Michigan's Bald Eagles Full Of Flame Retardants - Among Most Polluted Populations On The Planet

[hatrack]

Michigan’s bald eagles are among the most contaminated birds on the planet when it comes to phased-out flame retardant chemicals in their livers, according to new research. The study, published last month in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, found that the top predators in the Great Lakes are highly exposed to banned flame retardants, still widespread in the environment.

Michigan’s population of bald eagles is stable, but the compounds have been linked in other birds to impaired reproduction, weird behavior and development, and hormone disruption.

“While the sensitivity of eagles to PBDEs has yet to be determined, there is a possibility that the exposures reported here may be associated with sub-clinical effects,” Nil Basu, an associate professor at McGill University who led study while at the University of Michigan, said in an email. More than four decades ago, companies started putting polybrominated diphenyl ethers, PBDEs, into furniture cushions, electronics and clothing in an effort to slow the spread of flames if they catch fire.

The chemicals quickly built up in people and the environment. Starting in the early 2000s, phase-outs began. PBDEs have been found in air, dirt and people in virtually every corner of the globe, including the Great Lakes region.

EDIT

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2015/feb/michigan2019s-bald-eagles-full-of-flame-retardants

[Demeter]

1. So, we can add "These Eagles Don't Burn" to "These Colors Don't Run"

for patriotic slogans....sigh