UArctic Chair's Polar Bear collaborative research featured in Arctic Today
The UArctic Chair Jeff Welker's food web program on Polar Bears is featured in Arctic Today, sharing that high PFAS levels found in Barents Sea polar bears.
This collaborative program lead by Jeff's Norwegian colleagues has been underway for many years and it reflects the breadth of the Chairship & research program. In addition it reflects the breadth and depth of the collaborators established and continued to integrate with UArctic, University of Oulu and University of Alaska Ancorage activities.
Variation in space-use is common within mammal populations. In polar bears, Ursus maritimus, some individuals follow the sea ice (offshore bears) whereas others remain nearshore yearlong (coastal bears). Polar bears that hunt furthest north in the Barents Sea area - part of the Arctic Ocean - have 30-35% higher concentration of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in their blood compared with coastal bears, and also increased eastward, a Norwegian-Russian study has found. Scientists tracked 152 female bears over a five-year period and analysed their blood samples for concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), PFASs and hydroxylated-PCBs. On the basis of the results the authors conclude that space-use of Barents Sea female polar bears influences their pollutant exposure, in particular plasma concentrations of PFAS.
More on the results in the attached related file or link.