears' mercury levels.
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