Caribou in the Arctic are able to metabolize some pesticides. (Photo credit: Morris et al.)
Caribou and wolves living in the Canadian Arctic are able to metabolize some pesticides according to a new study.
By analyzing local vegetation and the tissue of captured caribous and wolves researchers looked to see if the pesticide levels would biomagnify – increase in concentration up the food chain. They saw that while currently used pesticides do enter the food chain through vegetation, they did not biomagnify.
They conclude that both caribous, which eat vegetation, and wolves, which eat caribous, are able to metabolize some currently used pesticides. The wolves and caribou were captured by hunters in 2008 and 2009 in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Original research paper published in the journal Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry on June 27, 2014.
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