PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 6, 2024
Researchers from the Biodiversity Research Institute and University of Maine are trying to understand how perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, move through our environment: from the factory, sewer plant or sludge-spread farm fields to ponds, lakes and rivers to fish, birds, and mammals. Very little is known about how PFAS exposure might impact wildlife health, but some scientists predict wildlife will be affected in many of the same ways that humans are. Most wildlife PFAS research that is underway has focused on whether a species can absorb PFAS and pass it on to humans if we eat them. Preliminary results from tests of 85 loons and 77 eagles, as well as a small batch of Maine ospreys, found forever chemicals in every sample, including some alarmingly high concentrations.