New study finds toxic ‘forever chemicals’ present in BC sea otters

Sea otters living on B.C.’s south coast and Vancouver Island have high levels of toxic “forever chemicals” in their bodies, a new study has found.

Researchers found elevated levels of chemicals, commonly found in food packaging, cosmetics, electronics and other consumer products, in samples of 11 dead sea otters collected between 2016 and 2021.

Dana Price, a master’s candidate at the University of British Columbia, led the study, which was published this week in the journal Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry.

“I think the main thing here is that we found these contaminants in sea otters. It gives us a baseline against which we can compare things in the future,” he said. It was the first study of its kind in the province, he said.

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Harmful ‘forever chemicals’ are making their way into BC sea otters

A new study from UBC shows that despite Canadian government regulations, so-called forever chemicals are making their way into sea otters off the coast of Vancouver Island. As CBC’s Claire Palmer reports, researchers say this is bad news for the marine ecosystem as a whole.

However, Price said he was not surprised to see pollutants broadly classified as polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) in sea otters, as researchers in California, Washington and Alaska had also found the same.

PFAs are known as “forever chemicals,” he said, because they typically don’t degrade when they enter the environment, and they pose health risks, including organ damage, cancer and a weakened immune system.

And although it is not believed that any of the otter deaths in their study were caused by PFA, they said the fact that the chemicals were present in every one of the samples collected is concerning to the long-term health of marine ecosystems.

However, he said the status of BC sea otters is lower than some of their American counterparts, which he estimates is due to a combination of Canadian regulations and the relatively low human population where otters live.

“Where (the otters) live makes a big difference,” he said, adding that those closer to cities have higher PFA levels than those in more rural areas.

Unlike other marine mammals, sea otters do not migrate, he said, and live their entire lives in the same area, making it easier to determine how local factors may impact their overall health.

growing form of research

This study is the latest in a growing body of research on the dangers posed by the presence of PFAs.

A report from the federal government say that exposure to these “forever chemicals” in humans can be harmful to the body, including the liver, kidneys, immune system, reproductive system and nervous system, and Health Canada has set standards to limit acceptable levels of the chemicals in drinking water.

“The (otter) study provides the information Ottawa needs to decide whether and how to proceed with regulations on this class of chemicals,” said Peter Ross, a senior scientist at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. He said the debate over how to approach the topic has been a “hot topic” in Ottawa for several years.

And while the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has enforced some regulations, the agency’s Lisa Lucero said that with more than 15,000 different PFAs on the market, it can be difficult to get a handle on them all.

“We’re seeing that sometimes some of these chemicals, or styles or types, are being banned forever, but then others are being brought new to the market,” he said.

“And so there’s a constant tug of war between scientists and producers.”

Price said the study hasn’t definitively pinpointed the source of the chemical contamination, because they are in many different products that could end up in the ecosystem.

“It’s hard to say where they come from,” he said. “They just come at a price.”