A Pharmaceutical Ocean: The Role of Synthetic Chemicals in Arctic Whale Populations

Concern over ocean pollution from synthetic chemicals has spanned decades. Now, pharmaceuticals are emerging as marine pollutants, yet their impact on marine life, including vulnerable Arctic cetaceans, has been largely overlooked. This project aims to assess pharmaceutical accumulation in Arctic cetaceans and its health impacts. Tissue samples from baleen and toothed whales across the marine food chain will be analyzed for bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals, alongside persistent chemicals like PCBs, PFAS, and pesticides. Longitudinal sampling from West Greenland will offer insights into pharmaceutical exposure trends over four decades in two specialized species: narwhal and harbour porpoises. This data will be combined with steroidogenesis analyses to understand fertility and stress, thereby gaining an unprecedented understanding of the chemicals' effects on animal health. Finally, epigenetic changes and genomic variation in relation to individual chemical exposures, fertility, and age will be explored. The study will provide crucial insights into how pharmaceuticals, in combination with other synthetic chemicals, impact the marine environment, informing strategies to protect cetacean populations and Inuit subsistence hunters from chemical exposure.