Chemical concentrations rise in polar bears

[CHIMO]

IQALUIT - Scientists have found the levels of fluorinated chemicals in polar bears in the Canadian Arctic are increasing at an alarming rate.


Levels of fluorinated chemicals are doubling every four to six years in the bears, scientists say

The chemicals are used as stain repellents on carpets, clothing and furniture.

Derek Muir, a research scientist with Environment Canada, says the chemicals are doubling in concentration in polar bears every four to six years.

"We've found some fluorinated chemicals that we frankly didn't expect to see," he says. "These are things used on carpets as stain repellents and we've also recently found that these amounts are going up in the bears."

http://north.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=oct05polarflouro10052004

[NNadir]

1. Perfluorooctanoic acid, aka, "scotch guard" was removed from the market

by 3M without any prompting by government or environmentalists when 3M realized that the compound had an extremely long half-life in the environment.

Most perfluoro organic compounds are stable for long periods. One of the most serious of these is perfluoromethane which is an extremely potent greenhouse gas. Perfluoromethane persists in the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years. Perfluoromethane is formed as a side product from the manufacture of silicon chips, including solar cells.

Very few perfluoromethane compounds are in fact toxic in any way. Toxicity and reactivity are usually inversely related, although this is not always the case.

[CHIMO]

2. I Would Also Like To Be The Pope

However, I am not.
I can not make statements without published articles that have been peer reviewed.

Please note another feint phrase in the article:

"The concentrations did not appear greater in the northern population than those reported for southern population," says Samuel Benrejeb, who is with Health Canada's Bureau of chemical safety.

[NNadir]

3. I have no interest in being Pope and don't understand why anyone else

would want to be one.

You write, "I can not make statements without published articles that have been peer reviewed."

This must make for very labored conversations. Citations are nice, and sometimes are important in challenging statements, but sometimes we can believe people have general knowledge.

[snowFLAKE]

4. I suspect that CHIMO's Post #2 was meant to be ironic

Considering that he/she started an entire thread without the benefit of published articles that have been peer reviewed (or does the CBC subject their web pieces based on admittedly "preliminary" findings to peer review nowadays?).

Anyhow, somebody ought to test these bears for those Flame Retardants discussed in the other thread floating around here someplace. I predict that's sure to result in a peer-reviewed publication!!

[NNadir]

5. Ah, but as many are aware, I have no sense of humor.

:-)