Researchers make disturbing chemical discovery after examining national park animals: “More detailed investigations are needed”

Deep inside the Czech Republic’s Šumava National Park, where a robust wild boar population roams freely, something else lurks: toxic chemical pollutants.

What happens?

After examining the internal organs of 30 wild boars killed as part of annual population control measures, researchers from the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland, and the University of Graz in Austria found something extremely disturbing: high concentrations of chemicals, Environment Journal reports.

Specifically, they found PFAS – the persistent class of chemicals known as “forever chemicals.”

The research teams targeted wild boars to determine general background PFAS levels in the area surrounding the park, as wild boars tend to eat almost anything they come across, including plants, animals and soil.

But the results were sobering. The boars contained “significantly higher levels of PFAS in their bodies than could be legally sold under EU law,” reported the Environment Journal.

Why is this so worrying?

PFAS are associated with a range of health risks to individuals and the environment, exacerbated by the fact that many of them never decompose – at least not in any timeframe expected by humans.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PFAS are linked to an increased risk of reproductive disorders, certain cancers, developmental delays, cholesterol problems, hormone disorders, liver damage and more.

“Wild boar meat and offal are consumed by humans,” said Viktoria Müller, a member of the research team, according to the Environment Journal, calling it “a cause for concern.”

“The high concentrations we found suggest that more in-depth investigation is needed,” she added.

This isn’t the first time that worrying levels of PFAS have been found in surprising places. From wild otters in England to ski slopes in Austria, chemicals manufactured for consumer products lurk almost everywhere in the world and may take thousands of years to break down.

Another cause for concern is that these levels are well above the general “background” PFAS levels researchers expected, which Muller said suggests more research is needed.

What is being done about it?

In general, the need to reduce the production of PFAS lies with large companies. The more people learn about the dangers of these “forever chemicals,” the more pressure can be put on companies and governments to stop their production.

For the average person who wants to avoid PFAS as much as possible, a good place to start is by choosing home-grown foods, plastic-free consumer goods, and natural cleaning products instead of chemicals whenever possible.

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