Bald eagles, songbirds in Wisconsin found to have 'forever chemicals'

MADISON – A new analysis has found "forever chemicals" in the bodies of more than 300 species of animals, including polar bears, tigers, monkeys, and songbirds and bald eagles in Wisconsin.

The analysis, conducted by the Environmental Working Group, looked at hundreds of studies that found PFAS in species globally, including fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and large and small mammals. EWG put together a map showing where the animals were tested, and which chemicals were found during the testing.

According to the map, tree swallows sampled in 2016 and 2017 near Eagle River tested positive for elevated levels of PFOS and several bald eagles near the Bayfield area tested positive between 2006 and 2015 for a number of PFAS compounds, including PFOA and PFOS. Several other eagles along the Wisconsin border with Minnesota were also tested and found to have elevated levels of compounds, as well, the map shows.

David Andrews, one of the EWG researchers involved in the analysis, said the amount of information about PFAS in animals is shocking, but it needs to be looked at as a whole to show how bad the issue of contamination has gotten.

"I don't believe it's gotten the attention it deserves, especially with respect to how industrial chemicals may be contaminating the globe and contributing to potential wildlife harm or impacts on biodiversity," he said.

Tasha Stoiber, another EWG researcher who worked on the analysis, said this study should drive home just how far PFAS compounds have been able to reach in the environment.

"Given just how ubiquitous these chemicals are, and all the products that we use and how often they're used and all the industrial releases, we don't have good disposal methods for PFAS," she said. "So there's a constant cycling from the use of PFAS and that cycling ends up in the air, water, soil and subsequently the wildlife in the farthest reaches on Earth."

The analysis built on a previous study conducted by the environmental group, which gathered fish testing data to show the levels of contamination in lakes, streams and rivers across the U.S. That study, by EWG and Duke University, showed that eating fish harvested from waters with elevated levels of PFAS might be riskier than drinking water with PFAS, leading to higher concentrations in humans' blood serum.

One serving of locally caught freshwater fish could be equivalent to drinking water with PFOS at 48 parts per trillion for a month, researchers said. Last summer, the Environmental Protection Agency released guidance that humans shouldn't consume more than 0.02 parts per trillion of the compounds.

The fish results analyzed in the study show a trend that's being tracked by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources — that PFAS are showing up in a number of fish. The Wisconsin agency has issued advisories warning anglers to reduce the amounts of certain fish harvested from certain bodies of water over the last few years, including fish caught in many of the lakes in Madison.

But in animals, the data in Wisconsin is a bit more sparse. Testing has been done on deer harvested near the Tyco Fire Products facility in Marinette and has shown elevated levels of PFAS in the animals' livers, resulting in an advisory for hunters in the area to avoid eating the organ from deer in that area.

Sean Strom, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources environmental toxicologist, said that several small mammals and birds in Wisconsin have been tested for PFAS, including a number of bald eagles. The birds and mammals were analyzed for a number of different environmental contaminants alongside PFAS, including heavy metals, pesticides and PCBs.

"We detected PFAS in all species/samples collected, but our sample sizes were low and the implications of the observed levels are still uncertain," Strom said in an email.

As for the eagles evaluated, nearly all of the birds showed some level of PFAS in all of the testing locations across the state.

"Unfortunately, toxic thresholds for birds and other wildlife are not well understood, so it's somewhat difficult to interpret the observed levels," he said.

PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a family of man-made chemicals used for their water- and stain-resistant qualities in products like clothing and carpet, nonstick cookware, packaging and firefighting foam. The family includes 5,000 compounds, which are persistent, remaining both in the environment and the human body over time.

The chemicals have been linked to types of kidney and testicular cancers, lower birth weights, harm to immune and reproductive systems, altered hormone regulation and altered thyroid hormones as well as high blood pressure. The chemicals enter the human body largely through drinking water.

More to learn about the impact of PFAS on birds, fish or mammals

Not much is yet known about how PFAS will impact birds, fish or mammals, researchers said. In humans and animals alike, though, there are concerns over the impacts the chemicals can have on the immune system.

"There are a handful of studies that have been done on alligators and turtles, looking into immune-type effects," Andrews said. "The concern is that this exposure to industrial pollutants, would impact the ability of these species to recover from illness or recover from harm or injuries, and that ultimately may be impacting the biodiversity or the ecosystem more generally."

But most importantly, the analysis shows that industrial pollution can have a much wider impact outside of just the areas where factories are.

"The compounds have been emitted across the globe, that is a clear indicator that there needs to be much more consideration of the impact of industrial chemicals on our greater environment, it's an indication that this contamination has been unchecked and under-regulated," Andrews said.

"It's past time that we eliminate ongoing releases of these chemicals into the environment, through air and through water. And every effort should be made to reduce or eliminate the use of these chemicals as much as possible."

Laura Schulte can be reached at leschulte@jrn.com and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: PFAS found in Wisconsin bald eagles, songbirds