THE faeces of Arctic seabirds seem to be causing pollution hotspots in northern coastal ecosystems.
Wind and ocean currents have previously been blamed for high levels of toxic chemicals such as mercury, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Arctic air, soils, water, animals and people.
But, says Jules Blais from the University of Ottawa, Canada, these long-range transport models cannot explain why exposure is much higher in some communities than in others. “One thing the air and oceans can’t do is concentrate these chemicals into hotspots,” he says.
Blais’s team thought the real culprits might be Arctic seabirds, which can cover distances of 1000 kilometres on…
