A recent study of alligators in the Cape Fear River found they had elevated levels of 14 different per-and plyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals in their blood serum, as well as clinical and genetic indicators of immune system effects.
The research team, led by Scott Belcher (Project 3), associate professor of biology at North Carolina State University, including Trainees Hannah Starnes and Kylie Rock, did health evaluations on 49 alligators living along the Cape Fear River. They compared these results to a population of 26 alligators from Lake Waccamaw, located in the adjoining Lumber River basin.
“We looked at 23 different PFAS and saw clear differences between both types and levels of PFAS in the two populations,” says Belcher, who earlier this year participated in a United Nations panel on chemical waste and pollution. “We detected an average of 10 different PFAS in the Cape Fear River samples, compared to an average of five different PFAS in the Lake Waccamaw population. Additionally, blood concentrations of fluoroethers, such as Nafion byproduct 2, were present at higher concentrations in alligators from the Cape Fear River basin, whereas these levels were much lower — or not detected — in alligators from Lake Waccamaw. Our data showed that as we moved downstream from Wilmington to Bald Head Island, overall PFAS concentrations decreased.” Click HERE to read more.
