Arctic Food Chain

Buyer beware: Are Americans systematically poisoning themselves

The US has the worst record in the industrialized world for regulating toxic chemicals thanks to the stranglehold powerful corporate lobbies have on Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is concerning that millions of Americans may be systematically poisoning themselves with common household products, toiletries and cosmetics. In this article, the most dangerous products are listed, as well as providing links to databases that suggest safer alternative. It's also essential for all American consumers to support the 2010 Safe Cosmetics Act presently in Congress which would greatly strengthen FDA oversight for a virtually unregulated industry (see http://www.safecosmetics.org/section.php?id=74 ).

At present, Americans are at a high risk from endocrine disruptors found in most commercial cleaning and beauty products. These are chemicals that mimic estrogen and other hormones in their effect on the human body. Many epidemiologists believe they are linked to the current epidemic of breast cancer, premature puberty, and both male and female infertility. However there are concerns about evidence linking other synthetic chemical to the big increase in cancer prevalence that occurred with the "better living through chemistry" revolution that occurred after World War II. What many people forget is that cancer was an extremely rare condition prior to the industrial revolution. The current epidemic of asthma  in children - and its apparent link to the use of commercial household cleaners during pregnancy, is also extremely alarming.

Why is There a Frog Disruptor in My Toothpaste?

(from www.tree.hugger.com/files/2009/1/why-is-there-a-frog-disrupter-toothpaste.php ). The phthalates and bisphenyl-A found in plastic water bottles, pacifiers, and baby toys has been pretty well publicized. Many Americans consumers seem well aware that these compounds function as synthetic estrogens and that they cause feminization of frogs and fish, and possibly breast cancer, premature puberty, and low sperm counts in men.

There is much less public awareness that nearly all commercial shampoos, hand and body lotions, deodorants, toothpaste, and sunscreen contain preservatives that function as estrogen-like endocrine disruptors. The US bans only eight of these compounds. In contrast the EU bans more than 1,000. 

The problem with widespread use of these products is that the harm they cause they cause to individuals who use them for years on end (and their children and pets) is compounded when they are flushed down the drain and accumulate in our waterways. Studies of indigenous populations in both the third world and the Arctic reveal they have a hundred or so of these toxic chemicals in their blood stream and breast milk even though most of them have never even heard of Right Guard or Colgate toothpaste.

Zooplankton main fare for Arctic cod, marine birds and bowhead whales

In parts of the northern Arctic region, the delicate balance of the food chain depends heavily on the diminutive copepod Calanus glacialis. This herbivorous Arctic zooplankton species is specially adapted to melting sea ice and the blooming of a few small algal species.

With funding from the Research Council of Norway researchers at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) have made new discoveries about the relationship between sunlight, phytoplankton and zooplankton, and about the critical role that sea ice plays for plankton. Their research project, “Climate effects on planktonic food quality and trophic transfer in Arctic Marginal Ice Zones”, is nicknamed Cleopatra.

Changes in the ice conditions of the polar continental shelf could have an impact on the algae that cling to the ice or float free in the water masses. This could have major ramifications for Calanus glacialis and all of its predators.

Eat and be eaten

The zooplankton Calanus is a genus of marine copepods – tiny crustaceans related to krill, Calanus glacialis is perhaps the Arctic’s most important species. Researchers have now been able to document how this zooplankton has adapted perfectly to an extreme natural environment.

Terrestrial areas of the Arctic comprise a polar desert. In the ocean, however, a fertile combination of melting ice, nutrients and sunlight gives rise to a virtual explosion of life in the summer half of the year. In the Arctic food chain, the most sought-after nutritional compounds are the omega-3 fatty acids – produced exclusively by marine algae (sea ice algae and phytoplankton). Calanus glacialis graze on these algae and are a key source of nutrients in the Arctic food chain. To survive the long Arctic winters, Calanus glacialis stores a large amount of fat (lipids), which can amount to as much as 70 percent of its body mass. This lipid-rich zooplankton is the primary food source for Arctic cod, marine birds and bowhead whales. Arctic cod, in turn, are the main course for seals, which are the favourite meal of polar bears.

The ocean’s “grass and grazers”          

“In the Arctic Marginal Ice Zones, the ocean is covered with ice in the winter. When the ice finally releases its grip with the advent of Arctic springtime, an explosive production of biomass occurs,” explains Jørgen Berge, a professor of biology at UNIS and Cleopatra project manager.

The Cleopatra project was launched to enhance knowledge about the most important food chain links: ice algae and phytoplankton, which can be thought of as the grass of the ocean, while zooplanktons are the ocean’s cows.

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