Contaminant Biomagnification in Polar Bears: Interindividual Differences, Dietary Intake Rate, and the Gut Microbiome.

ABSTRACT: Some persistent hydrophobic pollutants biomagnify, i.e., achieve higher contaminant levels in a predator than in its prey (C_predator/C_prey > 1). This ratio is called the biomagnification factor (BMF) and is traditionally determined using tissues from carcasses or biopsies. Using a noninvasive method that relies on equilibrium sampling in silicone-film-coated vessels and chemical analysis of paired diet and feces, we determined on three occasions the thermodynamic biomagnification limit (BMF_lim) and feces-based biomagnification factor (BMF_F) for three zoo-housed polar bears who experience seasonal periods of hyperphagia and hypophagia. All bears had high biomagnification capabilities (BMF_lim was up to 200) owing to very ef

SUBMITTER: Chen Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11192032 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature