Shades of Heisenberg: Antarctic Scientists Discover PBDE Pollution Is Caused By Arctic Scientists.

[NNadir]

It is high summer in Antarctica, and the continent is awash in sunlight around the clock and at its peak of activity. Up to 4000 scientists are lodged at the southern end of the earth to perform research such as cataloging the condition of the polar ice and surveying the population of newly hatched penguin chicks. Despite carefully crafted treaties intended to protect the fragile continent, new research published in ES&T (DOI: 10.1021/es702547a) documents that these scientists are contaminating Antarctica by their very presence.


Brien Barnett, U.S. National Science Foundation
Researchers at the U.S.-operated McMurdo base in Antarctica have found PBDEs in wildlife living near where the base's wastewater is discharged.A team led by Rob Hale of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and Stacy Kim of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories shed light on the unanticipated environmental impact of human habitation on Antarctica by looking for PBDE flame retardants. PBDEs bear "a striking structural similarity to thyroxine," an important thyroid hormone, and recent laboratory studies show that they may interfere with early neurodevelopment, the researchers point out. Some PBDE compounds, or congeners, are candidates for inclusion in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)...

...The PBDE levels measured in the McMurdo dust samples were "right on par with median PBDE levels measured in U.S. house dust samples," says Heather Stapleton of Duke University, who has analyzed dust from U.S. homes. "I was quite startled by the levels," she adds...

...Concentrations of PBDEs in McMurdo's wastewater sludge were "among the highest ever reported," according to the paper. The proportion of the lighter-weight and more bioaccumulative compounds associated with the Penta PBDE mixture—which are currently POPs treaty candidates—in the sludge samples was particularly high, the researchers found. Wildlife found near McMurdo's wastewater discharge site also contained elevated PBDE concentrations. Most notably, rock cod had body burdens of the contaminant on a par with concentrations found in fish living near large North American cities.

From the news section of Environ. Sci. Tech., Jan 23, 2008: http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2008/jan/science/kb_antarcticpbde.html

I actually knew a guy by reputation who claimed to spend a lot of time in Antarctica. He was one of the most environmentally illiterate people with whom I ever interacted.

[phantom power]

1. I get the impression of two things about Antarctic bases.

One is that they sort of barely exist, both in terms of resources, and in terms of funding. Niceties like cleaning up after yourself require infrastructure and of course additional money.

The second thing is that I bet they fall into fallacy of thinking "hey, it's just a few of us out here on this huge continent. How much impact could we possibly have?"

[Dead_Parrot]

2. Erm...

Don't you mean "...caused by Antarctic scientists"?

Unless there are some really naughty scientists up at the north pole, that is.... :silly:

[NNadir]

3. Yeah.

One hears these horror stories.

Actually a small nuclear reactor operated at Mc Murdo sound from 1962-1972, whereupon it was closed by a silly treaty preventing the storage of used nuclear fuel in Antarctica.

The result has been predictable:



The assholes over at Greenpeace - the ones who love to do the kind of "environmental" tourism that involves dragging 50 "want to get into Harvard" high schoolers to Antarctica to puff up their applications - have a station at Antarctica, predictably powered by dangerous fossil fuels, sort of like their whale chasing boat.

I'm surprised, of course, that they aren't flying in the equivalent of a Maine Solar House on C-130's to wile away those hours on June 21.