Penguins Detected Environmental Toxins in Patagonia

Penguins in Argentine Patagonia can act as environmental monitors. In this way, researchers have discovered that PFAS – so-called ‘forever chemicals’ – are present even in this remote region.

In an experiment, 54 Magellanic penguins were fitted with chemical-sensing leg rings for a few days during the 2022–2024 breeding seasons.

Whilst going about their normal penguin lives, they also accumulated chemicals from the water, the air and surfaces they came into contact with.

When the samples were sent for analysis, PFAS were found in more than 90 per cent of the leg rings. The analyses revealed both older contaminants and chemicals that have replaced phased-out PFAS substances.

The findings are worrying researchers, who fear that even newer PFAS, designed to be safer, may still be spreading and pose a risk to wildlife.

The study has been published in Earth: Environmental Sustainability.

^{Cover image: Magellanic penguins with special leg rings have helped researchers track PFAS. Photo: Natacha Pisarenko/AP/TT Archive image.}