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Saturday, 05 December 2009 15:15 |
 Today the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in Seattle against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to consider impacts to the polar bear and its Arctic habitat from toxic contamination caused by pesticide use in the United States. The EPA did not respond to the Center’s notification of intent to sue for these failures, sent in June of this year.
Pesticides approved by EPA for use in the United States are known to be transported long-distance via various atmospheric, oceanic, and biotic pathways to the Arctic. Such pesticides are biomagnified with each step higher in the food web, reaching some of their greatest concentrations in polar bears, the apex predators of the Arctic.
Pesticides and related contaminants have been linked to suppressed immune function, endocrine disruption, shrinkage of reproductive organs, hermaphroditism, and increased cub mortality in polar bears. Human subsistence hunters in the Arctic, who share the top spot on the food web with the polar bear, also face increased risks from exposure to these contaminants....
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
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