Persistent organic pollutant

• PFAS stands for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances and are colloquially called 'forever chemicals' for their persistence in the environment.
• This is particularly relevant for businesses in emerging high-tech industries, whose technologies may rely on the utilization of PFAS.
• For more information on the IDTechEx report 'Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) 2024: Emerging Applications, Alternatives, Regulations', including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/PFAS .
• Sona Dadhania, Senior Technology Analyst at IDTechEx and author of this report, will be presenting a free-to-attend webinar on the topic on Thursday 2 May 2024 - Forever Chemicals: Insights into Regulations Affecting PFAS and Potential Alternatives .

• National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in Taiwan has achieved a milestone in addressing persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including the "Century Toxins"—dioxins, PCBs, and pesticides (DDT).
• These highly toxic and hard-to-degrade pollutants have posed a major threat to ecosystems and human health.
• The team simulated atmospheric ozone-ultraviolet light reactions to transform dioxins into harmless oxalic acid at room temperature.
• Led by Professor Kuo Chu Hwang from the Department of Chemistry at NTHU, the research team was assisted by the expertise of Ph.D. student Ayyakkannu Ragupathi and postdoctoral researcher Vaibhav Pramod Charpe.

• “We are excited to launch the new Color Pöp line with colours that will help Canadians encourage their self-expression through a pop of colour.
• “We invite everyone to join us on this colourful journey where we celebrate uniqueness through hair colour.”
  These bold and pastel hair colours encourage everyday hair enthusiasts alike to unleash their creativity and bring out their fun side!
• Color Pöp comes in three bold shades including: Purple, Pink, and Red as well as three pastel shades including: Blue, Mint and Silver.
• For darker hair colours users can use göt2b® Bleach It before Color Pöp for more intense colour application.

• But until now, no data existed for our killer whales in the North Atlantic, including those in Eastern Canada and the Canadian Arctic.
• The accumulation of these synthetic contaminants is also creating health risks for the killer whales.

Forever chemicals

• In the last century, these chemicals were mass produced and used in a wide range of applications, such as industrial processes or agriculture.
• But research conducted in Sweden in the late 1960s revealed that these chemicals accumulate in living organisms and persist in the environment.
• The chemicals bind to fats and increase in concentration as they move up the food web, impacting dolphins and whales the most.

A gradient of contamination

• Our study, focusing on 160 killer whales, reveals a concerning pattern of PCB contamination accross the North Atlantic.
• The concentrations vary significantly across the North Atlantic, ranging from a staggering 100 mg/kg in the Western North Atlantic, to around 50 mg/kg in the mid-North Atlantic.

You are what you eat

• Killer whales that primarily feed on fish tend to have lower contaminant levels.
• On the other hand, those with diets focused on marine mammals, particularly seals and toothed whales, show higher levels of contaminants.
• Risk assessments suggest that killer whales in the Western North Atlantic, and specific areas of the Eastern North Atlantic where they have mixed diets, face higher risks, directly linked to what they eat.

Disappearing sea ice

• Killer whales’ large dorsal fin has traditionally prevented them from navigating dense sea ice.
• But the melting of sea ice has allowed killer whales to access a new habitat with new prey species.

Maternal transfer means females are less contaminated

• Male killer whales appear to be more contaminated than their female counterparts, thanks to the transfer of contaminants from adult females to their offspring during gestation and lactation.
• As she feeds her young ones, she may pass on as much as 70 per cent of these stored contaminants.

Urgent action

• In response to these findings, urgent action is needed to protect North Atlantic killer whales and their ecosystems.
• The 2001 United Nations treaty’s objective to phase out and destroy PCBs by 2028 is slipping out of reach.

Chemical pollution has been identified as one of the nine global threats to wildlife, as well as human health in modern times. It is time to give our planet — and killer whales — the relief they need by reducing existing contaminants through concrete actions.
Anaïs Remili does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.