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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Environment
Tom Perkins

High levels of ‘forever chemicals’ likely making alligators sick in Cape Fear River

Cape Fear River in North Carolina.
Cape Fear River in North Carolina. Photograph: Allison Joyce/The Guardian

High levels of PFAS discharged into the Cape Fear River from a Chemours plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina, are likely making local alligators sick with autoimmune disorders that appear similar to human diseases like lupus, a new study finds.

The peer-reviewed study, published Thursday in the Frontiers in Toxicology journal, tested blood from alligators in the Cape Fear watershed that have been exposed to Chemours pollution for decades. The alligators showed extremely high levels of PFAS compounds and markers of immune disease in their blood.

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