{"id":262804,"date":"2026-02-01T18:16:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/262804\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T18:16:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:16:24","slug":"forever-chemicals-in-whales-have-plummeted-heres-why-it-might-not-be-good-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/262804\/","title":{"rendered":"Forever chemicals in whales have plummeted. Here\u2019s why it might not be good news"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Published on
\n 27\/01\/2026 – 7:00 GMT+1\n <\/p>\n

Concentrations of forever chemicals<\/a> in North Atlantic pilot whales have decreased by more than 60 per cent over the last three decades.<\/p>\n

Harvard researchers have analysed whale tissue samples from 1986 to 2023, and found that contamination of per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has fallen despite global production increasing. <\/p>\n

The news comes as Europe continues to crack down on chemicals following evidence that chronic exposure has been linked to the promotion of certain cancers, reduced fertility, and issues with the immune system. <\/p>\n

However, are the findings worth celebrating \u2013 or are newer PFAS simply accumulating elsewhere?<\/p>\n

What are forever chemicals?<\/p>\n

PFAS<\/a> are a group of more than 10,000 synthetic chemicals that have become ubiquitous on Earth. Scientists have found them on the peak of Mount Everest, inside human blood, and even in deep-sea dolphins off the coast of New Zealand. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re commonly used to make items water- and grease-resistant, such as non-stick cookware and clothes. <\/p>\n

However, they can take more than 1,000 years to degrade naturally, hence the name \u2018forever chemicals\u2019.<\/p>\n

Will whales be free from PFAS?<\/p>\n

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, likens the PFAS crisis to \u201cwack-a-mole\u201d, arguing that once researchers understand the exposure and health impacts of one chemical, a new one is developed.<\/p>\n

To overcome this, researchers measured bulk organofluorine (which captures the fluorine found in most PFAS compounds) rather than measuring individual PFAS. They then used these measurements as a proxy for total concentrations of PFAS, including newer types of PFAS that are much more difficult to identify on their own. <\/p>\n

The research team studied whale tissue samples as the apex predators are considered \u201csentinels of marine pollution\u201d. This is because their bodies retain chemical exposures for long periods, and they exist in the outer ocean, which demonstrates how PFAS can travel in the natural environment.<\/p>\n

Overall, organofluorine levels were primarily made up of four legacy PFAS that all peaked in the mid-2010s and had declined by more than 60 per cent by 2023. <\/p>\n

\u201cProduction phase-outs, which were initially voluntary and later driven by regulation, have been quite effective at reducing concentrations of these chemicals in near-source communities as well as more remote ecosystems, which I think is very positive and important to emphasise,\u201d says senior author Elsie Sunderland.<\/p>\n

Where are newer PFAS going?<\/p>\n

Researchers say the reduction of PFAS<\/a> surprisingly comes as the production of new PFAS is actually on the rise, raising the question: If most of the newer PFAS aren\u2019t accumulating in the ocean, where are they going?<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, the ocean is thought to be the terminal sink for human pollution on land, but we aren\u2019t seeing substantial accumulation of the newest PFAS in the open ocean,\u201d Sunderland adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile our results are good news for ocean contamination, it suggests newer PFAS may behave differently from the legacy ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s findings highlight the need to place stronger regulations on ongoing PFAS production to mitigate future impacts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 27\/01\/2026 – 7:00 GMT+1 Concentrations of forever chemicals in North Atlantic pilot whales have decreased by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[3098,12688,273,12086,111,139,69,1518,147,26010,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-262804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-atlantic-ocean","9":"tag-chemicals","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-marine-pollution","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-research","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-whale","18":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}