researchers have examined wild mink to evaluate the effects of endocrine disruptors in the environment. The aim is to see which environmental toxins found in an area and determine how they affect fertility in mammals, including humans.
– Reproduction is controlled largely by hormones and they know that many environmental toxins can interfere with this hormone system. But just as we humans are wild animals exposed to a mixture of chemicals, and it’s just the cumulative effect of this “cocktail” of environmental toxins that we want to study, says Sara Persson at SLU’s department for reproduction.
The wild mink is suitable as sentinels because it is at the top of the food chain and enriches many pollutants in different tissues. Furthermore, it is stationary and thus characterized by the local environmental impact.
In the study, a variety of pollutants, including PCBs, DDE, brominated flame retardants and perfluorinated substances analyzed in tissue from 101 wild mink from different parts of the country.
When the genitals were compared with various animal poison profiles synthesis several links. Among other things, some males had a shorter distance between the anus and genitals. These males had accumulated much DDE, a breakdown product of DDT, and some perfluorinated substances such as PFOS, which among other things has been on fire foam and shell jackets.
The distance between the anus and genitals are abbreviated is not a problem in itself, according to the researchers, but can be a sign that the sex hormones have been affected during fetal development.
- There are many experimental studies on mice and rats indicate that a shortened distance between the anus and genitals are related to other effects, such as reduced size of the sexual organs and increased risk of malformations, says Sara Persson .
In the study, there was also a tendency for minks with high levels of DDE also had shorter penis. It is a result that the researchers want to follow up with larger studies.
– We are currently gathering more minks and seek funding for to do a larger study, says Sara Persson.
To get a good comparison material in the study researchers tried to get hold of mink from areas with high and low levels of toxins in the environment. Low exposure generally had mink from western North.
– PFOS we found in high concentrations in mink little everywhere, both from Märsta Koster Islands and Gävle. However, the highest concentrations of PFOS were Marsta, says Sara Persson.
She hopes that the study will provide clues about what may be important to investigate in terms of how people are affected by environmental toxins.
– The mixture of chemicals is a concern that is important to do research on . What we see is that mink can give us an early warning that something is about to happen in nature, she says.
Results have been published in the scientific journal Chemosphere.
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