Freshwater Turtles Face Environmental Crisis Due to “Forever Chemicals,” Study Warns

Xinhua/APP

Canberra: A groundbreaking Australian study has revealed that “forever chemicals,” or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are causing serious biochemical changes in freshwater turtles and contributing to their population decline.

Published on Tuesday by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and the Queensland Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI), the research highlights the widespread health impacts of these chemicals on wildlife. PFAS, a group of over 10,000 synthetic chemicals, are known for their persistence in the environment and the human body, earning the nickname “forever chemicals.”

The study found significant damage to freshwater turtles at sites with high PFAS concentrations. According to David Beale, senior research scientist at CSIRO, exposure to elevated levels of PFAS disrupted essential metabolic processes in the turtles.

Adult turtles exhibited a high potential for developing gout, a deadly condition for reptiles. Additionally, turtle eggs displayed altered ratios of essential minerals, while hatchlings showed a high rate of defects in their shells.

The research team, which conducted a three-year investigation involving the capture, measurement, tagging, and release of around 350 freshwater turtles, discovered that PFAS concentrations were up to 30 times higher in the blood and organs of turtles from highly contaminated sites compared to those from cleaner areas.

Suzanne Vardy, DETSI principal scientist, noted that fewer juvenile turtles were found in more contaminated sites, with models predicting that PFAS exposure could lead to a population collapse.

In 2016, Queensland became the first Australian state to phase out the use of legacy firefighting foams, a major source of PFAS contamination in the environment.

In related developments, Australia’s peak medical research authority recently recommended a significant reduction in the official acceptable limits of cancer-linked PFAS chemicals in drinking water.