Alligators along North Carolina’s Cape Fear River have high blood levels of 14 toxic chemicals, along with signs of immune system damage, new research shows.
The study of levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS) in the reptiles’ blood adds to concerns that the chemicals may cause genetic and immune system harm. Alligators are sentinel species, providing advance warning about environmental risks to humans.
“Alligators rarely suffer from infections,” said Scott Belcher, associate professor of biology at North Carolina State University.
“They do get wounds, but they normally heal quickly,” he said in a university news release. “Seeing infected lesions that weren’t healing properly was concerning and led us to look more closely at the connections between PFAS exposure and changes in the immune systems of the alligators.”…