Subject: RE: Eagles & PCBs
Date: Jun 3 08:38:35 1997
From: Teresa Michelsen - tcmnem at halcyon.com


>An eagle eating a seal would be getting 10 to 100 times more
>PCBs than an eagle eating a fish, he said. (I assume this is because
>PCBs are not water-soluble and are stored in the fat, and seals have
>lots of fat?)

The above is correct, and this may be a reasonable hypothesis, though =
the sight
of an eagle catching a seal would be something to see!

A well-known fact among those of us who study sediment contamination
and its effects on wildlife and humans:
Q: What is the population of humans with the highest PCBs in their =
body/breast milk?
A: Inuit women living in the Arctic Circle. Why? Because fish/marine =
mammals/birds/bears etc. adapted to that environment have high fat =
contents,=20
and are the food source for the Inuit, who also have a relatively high =
body fat percentage. Sad that those least responsible for the problem =
suffer the most. =20

Sorry for the depressing story - must be all the rain!

- Teresa Michelsen