Toxic 'forever chemicals' found in British otters

Image source, Rodney Wilson

Toxic chemicals used in non-stick saucepans and food packaging have been found in otter across England and Wales.

The substances are used in waterproof clothing, stain resistant products and fire retardants.

The chemicals are linked to many illnesses.

Concentrations of these compounds in otter are a guide to levels of pollution in the environment.

The substances can get into drain and sewage treatment works and escape into the environment.

There are substances in farmland that can wash into rivers. Garbage sites and factories are other sources of chemicals.

The use of food packaging paper was banned by the Danes.

Products that are water, grease and stain resistant can be made with perfluoroalkyls and polyfluoroalkyls.

They are known as "forever chemicals" because they don't break down easily in the environment. Animals and humans can be contaminated by fish. The compounds can get into drinking water.

50 otter were found dead in 2007, and all of them were found to have PFASs. The animals had at least 12 different types of chemicals in their bodies. Animals that had died between the years of 2014 and 19 had two types of restricted PFASs.

The lead author of the study said that otter were a "sentinel species" that revealed pollution in British fresh waters. There was a recent Environmental Audit Committee report which showed there was a chemical cocktail of pollutants in rivers.

It is not known if the concentrations of chemicals found in the otter are enough to cause harm. The impact of chemicals on the health of the otter is not known. The toxic chemicals were likely to have a "sub-lethal" effect.

Image source, WGXC

For years and years to come, Ms O'Rourke says that PFASs will be in the environment.

They get into our sewage works because they are not designed to remove PFCs, which are ancient. She said that they are retained in the sewage sludge.

There are over 5,000 different types of chemicals now used. She thinks they should be regulated by class.

Denmark recently banned their use in food-contact paper, like in fast-food packaging, and Britain needs to catch up. We need to get our own chemicals strategy now that we are not under the EU framework.

Breast Cancer UK, The Alliance for Cancer Prevention and the CHEM Trust are some of the 27 NGOs that have come together to set out the case for a UK Chemicals Strategy.

Voluntary industry initiatives have been limited since 2000. According to the study, the Environmental Quality Standards for water and fish in England are higher than the concentrations of PFASs that are regularly recorded.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) was informed by Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden in July of 2021.

The principal investigator on the otter project encouraged the public to report dead otter.

Our research was possible because of the ongoing collection of dead otter. She said that the archive has samples from more than 4,000 individuals collected since 1992 and that it is a unique and important resource for understanding this protected species.